U. of Oklahoma Accelerated CA BSN program @ Glendale Adventist

leonarddi · Sep 18, 2008

Hi Everyone!
I'd love to hear from anyone who is enrolled in the 14 month University of Oklahoma BSN program in CA, which meets at Glendale Adventist Hospital for its clinicals. I'm seriously considering this program and would be very interested to hear whatever feedback you might have.
Thank you so much!!:heartbeat:typing

I m interested as well. :up:

hannebass · Sep 24, 2008

I am looking for information too! For anyone else interested what path of life are you coming from...are you changing careers, starting your first career???

Lhans333, MSN, RN · Oct 7, 2008

Hi everyone, I'm a current OU student at Glendale Adventist. I had a couple minutes, which I can certainly tell you is VERY rare in this program. I had endless questions about this program before I started, so I'm happy to shed some light on this program if you are curious about it. What questions do you have? :typing

doggymama23 · Oct 7, 2008

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply! How do you like the clinical teaching? Are you being given the information and tools to learn what you need in order to do well on exams? How do you like the on-line aspect of the program - is it effective?

Again, thank you SO MUCH!!

Lhans333, MSN, RN · Oct 7, 2008

This program is evolving and changing every week for us. My class is the first class to go through this program, and we are "guinea pigs" (for lack of better words). Glendale Adventist is a great hospital and a fabulous location for our clinicals. Our off site lab is not completed as of yet (ETA 11/08), so we have a temporary lab location at the hospital that doesn't have all the bells and whistles that this new location has/will have. The class beginning in January probably will never see the room we are in right now.

OU's ABSN program is great and the online learning is very comprehensive. Being an LVN with experience, much of this information will be review for you. Most of our class of 19 are coming from non-medical backgrounds, and most of our previous BA's and MA's are not in medical subjects.

As for the online learning...it's not for everyone, but even with all of our varying learning styles, we are getting through it. The clinicals are a great tool, and starting right away, it makes a big difference in hands on learning.

hannebass · Oct 7, 2008

Hi everyone, I'm a current OU student at Glendale Adventist. I had a couple minutes, which I can certainly tell you is VERY rare in this program. I had endless questions about this program before I started, so I'm happy to shed some light on this program if you are curious about it. What questions do you have? :typing

Thank you so much for finding the time to reply...I an not even imagine how busy you are with classes. I just met with Kennessa to go over my transcripts and determine a start date for the program. What day is your skills lab and what day do you have clinical? How is the online theory portion, how much time are you spending studying for assessments (tests, quizzes and papers) for the theory portion? Any feedback that you can give I would love as I am trying to determine how much of my life will be thrown into a tail spin especially when it comes to my family and continuing to work....Oh the joys of a mid-life crisis and changing careers!

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you - and only when you have time to spare and want to share your experiences!

Heather

Lhans333, MSN, RN · Oct 7, 2008

Hi Heather, we are wrapping up our lab for the day, so I have time to reply right now. Let's see if I can answer some of your questions (you are asking some of the same ones I asked as well! I have a child, so knowing my schedule was imperative!)

Kennessa was here today and she is very knowledgeable. It was the first time most of us have met her, but we've all done quite a bit of phone/e-mail communication with her.

Our skills labs are Tuesday (9-4ish), and every other Wednesday (9-1ish). However, I know they will stagger the next co-hort coming in January so I don't know what days the next class will have, but expect that you will be at the hospital/lab room 3 to 4 days a week. Our clinical shifts are either Sunday or Monday for 8 hours, but other semesters will be 12 hours. The day before your clinical you need to go to the hospital for and select a patient to do a care plan on for your shift. The nurses have been great so far. Again, these days may be different for the next class. Next semester we will be in a different unit, so you may have our shift right now on Med-Surg.

I had to quit my job to do this, and I'm living on my husbands salary and financial aid. Having a child, and having to work is a recipe for disaster in this program. OU's financial aid department is very helpful making sure you have enough money so that you don't have to work. They are brutally honest that if you work you may not pass the program, and I know understand that to be very truthful. But it's only 14 months, and we are already almost 2 months down. It is flying by!

