Remington College of Nursing - Orlando

rad sugar · May 5, 2010

great info! Thanks. I applied to start Jan 2011. I'm wondering...If you already took Nutrition, will they transfer the credit?

Nope! Its a different kind of nutrition class, and its a combination class that also goes into Health Promotion and Genetics. The nutrition component is specific for nursing, and I assure you its very different than a regular undergrad nutrition test.

To my knowledge, the program is a block. Everyone takes all of the classes, together, with each cycle. I think there may be an opportunity to clep out of pathophysiology, but I've yet to see it happen. We have people who've been in nursing school before, and have masters degrees in microbiogy, and so far they've all been required to take and pass every class in the curriculum.

smiley311 · May 6, 2010

Wow... sounds like around the clock curriculum counting homework/study time. I have a little one and am wondering how much time I would have to give to her after daycare and if it is fair to her/worth it. Sounds like I would have to have a great family support system in place if I were accepted and decided to enroll.

I've been researching awhile now and another point that has come to my attention about the bottleneck for educating nurses is the room for clinicals at local hospitals. The reason my local cc hasn't expanded their program and enrollment is because there are not enough hospitals or clinics available in this area for the number of nurses needing clinical time - so not just about lack of schools and teachers. Doesnt seem it would be a problem in Orlando but all the same. The local cc ADN program takes in 300 applications, approves 80 and 50% drop out before graduating. :| Very frustrating for those who want to fill those seats. In the meanwhile, hospitals, etc. are campaigning to call back those RNs who left nursing and also hiring out of country in order to fill the vacancies.

Ok, enough negative, I enrolled to get my A/P's and microb out of way before applying and have til the end of the month to decide whether I will take this path in life.

Thank you to everyone who posts because I really need the input and answers.

KW-JAM · May 31, 2010

Hey everyone, I was just accepted to remington and pretty excited about it. I currently live out of state and was wondering if anyone familiar with the area could possible share any housing information or if there's anyone starting july 2010 looking for a roommate. Also, I know the july 2009 class is probably getting ready to finish up, do you mind sharing your experience?

Tina LMT · Jun 2, 2010

Congrats!!! :nurse:

SeaB77 · Jun 2, 2010

Congrats KW! I've applied for the July 2010 cohort too but haven't heard anything yet. How did you get notified - mail, email, or phone? How long after you sent in your application did it take before you were accepted? Did you have an interview? Sorry so many questions. :)

rad sugar · Jun 2, 2010

KW-JAM, congrats.

i seriously wouldn't reccomend this program to my worst enemy. this past year has been awful. i have 7 weeks to go until graduation, and i'm counting the seconds.

well, i guess i mean until i'm finished with the program. our graduation is on a wednesday night, at 5:30pm, in downtown orlando (we had to work around the dean's vacation schedule, of course)... so none of my family can attend the graduation - same goes for about 90% of my classmates.

so after all this, i won't even get pinned. not like i'd let a single administrator from our school come near me with a needle.

i have to go get ready now. i got an EMAIL at 5pm last night saying that i have a mandatory lab today at school. that was nice of them to give us a lot of warning.

RCON is a mess.

academically, its a rigorous program. because of our location we're able to get some quality clinicals at great hospitals. but because the school is new, its the scraps of all the shifts. so get ready for a year of working nights and weekends. class 5 days a week on top of that. an administration that can't get their **** together to save their lives. and prepare yourself to be treated with the attitude that you are worthless, your $36,000 of tuition is worthless (yeah, its gone up... we got in at 30k), your previous education/work experience/life is worthless, your family and their needs are worthless, any interest or life you have outside the school is worthless, etc.

here's one more anecdote for you. my gma was rushed to the ER in respiratory distress saturday. (turns out she has CHF and pneumonia). i live with my grandma. i was at a clinical that ran from 9am-5pm. it was my last gerontology clinical, i haven't missed a minute of any of the previous ones. my gma went to the ER around 3pm, and the teacher told me if i left 2 hours early - all the hours i'd been there since 9am would not count, and i would fail the course.

nice, huh?

get ready for a YEAR of that.

good luck!

