Rhode Island College School of Nursing-- BSN Program

U.S.A. Rhode Island

Published

i just wanted to start a thread for the ric bsn program. if anyone has questions on pre-req classes, admission, what the program is like.....this is the place to ask! the whole nursing school process can be overwhelming, so hopefully this will help out a little.

i (along with my buddy chris, who is also on allnurses) will be starting my senior year in the fall. any questions about the program can definitely be answered by either myself or chris! :D

just as a reference, here is the recommended plan of study:

freshman year

biol 108basic principles of biology -4

biol 231human anatomy -4

chem 105general, organic, and biological chemistry i -4

chem 106general, organic, and biological chemistry ii -4

psyc 110introduction to psychology -3

psyc 230human development -4

wrtg 100writing and rhetoric -4

general education core (1)

sophomore year (beginning)

nurs 220foundations of therapeutic interventions -3

nurs 222professional nursing i -3

nurs 223fundamentals of nursing practice -3

nurs 224health assessment -3

biol 335human physiology -4

biol 348microbiology -4

general education core (2)general education core (3)

junior year (intermediate)

nurs 340psychiatric / mental health nursing -6

nurs 344maternal newborn nursing -6

nurs 342adult health nursing i -6

nurs 346nursing of children and families -6

general education core (4)general education (m)

senior year (advanced)

nurs 370public and community health nursing-6

nurs 372adult health nursing ii -6

nurs 374contemporary professional nursing -3

nurs 375transition to professional nursing practice -6

*nurs 375 is the last nursing course taken

general education (a)general education (sb)elective

admission requires completion of the pre-reqs (two chems, bio 108, anatomy, two psychs)

and a minimum gpa of 2.7 (though i don't know anyone who has been admitted with under

a 3.2).

I think the review day is a great idea!!! I just finished my first semester at RIC (in the nursing program). Its definitely something I would be interested in attending. :)

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

Thanks MiniDachshund

!Chris :specs:

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Ok. :) Sounds great!

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Hi! I was just accepted to the program for fall 2010 - have a few questions..

- they said the school is handling registration to 220 and 222, but i sent the form in 2 weeks ago and still haven't been registered on riconnect? anyone know how long it takes?

-is there anything I can do to start preparing for my classes now? where can I get the info on what textbooks I need?

-Should i expect my GPA to drop significantly? I got A's in chem 106, anatomy, psych, physiology, etc. but I hear nursing classes are harder than any prereq classes.. are they really that hard?

-Does anyone know of any scholarships for nursing majors other than the ones posted on the ric website? I'm from MA so i pay out of state tuition and live in an apt off campus, and my financial aid package just isn't enough. Plus I already have about $20,000 in loans (i'm a transfer from a private school)

I would appreciate any feedback whatsoever. I don't know ANYONE in the program so I have no idea what to expect. Thanks in advance for any responses!

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Hi! Congrats on getting accepted!! I was accepted Spring 2010, so I just finished my first official nursing semester. :)

For 220 and 222, I cannot remember exactly how long it took for them to register students, not that long, then again for the Spring semester, acceptance letters were literally sent out a few weeks to the start of the semester, so they didn't have much time! I would give it another week and call the nursing department, or send your advisor an email. They should know about how long it takes.

Text book lists are available in the book store, but not now they are not. Not for the Fall. There are quite a few books you need. I would tell you which ones I needed but book editions are always changing!! There really isn't too much preparing. Maybe brush up on concepts from anatomy, physiology, and chem 106 for nurs 220. The three major concepts covered in 220 are nutrition (right down to the chemical breakdown and absorption of nutrients) pharmacology, and pathophysiology.) Also, my professors emailed the class with a few reading assignments before class, so if they email you, you can start with that. Make sure you buy all the required books, a few people told me not to buy certain books, like the pathophysiology one, because they never used it. I am glad I bought it anyway...we DID use it!! quite a bit!!

From my experience with the nursing courses, as I said before I just completed my first semester, your grade is what you put into the class!! I got straight A's for nurs 220-222, and mostly A's with a few B's for the pre-reqs. I did study ALOT for 220 especially!!!! But its really not that bad. Its just alot of studying!!! Be prepared to study!! everyday!! or you might fall behind. So don't expect your GPA to drop significantly. Just try your best!! Alot of people told me the same thing. I was a nervous wreck!! From what I hear, from reliable junior/senior level nursing students and professors, the nursing courses only get harder and more intense as you progress in the program, so compared to the jr./sr. level courses, 220/222 were a breeze. haha.

Hope this helps!! and good luck!!!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Congratulations on your acceptance! Welcome to the RIC nursing program. You can visit the bookstore and check out their booklist, or check on the RIC website. As long as you sent in your class selection sheet, you'll be all set.

