Samuel Merritt University ABSN Fall 2022

KND · Sep 16, 2022

Mm I would check with the coordinator regarding the physical due date, but I got mine about a month before the program started and from what I recall it was due before we started clinicals.

The scrub tops and pants were about $20-30/ea and other students mentioned only needing about 2 sets if you plan on washing them often. Plus shoes of course :).

Ravenia_Fox · Sep 16, 2022

That sounds much more reasonable. Will we need to purchase other items for clinicals? Pen light/stethoscope/blood pressure cuff?

Tristanie, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2022

3 hours ago, Ravenia_Fox said:

That sounds much more reasonable. Will we need to purchase other items for clinicals? Pen light/stethoscope/blood pressure cuff?

They provided us with a stethoscope, BP cuff, and a penlight. Although several of us preferred to use our own stethoscope. ?

Tristanie, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2022

6 hours ago, Ravenia_Fox said:

Heyall!

I was just admitted to the Sacramento campus ABSN program and I have some questions. Would anyone be able to tell me about uniforms? Were you allowed to choose your own scrub bottoms and shoes? Were there different guidelines for different clinical sites? I'm trying to save money by finding the right items used, so I want to start looking now rather than after the semester begins.

Thanks!

Congratulations!

Tops: I ordered the scrub tops through the bookstore (they waived the shipping fee). Here’s some tips: they might not show all the options so put what you’d like in the comments section when checking out. Most of us prefer the proflex top. It’s more fitted and better material. It ran true to size for me.

Bottoms: I ordered through scrubs and beyond. They had the joggers available for $17. But it is also on Amazon. They did not care if it was navy or true navy. As long as it was the landau brand. I preferred the proflex for the bottoms as well.

Shoes: All white. A lot of us got Cloves and I absolutely love them. I recommend sizing up .5. But they have easy and free exchanges. They run sales a lot.

Clinical sites do have different different guidelines but we have yet to be told anything in particular. We start clinicals in a few weeks and I can update you later.

Books: so far (it’s week 2) I’ve been carried in Fundamentals, Jarvis physical exam, and skills. I found all mine on Amazon. If you look in the used options it tells you the condition and if the access codes are unused. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. The access codes are SOOO helpful.

Having both an iPad and laptop has been super helpful. But that’s just my preference. Notability is my absolute favorite note taking app.

Feel free to reach out anytime. I’m more than happy to help and answer any questions! My SMU email is [email protected]

Highly recommend setting up a facebook group for your cohort. We got together so the first day wasn’t a bunch of strangers. But also—these are going to be your most supportive and helpful friends for the next year. We also use discord to message each other.

Tristanie, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2022

5 hours ago, Ravenia_Fox said:

Actually - did you go to the Sac campus? Would you be able to tell me about how often you had to be on campus for the hybrid program, and how spread out the clinical sites were? I'm moving from the bay and trying to find the best area I can afford.

Hi there!

As of right now, we are only on sac campus 2 days for Lab. Two days is on zoom.

Clinical sites for us: UC Davis, Sutter Roseville, Sutter Sac, Kaiser Roseville, Mercy San Juan/Kaiser Sac/Sheiners.
There was 6 groups (2 Davis) and you most likely will stay at that hospital/group for the year.

Ravenia_Fox · Sep 17, 2022

Thank you, super helpful! Would you mind clarifying that last part about the groups? Do you mean if I'm assigned to Sutter I'll be at Sutter sites all year, or if I'm at UC Davis, I'll be there all year?

Tristanie, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2022

50 minutes ago, Ravenia_Fox said:

Thank you, super helpful! Would you mind clarifying that last part about the groups? Do you mean if I'm assigned to Sutter I'll be at Sutter sites all year, or if I'm at UC Davis, I'll be there all year?

Basically each hospital is a group. They try to keep you at one hospital for all your rotations. Yes, if you get Sutter Sacramento you’ll probably be at Sutter Sacramento for all rotations. It can change though. All depends on the hospital at the time.

Ravenia_Fox · Sep 19, 2022

For folx who have been doing clinicals for a while - what would you say is the earliest a clinical/class/lab starts in the morning?

DNP4ME · Feb 13, 2023

Hi,

Can I connect with anyone from the SMU ABSN Program? I applied from 2023 and I am worried about clinical placement and graduating on time.

Thank you

gsg92 · Feb 13, 2023

Hi,

So I'm currently in the Fall 2022-2023 cohort for SMU ABSN program. Just wanted to put a few updates for folks interested in applying to the program in the near future:

1) Preceptorships are done, not going to happen. The school is no longer supporting preceptorships because, to them, there's no supporting scientific evidence to show that there's significant beneficial impact to nursing student outcomes post-graduation. They plan on replacing the preceptorships with advanced certificates (I.e. EKG, Advanced Care, etc.) at additional cost. The tuition will stay the same or increase despite less program content compared to previous cohorts

2) This program is heavy self-studying. Don't expect the professor to help you apart from lecture. Some are good at explaining, others don't even try. Using osmosis and registerednurseRN to help explain concepts most of the time. The lectures and tests sometimes don't align, therefore emphasis on learning the concepts fr. multiple sources. It's basically becoming a full asynchronous, online program

*very important for people w/ families and/or jobs --> time management is crucial and this program will push you to the limits

3) Clinicals are OK. You get what you put into it. If you just go and expect the nurses to spoon feed you or you're timid, you are probably gonna get below average experience. Get in there with the mindset that this is your preceptorship and you want to get as much hands-on experience as possible. Expect to spend a lot of time on care-plans (personally believe this is a dated practice, but others swear by them).

