Samuel Merritt ABSN Alumni Experiences and Reviews

[DNP4ME]

Are there any alumni from the Samuel Merritt ABSN program or other SMU Nursing programs? Do ABSN Students really graduate in 12 months or are many held back because the university has not placed them at clinical sites? 

[nurseslinky]

I am also looking for this information! I am freaking out after seeing the posts from @coffeebeans and @AlmostNurse90 stating that they are no longer offering preceptorship and I'm considering not applying at all, now.

[coffeebeans]

DNP4ME said:

Are there any alumni from the Samuel Merritt ABSN program or other SMU Nursing programs? Do ABSN Students really graduate in 12 months or are many held back because the university has not placed them at clinical sites? 

You still graduate in 12 months but if you don't get placed at clinical sites, you make up the hours doing online work or virtual simulations. There are no more senior preceptorships which sucks because most new grads feel like they gain the most experience then and it's also how they network and get close with their nurse. The way the ABSN program is structured also makes students feel very unprepared to be actual nurses bc the last semester is just community and mental health. Community clinical is hanging out with different populations at nursing homes while mental health is all about communicating with patients rather than anything hands on. Since we aren't getting preceptorships, we aren't in the hospital for the last three months of the program. You basically lose all the hands on skills you learned in the first 6 months. I along with a couple faculty think that mental and community health should be the first courses in the program but admin doesn't care. 
 

again, I would only recommend this school if you are desperate and want to finish asap or if you got no other choice. please don't make this your first choice, it's not worth the headache.