St. Vincents anyone?

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · May 10, 2011

I put my application in the other day. I can't answer from personal experience but I can tell you I have numerous friends, relatives and past/current co-workers who were grads of ST. Vincent's.

They all say the same thing..its a tough program, the school doesn't "play" so to speak, some really crazy demands of applicants, etc however it is a great program and they feel they were educated to be great nurses. They only complants about the program as I said, were it was very difficult but very much worth it.

I can say, ALL the nurses I've encountered who are alumni of St. Vincent's are awesome nurses who graduated with a great knowledge base and skills.

tnt714 · May 29, 2011

I am at St.V's and I really do love it, however it is an extremely difficult school. Our classes, even our gen ed classes are no joke. there is no "homework" .. its study study study every single day. Our A&P's require more work/info than most schools. We have an exam/quiz just about every week .. Also, there is no room for error. A grade below a C+ in ANY science course is considered a fail, and any grade below an 80 in a nursing course is also considered a fail . You must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.75. The teachers and other faculty are very helpful. But it is definitely one of the toughest programs around, no doubt about that!! but well worth it.

AlannaCT, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2012

Hi everyone, I just finished St. V's this past spring, (now an RN), and wanted to give you all my 2 cents about the program. This fall, 2012 there was a large increase in tuition and the passing grade was raised in the general ed classes from a C+ to an 82, which means an 81.99 will be a fail. For all nursing classes you need a min of an 80 to pass. Clinicals are pass/fail. Science classes are difficult, but the nursing classes are harder and only get more difficult with each semester. There are no study guides, and no advice for whats on tests, as the professors tell you to "know everything", and be aware that there will be weeks where you will have to read 15+ chapters, do 2&1/2 days of clinical as well as your mandatory video CAI's and papers that need to be done. Day classes for nursing run in 7 week sessions so are very intensive. I can think of only 3 nursing professors that I felt were qualified to teach, (keep in mind that I went into nursing with a previous BA degree), and most if not all were not helpful or available if you needed more from them outside of class. Though there is a tutor available, if you can go for tutoring during their available hours. Clinical professors are obviously proficient nurses in their specialties, but most all are arrogant, rude, demoralizing, and mostly have a demeaning attitude towards the students. They will treat you like you are an idiot, expect you to do everything like an experienced nurse, will demean you and treat you like an idiot if you ask questions or ask for help on a procedure. The worst part of clinicals was the fact that you would be scheduled for a 7 hour shift and the clinical professors would push you to be done by 1pm, because they wanted to leave early. Let alone they left the floor after meds to get coffee and they stayed in the cafeteria downstairs for 1&1/2 to 2 hrs came back just in time to do noon meds & then rushes you out the door. I felt like I had to learn my clinical skills on my own, by using the clinical lab,(when it was actually available to students!!!!),over and over to teach myself the skills, taught myself about the labs, treatments and diseases. The clinicals were a joke, the professors dote on their favorites (1 or 2 students) and ignore the rest or are mean. Most of us just prayed for it to be over as fast as it could. Care plans were a joke & a waste of time as you only spent your time copying from books & copying does not induce learning. You spend the majority of your clinical time filling out your careplan, doing soap notes and documentation. Student nurses are just glorified cna's & free slave labor for the hospital. I have no idea if the education at other schools is better, but I do know that I did not feel that the school taught me what I need to know in order to be a competent nurse. Yes, I passed my nclex the first time w/75 questions, but feel like my education & experience was all me; any person can get in front of the class and read off a powerpoint, and that's what most of the teachers there do. A few were great in the class & in the clinicals, but the rest were not.

That's my 2 cents worth.

ja8724 · Sep 1, 2013

I couldn't have said it any better myself. I did very well at St. Vincent's College, never failed a class, and passed the NCLEX with 75 questions - I was successful at this school and therefore am not bitter. But take my word on the poster above me - she is right on cue. You basically teach yourself at this college and the professors expect you to know EVERYTHING. Tests were stressful because you had no idea what was going to be on the exam. The professors would say, "know everything"... And the stress was awful when you had literally 15-20 chapters to read knowing that everything you are reading is "fair game" for the exams. Nursing Grand Rounds was another stressful project that is such a waste of time which is done in the last class. Keep in mind, I went through the day program which was accelerated so trying to fit in this project along with all the other readings and assignments was too much for 7 weeks. Also there was waaaay too much concentration on care plans and soap notes and not enough clinical time. The clinical time that we did have was usually with a patient who was getting discharged and didn't require much care. My clinical rotations were on the same units over and over again (7N and 10N which is med surge and ortho). I would love to have gone to telemetry, respiratory or oncology units like some other students. Oh, and if one of the "awesome" clinical instructors liked you, she would hand pick you for her future clinical group which was unfair. The instructors need to rotate the students in their clinical groups. I always got the new instructors coming in who would stay for a semester and leave. I wish I had one of the seasoned clinical instructors...maybe my clinicals would have been better. One of my clinical rotations was to observe in the operating room. The surgery I was to observe got cancelled and when I asked my instructor if I could have another day in the OR to observe a surgery since mine was cancelled, she said no due to the amount of students, they can only have one day in the OR. The school cares only about your money and not your education or experience. Tuition has just gone up again and they accept so many students. The first few months of school, everyone is squished into a classroom before students start failing out or leaving to go into the evening program. The program is difficult but not impossible. If I could do it all over again, I would go to one of the community colleges. I've heard such positive things about the CC. The classes are smaller, better clinicals and the grading standards aren't as rigid as St. V.'s.

Laur318, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2013

Thank you Alanna and Ja8724!

very helpful!

WCSU1987 · Oct 22, 2016

Don't mean to bring up an old thread. Here is my thinking as of right now. I am in the process of taking nursing prerequisites for the ADN program at the Community Colleges. It's cheaper and the fastest route to becoming a nurse in the State.

I already hold a previous Bachelor of Science degree it looks like most of the prerequisites I've taken 8 years ago.

My science prerequisites are fresh I took Intro to Psych during the Spring, AP1 & Intro to Chem this fall, and plan to take Micro & AP2 in the Spring.

I have all the English, Math, Communications, World Religion classes completed.

I've heard that St Vincents has become lenient in accepting students who haven't completed their prerequisites with them.

I have heard for students with a Bachelor's degree that they don't offer much financial aid and it can be an expensive program. Any truth to this?

Looking over the program if in the program say in the Fall I be done by the end of the next Fall semester.