SPC Nursing Program Spring 2017

If it's any consolation, this is sooner than I found out 2 years ago! Our alternate acceptance decisions came out November 20th.

I GOT IN!!!!!

Oh, congrats!!

I got in too!!!!! Oh my god I'm so happy!!!!!

ME THREE!!

I got in too! I look forward to meeting you all :)

Just so everyone knows, if you pick a Baycare hospital, you'll be going to Baycare facilities throughout your nursing school experience. If you pick the VA, you'll be going to the VA throughout. /QUOTE]

This is not entirely true. I am at the VA. We go to Mease Countryside for OB, All Childrens for Pediatrics, and somewhere else for psych.

I got in too! I look forward to meeting you all :)

Congrats! :) Are you going to be doing day or night?

Congrats to everyone who made it! For anyone unsure about the clinical site you want, I urge you to consider the VA. Yeah it is far...I drive from Tampa...but it is SO worth it. My cohorts in the other clinical groups have been very envious of the experiences we get at the VA that you just wont get elsewhere, ESPECIALLY for level 1. While the Baycare students were doing rehab for patients with broken limbs, we were taking care of new amputations, unstageable pressure ulcers, and traumatic brain injuries. We saw disease processes in their entirety, which really helped to understand the course materials. The instructors are incredible, also. The level 2 instructor works at the VA, and was able to get us into areas of the hospital the other groups didn't get to see. I spent 4 days in the OR, while some classmates were lucky to get 1. I got to see dialysis, while other groups didn't. We are getting 4 days for OB, while some other groups only get 1 day. There are so many experiences we are getting that the other groups don't. I'm sure you will be happy anywhere you go, because SPC is amazing, but the VA has been incredible to us, so I had to share :)

Nursing school is bananas. I hope you all are ready for this crazy ride!

Unicorn Magic said "This is not entirely true. I am at the VA. We go to Mease Countryside for OB, All Childrens for Pediatrics, and somewhere else for psych."

Well yeah, how many vets do you know are pregnant or are children? LOL. Of course you have to do OB and Peds elsewhere.

Also, it is not true because I am in HCA for first semester and Im at Bayfront for second semester and Bayfront is not an HCA hospital, they are HMA

If you haven't gotten your titers yet, the Health Department in St. Pete only charges $5 for each titer, $20 for tb test, and $49.33 for Tdap.

Congrats Spring 2017 cohort! I have just one piece of advice..DO NOT underestimate the amount of work and studying that you will have to do! Keep your head in the books and score as high as you can on the theory exams; those are the ones that count the most. Start off strong so that you don't have to sweat about your points towards the end. You will have a quiz EVERY week but this is meant to help you as they are similar to NCLEX style questions. READ,READ,READ!!! This is a must if you want to make A's, skimming will NOT work in this program. We aren't just visiting this thread because we have nothing better to do.....we are posting on here because we care and want to see everyone succeed! 5 students dropped out of level 1 this semester... I knew 3 of them personally; be sure you are mentally, physically and emotionally prepared. Good luck to each and everyone of you!

Tips for level 1:

You have to read the book to do well. Read everything, all the boxes. I would even suggest reading and taking notes from the book instead of paying attention to lectures or power points. Everything in nursing school is detail oriented. Understanding concepts is important, but you will only do so well without details. You will pass understanding the concepts. You will excel if you know the details.

Practice your skills! Unless you have a really lax instructor, you won't pass skills check offs without practicing each one at least three times. That means coming to the skills lab before or after class at least twice a week. You'll do even better if you practice each one ten times. You can't just read the skills sheet and do it perfect the first time during check offs. You need to be proficient at skills for patients, not just for check offs.

Keep your head down and do not go toe to toe with an instructor. It's not worth it. We had a girl do this in our clinical group and it didn't end up well for her.

I wish I would have picked Bay Pines as my clinical site. They're pretty much the only hospital in the area with 8 hour shifts, and I hate 12 hour shifts. They also have great benefits.