I'm spending a good 50-60 hours a week in class and studying. They will tell you more hours are needed, but I'm comfortable with the material with my current studying patterns. Finding a small group of students and breaking up the material and teaching it to each other has been very effective for us so far.

Total mid-life crisis, but if you love nursing and really want it, it's very worth it in my opinion!

hannebass · Oct 8, 2008

thank you Thank you thank you!!!! for taking the time to answer my questions. I am assuming that you have health insurance through your husbands work...My job carries the benefits and that is what worries me. I am so happy that you are pursuing your dream and I only hope that the planets align and I am able to do the same! Thanks again! and Good Luck!

Hi Heather, we are wrapping up our lab for the day, so I have time to reply right now. Let's see if I can answer some of your questions (you are asking some of the same ones I asked as well! I have a child, so knowing my schedule was imperative!)
Kennessa was here today and she is very knowledgeable. It was the first time most of us have met her, but we've all done quite a bit of phone/e-mail communication with her.
Our skills labs are Tuesday (9-4ish), and every other Wednesday (9-1ish). However, I know they will stagger the next co-hort coming in January so I don't know what days the next class will have, but expect that you will be at the hospital/lab room 3 to 4 days a week. Our clinical shifts are either Sunday or Monday for 8 hours, but other semesters will be 12 hours. The day before your clinical you need to go to the hospital for and select a patient to do a care plan on for your shift. The nurses have been great so far. Again, these days may be different for the next class. Next semester we will be in a different unit, so you may have our shift right now on Med-Surg.
I had to quit my job to do this, and I'm living on my husbands salary and financial aid. Having a child, and having to work is a recipe for disaster in this program. OU's financial aid department is very helpful making sure you have enough money so that you don't have to work. They are brutally honest that if you work you may not pass the program, and I know understand that to be very truthful. But it's only 14 months, and we are already almost 2 months down. It is flying by!
I'm spending a good 50-60 hours a week in class and studying. They will tell you more hours are needed, but I'm comfortable with the material with my current studying patterns. Finding a small group of students and breaking up the material and teaching it to each other has been very effective for us so far.
Total mid-life crisis, but if you love nursing and really want it, it's very worth it in my opinion!

doggymama23 · Oct 8, 2008

You are a fountain of welcome information!! Thank you so much for your very generous feedback. I SO appreciate you taking the precious time to answer my questions. The best of luck to you in your program!:redpinkhe

kryztality · Oct 13, 2008

This program is evolving and changing every week for us. My class is the first class to go through this program, and we are "guinea pigs" (for lack of better words). Glendale Adventist is a great hospital and a fabulous location for our clinicals. Our off site lab is not completed as of yet (ETA 11/08), so we have a temporary lab location at the hospital that doesn't have all the bells and whistles that this new location has/will have. The class beginning in January probably will never see the room we are in right now.
OU's ABSN program is great and the online learning is very comprehensive. Being an LVN with experience, much of this information will be review for you. Most of our class of 19 are coming from non-medical backgrounds, and most of our previous BA's and MA's are not in medical subjects.
As for the online learning...it's not for everyone, but even with all of our varying learning styles, we are getting through it. The clinicals are a great tool, and starting right away, it makes a big difference in hands on learning.

HI!!

So there's only 19 students in your cohort? Is that how many they accept every trimester? Or is it because it's a new program?

Lhans333, MSN, RN · Dec 1, 2008

Hi sorry about the delay! The first semester is coming to an end and we have 2 weeks of final exams coming up, so I don't stay on top of non-school related e-mails very well :bugeyes: . I'm sure you have had most of your questions answered by staff and I believe the open house is coming up this Wednesday, but if you have questions I will try to answer them. Yes, there are only 19 students in my co-hort, but I don't really know the answer for that. I believe that is largely because they couldn't advertise the program in Glendale. Most of us that are in it found out by mistake or because we were desperate enough to believe we could commute to San Diego and they informed us we were closer to the new program. We really just got lucky :up: . I have heard that they accepted 25 or so students into the next co-hort beginning Jan 09. The facility can house the same approximate number as San Diego (about 70 or so), but they are not staffed to accommodate that number yet. I very much prefer the smaller number in my class. Hopefully that was helpful :mad: .