Tcat Ripley lpn

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I'm trying to get into one of the Tcat LPN programs in the west tn area. I took the compass test about a week ago in Jackson and pass.I have applied to the Ripley school because they are the only school that has a new class starting in January 2016 to my knowledge, and that's close to me. If im not accepted in Tcat Ripley, I do plan on applying for all the other Tcat schools that are with in a 30 mile radius of Jackson. Just hoping and praying that I am accepted!!

We've had a cna rotation at the nursing home as well as med pass and assessments. We will not start our lpn rotation until October. We will get to go a the prison, ob at a local hospital, and we also get choose an extern on our own.

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I'm at Ripley. I'm not working, it is really hard to work and study at the level that I need to. I commute from Jackson, and that long drive cit onto study time.

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My family and I decided to move down here from Murfreesboro in december. My husband works but I currently stay at home and I will not work until I get through the lpnight program. We have 4 kids so working and keeping up with them will not work for me.

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Kjones how long are your days when doing the cna, med pass & assessment rotations? I know the teacher mentioned that there would be 8, 10 & 12 hr days when doing rotations but you also mentioned that the the lpn rotations wouldn't start until October. Have those long days already started or are you working shorter hours now in rotation & then working longer hours in October? What does a day look like right now & how many days a week are you doing rotations currently?

Aside from med-surg, did you find any of the courses more challenging than others?

How long is your med-surg class? And are all the courses finished with by the time you will be doing the lpn rotations in October or do the courses continue until December?

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I also have a question. I will be paying for this out of pocket and is there a better way or cheaper way to get boo? I downloaded the cost sheet and the 1st trimester is like 3100 is that all up front? Like the uniforms and all the books due at one time? I know the tuition and certainly fees are due at the beginning.

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I'll tell you what I know about the costs & kjones can elaborate on this more because she is still in school.

BOOKS: Its way cheaper for you to buy them on your own than to purchase them from the school. The school charges full price (if not more) & there's nothing wrong with them making a profit but who wants to pay more for something they could have gotten for less?

One of my fellow students told me about a place that sells the books way cheaper but that place is in Memphis. However, it was a bookstore assosiated with the U of M so my advice to you is to check out the local colleges/university's bookstores for the required books. You can even pull out the phone book & look up "textbook brokers" because they may have some of the books you need for class. You can also buy them online but keep in mind that if you buy used books that will drastically cut your costs down.

If you shop around, the books should not even cost you more than $500, maybe less. But this will depend on if you buy all brand new books or used books. If you buy new books expect to pay more. Remember all you need is a book in good condition because you're only going to be using it for a short time.

You pay for the books and the courses throughout the semester and not all at once. Obviously if you have a class coming up you have to pay for those credit hours before or when the class starts. The same goes for the books. The teacher will pass around a piece of paper & ask everyone to sign up if they want the school to purchase books on their behalf for an upcoming class. You do not have to pay for the book until it arrives.

You are charged throughout each trimester for the credit hours & books so the entire costs are not due up front & all at once.

UNIFORMS/SUPPLIES: Again, they are way more expensive (uniforms) if you purchase them from the school vs buying them elsewhere. The problem is, if you can't find the same color uniform that the school requires you to have, then you have to buy the uniforms from the school. It's mandatory that each student matches so it has to be the exact color. And I've never seen uniforms cost the amount they charge. I'm not kidding.

The supplies like the stethoscope are about the same cost at school as they are outside of the school & $80 is what the school quoted me but I would purchase the Diagnostic Penlight & second hand watch outside of school to save a few bucks.

Hope this helps.

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Ok thanks for that information!! I will check out the college bookstores around Jackson. I am thinking about going to Ripley simply because I want to start working within a year. Again thank you!

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The cna,med pass, and assessment rotations, were only about 6 hours days. Sometimes we were actually done sooner. We began the cna rotation at the end of the 1st term. We had to have atleast 40 hours, so we did 6, six and a half hours days. The med pass and assessment rotation began about half way through the the 2nd term. We had to also have 40 hours of each. The hours were basically the same as with the cna rotation. From my understanding the lpn rotation willbe 8 hours days, 3 days a week. During that time, we will have every friday out, and Mondays will be spent preparing for nclex exam. During the lpn rotation, we should also be done with all class work. Therefore we will be just focused on clinicals and preparing for state boards. Pharmacology was the the most difficult for me so far. I really love medsurg, but most people really struggling with. It is the long subject. It's about a month and a half long, which includes 14 exams. Knowing A&p will really be beneficial with medsurg.

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KJones did you say you lived in Jackson? How is the d? How early in the morning do you leave and what time do you get there? I was going to wait until May but I really want to be working on my rn by 2018. So I need to go on and apply for Ripley

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Yes TennesseeNurseToB, you are correct about the books. In addition to books, there is also prep-u. computer program that has to be purchased with some subject.Our class has used prepu for testing in basic nursing, pharm, and medsurg. My instructor has also given us alot of assessments on prepu.

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Yes I live Jackson. I get up about 6am. Leave out at about 7am. Get to school about 15 mins early.

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I choose Ripley for similar reasons. By the time I received a letter from Jackson, I was in the middle of my 2nd term in Ripley. So glad I didn't wait. We currently have 19 people left and about half commute from outside of Ripley.

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