SeaB77 · Jun 2, 2010

After reading several posts about Remington, I'm hesitant to attend there (if accepted). I have gone back and forth on the idea. For those of you who are Remington students, could you please post your experience with the school (positive & negative) and overall opinion. Any regrets? Financial issues? Thanks...

willow0918 · Jun 3, 2010

Hi SeaB77,

I know there have been some negative posts about the school, but everyone's experience is different. So don't let them dissuade you.

I'm currently at Remington in the class that started Jan. this year. And while there have been some bumps in the road, all-in-all my experiences have been positive. I knew going in that I would have to put a lot of effort into it (like any accelerated program), but it's been doable. I'm sure someone from the senior class will respond to my post with something to the effect "spoken like a true newbie", or "oh you just wait until 3rd quarter, you have no idea what you're in for". And while that may be the case, I really don't have any regrets, and I don't think I will.

Things don't always run smoothly (we're still a new school going though growing pains) and the program is costly (but the speed with which you will be out in the job market, is, for me, worth the extra money). I'm almost halfway through the program now. If I had gone with my 2nd option of going to the local cc for an ADN degree, I'd still be on the waiting list (1 year) to start their 2 year program.

And we received full accreditation a few months ago, which was the only reason I hesitated applying. So that fear has been erased.

Hope this helped, thought there needed to be a positive post on here about the school!

rad sugar · Jun 3, 2010

Hi SeaB77,
I know there have been some negative posts about the school, but everyone's experience is different. So don't let them dissuade you.
I'm currently at Remington in the class that started Jan. this year. And while there have been some bumps in the road, all-in-all my experiences have been positive. I knew going in that I would have to put a lot of effort into it (like any accelerated program), but it's been doable. I'm sure someone from the senior class will respond to my post with something to the effect "spoken like a true newbie", or "oh you just wait until 3rd quarter, you have no idea what you're in for". And while that may be the case, I really don't have any regrets, and I don't think I will.
Things don't always run smoothly (we're still a new school going though growing pains) and the program is costly (but the speed with which you will be out in the job market, is, for me, worth the extra money). I'm almost halfway through the program now. If I had gone with my 2nd option of going to the local cc for an ADN degree, I'd still be on the waiting list (1 year) to start their 2 year program.
And we received full accreditation a few months ago, which was the only reason I hesitated applying. So that fear has been erased.
Hope this helped, thought there needed to be a positive post on here about the school!

i'm glad you don't hate our school and that things are going better for your class than ours. our class is just so over it, and i think the administration is over us too. today we got yelled at (and i mean emotional, raised voice, legit and unprofessional yelling) because the school has totally messed up our preceptorships. one professor sent out six emails yesterday (a day off for us) and she was fuming that we haven't replied, even if/when we have no new information for her. (she wants us to update our schedules, but half of us don't have any schedule info because the whole preceptorship matching has been royally botched, and we're supposed to start on friday, oopsies).

there are 2 teachers in charge of our preceptor class and one was frantically yelling at us, "i don't know how to make this any more clear! you have a computer virus, that's why my word document didn't upload properly! why didn't you get my emails?!?!" and the other teacher said, "i don't know why you're bending over backwards to help them, they aren't babies, let them figure it out."

real nice, huh?

its just this whole crappy disrespectful attitude that we get treated with, that i'm over.

i know its a new school, and i know there are growing pains. and the one aspect i'm really confident in is our academics. i KNOW i am learning and i will be a well-educated BSN RN.

but the drama, and the getting yelled at and treated like a little kid... the plans and rules always changing, things falling apart and not coming through, rubrics and schedules changing and changing and changing - i'm just over it. it would be a LOT easier to roll with the punches if i wasn't talked down to and belittled all the time.

its a one year BSN, you know its not going to be fun or awesome. that's a given. but the manner with which the administration treats its students, the attitude the faculty have - the disrespect - to me that tips this over to unbearable. i think if anyone has a BSN option other than RCON, they should take that. if RCON is your only choice, and you have to be a nurse... then i say go for it, but just be ready to hang your head low and take the verbal beatings like a chump. because that's how this school rolls.

the bottom line is that you are a pay check and a meal ticket to these people. the longer they string you along, and the later in the program they fail you - the more money they make. there is no care, comfort, understanding or reliability from the administration. if they change the schedule with 12 hours notice, you better cancel what you had and show up to get yelled at. if they want to add a bunch of exams to a syllabus at the last minute, you better open up the book. the rules about clinicals change ALL the time, the schedule for clinicals changes, and if you can't bend over and take it... it falls back on you. they will simply kick you out and take your money. this is a business that is for profit and its very obvious every second of the way.