4) Lab simulations: I personally like these a lot. I come from an EMT background so I learned through scenarios. SMU has some high tech simulations that are pretty cool. You'll be observed by your peers and instructors while you go through medical scenarios. The only problem is that there is only a couple of these simulations per section. Wish there was more of these...

Summary (TLDR): this program is expensive and may seem unfair since you're basically self-teaching yourself. My advice, go in with the expectation that you're paying for an expedited, accredited education to take the NCLEX ASAP and get $$ ASAP. SMU ABSN is still one of the fastest tracks to NCLEX w/ less barriers to entry than other programs (I.e. SFSU)

Some $$ options to help offset costs:
1) https://bhw.HRSA.gov/funding/apply-scholarship/nurse-corps
2) https://bhw.HRSA.gov/funding/apply-loan-repayment/nurse-corps

DNP4ME · Feb 14, 2023

gsg92 said:

Hi,

So I'm currently in the Fall 2022-2023 cohort for SMU ABSN program. Just wanted to put a few updates for folks interested in applying to the program in the near future:

1) Preceptorships are done, not going to happen. The school is no longer supporting preceptorships because, to them, there's no supporting scientific evidence to show that there's significant beneficial impact to nursing student outcomes post-graduation. They plan on replacing the preceptorships with advanced certificates (I.e. EKG, Advanced Care, etc.) at additional cost. The tuition will stay the same or increase despite less program content compared to previous cohorts

2) This program is heavy self-studying. Don't expect the professor to help you apart from lecture. Some are good at explaining, others don't even try. Using osmosis and registerednurseRN to help explain concepts most of the time. The lectures and tests sometimes don't align, therefore emphasis on learning the concepts fr. multiple sources. It's basically becoming a full asynchronous, online program

*very important for people w/ families and/or jobs --> time management is crucial and this program will push you to the limits

3) Clinicals are OK. You get what you put into it. If you just go and expect the nurses to spoon feed you or you're timid, you are probably gonna get below average experience. Get in there with the mindset that this is your preceptorship and you want to get as much hands-on experience as possible. Expect to spend a lot of time on care-plans (personally believe this is a dated practice, but others swear by them).

4) Lab simulations: I personally like these a lot. I come from an EMT background so I learned through scenarios. SMU has some high tech simulations that are pretty cool. You'll be observed by your peers and instructors while you go through medical scenarios. The only problem is that there is only a couple of these simulations per section. Wish there was more of these...

Summary (TLDR): this program is expensive and may seem unfair since you're basically self-teaching yourself. My advice, go in with the expectation that you're paying for an expedited, accredited education to take the NCLEX ASAP and get $$ ASAP. SMU ABSN is still one of the fastest tracks to NCLEX w/ less barriers to entry than other programs (I.e. SFSU)

Some $$ options to help offset costs:
1) https://bhw.HRSA.gov/funding/apply-scholarship/nurse-corps
2) https://bhw.HRSA.gov/funding/apply-loan-repayment/nurse-corps

Thank you so much! What does the week look like in the ABSN? Are clinicals only on weekends? Do many students have a delayed graduation because they can't get placed in clinicals? Or if SMU cannot place you, do you just complete the clinical portion online? Thanks again for the information. It is endlessly helpful.

gsg92 · Feb 14, 2023

DNP4ME said:

Thank you so much! What does the week look like in the ABSN? Are clinicals only on weekends? Do many students have a delayed graduation because they can't get placed in clinicals? Or if SMU cannot place you, do you just complete the clinical portion online? Thanks again for the information. It is endlessly helpful.

Typical Week: you have two classes (1 5.0 unit class, 1 2.0 class) --> adaptive quizzes, HESI case study, test, clinicals per week

Finals Week: up to 3 consecutive tests (HESI exit exam for 2.0 class, Test for 5.0 class, HESI exit exam for 5.0 class)

Clinicals: you get to pick your availability so there are time blocks (AM/PM) and weekdays/weekends. Clinical assignments were chaotic at the beginning, but I believe everyone got an assignment. Some clinical sites were delayed due to clinical instructors (CI) leaving last minute. All clinicals are not equal, some you're able to go into multiple departments (I.e. ER, ICU, OR), but most are stuck in med-surg unit. It depends on your CI and how much they advocate for you, but sometimes it's out of their control.

There are online clinical make-ups, so you can still pass even with missing some clinicals.

I think the delay in graduation could be the result of not finishing the courses above the cutoff (73%). From students in my cohort that didn't make the cutoff it was due to personal reasons (I.e. family/work balance), but the courses are rigorous too. Not many have dropped out, but we've been losing about 1-2 students per section on average so far. However, lets say you don't pass MCA 5.0 class but pass the 2.0 class --> you will have to retake MCA with a different cohort but can move on the other 2.0 class with your current cohort (if that makes sense).

The program isn't designed to try and fail you, they have multiple resources to help you succeed (online programs, tutors, etc.).