The first two nursing courses are not intense, but I would say 220 requires much more time than 222. The courses do get progressively more difficult, though. I am going to be a senior in the fall and I can tell you that this is the hardest thing I've ever done.

I know that most people do see a slight or substantial drop in their GPA, but mine actually went up since being in nursing. The pre-reqs were not of interest to me, so I didn't try as hard. I like learning about nursing, so my grades have been very good.

The first year nursing classes (220, 222, 223 and 224) will be the "easiest" of the entire program, so don't feel too stressed about them. 223 and 224 are more work than 1st semester, but overall not entirely that bad. Junior year (especially med/surg 1 and pediatrics) was very, very time consuming.

You will be busy - reading textbooks and ATI books, writing papers, studying for tests, doing careplans, powerpoint presentations, and getting up at 5AM for clinicals. Just keep your eyes on the prize.

Please get involved in student nurses association, we hold a welcome reception for new nursing students at the beginning of the semester. Hope to see you there!

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Thank you both so much for all the info! I really appreciate it.

MiniDaschund - thanks for the tip I will be sure to buy ALL the books even if somebody says I don't need certain ones.

RhodyGirl - I would like to get involved with the student nurses association, where can i get info on when the welcome reception will be?

ALSO I have another question that I'm kind of freaking out about. I had to have a background check done by June 25 through the certified background website, I just went online to have it done (i procrastinated for a while because i figured it would only take 5 min) and it says it can't be completed until I upload ALL Of my vaccination/immunization records. It may take me a while to get all that from my doctors..

The sheet the school of nursing sent me says:

"you must have your background check posted by June 25, 2010 to remain enrolled in nursing courses for fall 2010"

Will they still do the background check even if I haven't uploaded my immunization records yet? Does anyone know how this works? I'm so scared!

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I went through the same thing. You need to call health services at the college and ask which ones you need completed now because even though the paper says you need all this proof of all these vaccines and tests, some you only need before you start clinical. I STILL haven't shown proof for everything. I was in a panic myself with the situation. But I do not remember them saying I couldn't get the background check until vaccines were completed. I would buy the BCI package you need (its about $50.00!!) because that takes a few days.

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I went through the same thing. You need to call health services at the college and ask which ones you need completed now because even though the paper says you need all this proof of all these vaccines and tests some you only need before you start clinical. I STILL haven't shown proof for everything. I was in a panic myself with the situation. But I do not remember them saying I couldn't get the background check until vaccines were completed. I would buy the BCI package you need (its about $50.00!!) because that takes a few days.[/quote']

Really? I wonder if they changed the background check package for this semester? On the Certified Background confirmation page it says "Your order will not be processed until the following items are complete:

Immunization Tracker" which then sends me to the page that wants me to upload all my medical records.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you were still able to take 220 and 222 without having proof for all of those immunizations. I'm very relieved and hopefully I can straighten it out tomorrow. Thanks so much for responding so quickly! It was a big help :D

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I'm glad you want to get involved!

Meetings are held every other Weds from around 12-1 in the nursing lounge in Fogarty. You can private message me your email address and I'll add it to our list to keep you up to date with meetings, the welcome reception, and special events.

Meetings are open to any nursing major or intended nursing major at the college. If you'd like to run for an officer position (We have a president, VP, secretary, treasurer and project person), just keep coming to the meetings and get to know everyone. Officers have already been elected for this coming school year, but you could keep it in mind for 2011-2012.

If you don't want to give me your email for the SNA list, just stop by the nursing lounge and look on the whiteboard to see when the welcome reception will be, and when the upcoming meetings are.

:nurse:

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OK! I'm new on here so I can't figure out how to private message you? I definitely want to be added to the email list though.

I just found out I have Foote for 220 and Wilks for 222. I also have Rainone for Microbiology. Has anyone had these professors? Anything I should know about them?

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I had Foote for 220 and Wilks for 222. I loved them both. Foote can be intimidating at first but she is great. She will give you everything you need for the exams. She also prints the powerpoints for you ahead of time and provides these "workbooks" that she puts together to further your understanding of the material. There is quite a bit of studying for this course. Wilks is just a sweet and caring person. She will go out of her way to help you and wants everyone to succeed. You will always find people that don't like certain professors for whatever reasons. But I thought they were both fantastic. Put in the study time, and you will do fine. I got A's for both classes. I had Deb Britt for micro lecture, she was amazing!!! I'm not familiar with the professor you have.

I also go to the student nurse association meetings, they are fun! And they bring pizza and soda/drinks. :)

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