i mean, 10 people were in danger of failing 3rd quarter and they didn't issue books until the first day of the 4th quarter because they didn't want to give books to people failing out. so therefore, no one could read ahead. in your class and for new students - if you miss a clinical day, you have to pay out of pocket the money it costs for an instructor to lead a make-up clinical. it makes great business sense, sure. but i was hoping to go to a school, not invest in a business that has no regard for my well-being after i've sunk my money into it.

smiley311 · Jun 4, 2010

Ok, Im seeing that there are hours done in the day for lecture and hours in the same day for clinicals and additional hours on the weekend for clinicals. So what hours of the day are alotted to homework or reporting? It seems like there is no time for enough sleep. Is that really how it is? Will I be able to sleep at least 6 hrs a night?

rad sugar · Jun 4, 2010

Ok, Im seeing that there are hours done in the day for lecture and hours in the same day for clinicals and additional hours on the weekend for clinicals. So what hours of the day are alotted to homework or reporting? It seems like there is no time for enough sleep. Is that really how it is? Will I be able to sleep at least 6 hrs a night?

the schedule is always changing.

some days are really light, and then there are just weeks from hell. last tuesday we had a 14 hour clinical shift that was 75 minutes away from my house. then, last wednesday i had to go to school and take a 160-question HESI exam (that you have to pass to graduate, its an exit exam), then i went to 3 hours of clinical, and then i had to go do a 3 hour CPR class to get my re-cert done. it was a looong day. thursday is a 9 hour lecture day. so yeah, last week was brutal. (i'm in the middle of 4th quarter now, fyi).

the first quarter is really light, its classroom daytime learning 5 days a week.

the second quarter we had class 4 days a week, and then a 12 hour shift (day shift) every friday. we had an online class also (nutrition/genetics/health promotion and assignments were due mondays).

in the 3rd quarter we had day classes 3 days a week, day clincals 1 or 2 days a week for community nursing, 3pm-11pm shift for psych clinicals, and night shift (7pm - 7am) for OB and peds clinicals. it was a nightmare. you'd work all night friday night, and then have to be at school 8am monday. for me, switching back and forth between nights and early mornings is hard!

4th quarter is weird. its a "front loaded" term. so you do all of your classes in the first half of the term, for double the time. 12 weeks of class are crammed into 6 weeks. with clinicals happening twice a week for gerontology. then, the 2nd half of the term (weeks 7 through 12) we have our practicum. we get matched up with a nurse and work 180 hours with her. all of the hours are due by the monday morning of the 12th week though, so we have to fit 15 shifts into 5 weeks - which is only 3 shifts a week. we have a paper due in a week, a lot of paperwork and care plans for the practicum shifts, and some case studies... then we have a management final and a management hesi in the 12th week.

weird, huh?

6 hours a night? most of the time, yeah. but it all depends on what else you have going on, how much you commute, etc.

Quarter 1:

essentials

essentials lab

health assessment

health assessment lab

pathophysiology

pharmacology

Quarter 2:

nutrition/health promotion/ genetics (online)

med-surg

med-surg clinical

case management

research methods (evidence-based practice nursing)

Quarter 3:

OB/peds (combo class - 6 weeks of each, so not enough! YIKES!)

psych nursing

community health

OB/ped clinical

psych clinical

community clinical

Quarter 4:

Leadership and Management

Gerontology

Gero clinicals

Transition to Nursing (this is the name for the practicum 180 hours + paperwork)

Senior Seminar (subject area HESI exams, the comprehensive HESI exit exam, and 150 practice NCLEX questions due every week - this is a pass/fail class, and you must pass the comprehensive hesi exam to pass this course)

-all classes require a 75% average to pass, as well as a 75% test average

-some classes require attendance and participation, some don't

-every dosage calculation exam requires a 90% or higher, and you must pass them to stay in the program (the contract for the program says 3 a year, but we've already had 4 and we have one more tomorrow)

-all clinicals require 90% attendance, if you miss more than 10% you're out - and all hours must be made up (even if you've missed less than 10%, with make-up clinicals, case studies, or lab days)

smiley311 · Jun 4, 2010

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this information, Rad! I really appreciate it.