UNF Accelerated BSN Summer 2013

U.S.A. Florida

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The deadline to apply for UNF's Accelerated BSN program beginning Spring 2013 will be here before we know it (January 15, 2013), which is why I wanted to go ahead and start this topic now. Many of us are taking the TEAS V soon (if we have not already) and finishing up prerequisites (if needed), so I am sure we all have some questions or information to share with each other.

Juliesnow: The community portion was primarily the only thing I didn't like about the program. But that's like saying the car engine is the only thing I didn't like about my car, ya know. It's such a huge part of the program.

A majority of the academics were great. The classes that EVERYONE disliked were the community classes, second semester Nursing Science II (the most boring thing I've ever experienced in life), and leadership. 95% of the professors/instructors were great. Clinicals were great, except for community clinicals (yes, homebase is considered a clinical). The nursing building on campus is clean and awesome, and they had great Simlabs and resources.

Yes, I feel like the program prepared me for my nursing career; however, I feel that the MANY hours spent towards community work could have been better spent learning about other things. In other words, I would have been BETTER prepared for my career had it not been for all of the community work.

For homebase, you give the faculty your home address and they try and put you in the community area that is closest to your home. So they pick it for you, and it's yours for 2 years.

If you have any other questions just let me know.

HM2Doc - back to the discussion on community outreach/homebase/clinicals... I just went to the information seminar this past Friday. They briefly touched on this, but I forgot to ask them if the outreach hours are additional hours or are the part of an actual clinical class? So in other words, I am wondering do we spend an additional 4 hours a week at say a nursing home doing outreach that is additional to the classes for that semester, or are the hours included as part of one of the classes? I hope that made sense.

Starting to get excited for the interview Friday :)

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Best wishes to everyone tomorrow!

This will probably be my last post to this thread as regretfully, I will not be there despite my Interview invite, due to recently accepting a job offer that was too much money to pass up. I plan to save money for at least a year and possibly apply again for 2014. And I'm just fine with this since the money I save can help me avoid having to get any more student loans when I am in fact ready to enroll. The point being-- Nursing school is no longer in my future, for 2013 at least.

So now I will leave you with something inspirational:

Once you enroll, just promise me one thing... remember why you are there. It should not be about the money to you, or the prestige in having the letters "RN" after your name. You are there to make a difference. While the doctors of the world may treat the diseases, for instance, it is the NURSE who will provide the majority of the comfort that patients need. Remember that it is NURSE who can play a part in things like setting the broken arm of the boy who falls out of a tree so he can play with his dog again. It is the NURSE who can be the caregiver for the male Senior with the shots he needs or whatnot, so he can be strong enough to renew his vows with his wife of 50 years... and so forth. Hopefully you know where I'm going with this.

The point being: it is the NURSE who has enormous potential to Make a Difference.

That Nurse will be you. Farewell and good luck.

~G

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You have a dedicated "Community" class your first semester and your last semester. They say that homebase hours count as your clinical hours for those two classes. In reality, you have homebase hours every semester, regardless of whether you are taking a community class or not. The homebase hours are not always in a nursing home (in fact, I don't know of any groups that are). I never once stepped foot into a nursing home or medical facility for ANY of my homebase hours. You'll also never learn never perform any nursing skill during homebase that you haven't already learned your first semester (blood pressures...more blood pressures).

Just know this. You WILL end up hating homebase. Everyone does. And there's no way out of it.

Anyway, enough about that crap. Here's a brief description of your REAL nursing clinicals:

1st semester: Spent entirely at a nursing home (taking vitals, wiping bum bums, the basics)

2nd semester: first half of the semester is either Psych or rehabilitation nursing, the second half is whatever you didn't have the first half. Psych, you will got to a psychiatric facility and sit and talk with psychiatric patients all day. It's awkward and extremely boring. Rehabilitation, you will help patients recover from surgeries, strokes, car accidents, etc.

3rd semester: I believe it is spent entirely on Adult Health. THIS IS NURSING. You will work on med-surg and give out meds, change dressing, help patients with whatever. Learn all you can during this semester, it will help you on the NCLEX.

4th semester: First half is pediatrics or women's health, the second half is whatever you didn't have the first half. What can I say about this semester? Babies and lady partss. That about sums it up.

5th semester: First half of the semester is spent on a med-surg-type floor where you will have to take on as many as 4 patients. Second half of the semester will be spent with a preceptor where you will apply everything you've learned in nursing school. To get a specialty (peds, ICU, ER, Oncology, etc) you have to pass your "exit HESI" on the first try and score no lower than a B in any of your classes. If you do not do those things then you get placed on a med-surg floor.

Tip: The BEST hospital for clinical is MAYO, hands down. It's where god would go if he got sick. Seriously, it is far better than the other hospitals as far as clinicals go. It's clean, doesn't constantly smell like feces, the employees and the patients were always happy. So, if you can get Mayo, get it.

Another bit of info they never tell you or downplay: Nursing school is extremely demanding. It is monumentally harder than your first two years of college. Seriously, it was the hardest thing I ever did. If you have children, it will be even harder. If you have children and a job, then you better be one of those people that are naturally brilliant and never need to study. Also, at least one person never makes it to graduation...it's a fact. My class lost at least 6 people. That's not counting the one person who dropped out on the very first day at orientation when the staff explained just how hard it was going to be.

Anyway, good luck at your interviews. :)

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Thanks HM2Doc - you have been successful in enlightening me and in scaring me - lol! :wideyed:

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So, now that it's over...how is everyone else feeling? :nailbiting:

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So, now that it's over...how is everyone else feeling? :nailbiting:

I feel pretty good... how about you?

I was at 9.30 in group 4. Everyone in my group was good. I was pleased that all the questions were along the lines of what I expected, and I had general answers already in mind. The only negative I took away at all was that we ran out of time and another hopeful and I didn't get to ask the panel a question.

At the end I thanked the panel for making the process less stressful than it could have been and they said that our group was an easy group and that we all did well.... for whatever that is worth.

Tell us about your experience.

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What kind of questions did the applicants ask when it was their turn to ask?!

Good luck everyone!! I'm taking notes for fall :)

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I'll spend the next few days tearing my hair out, but overall it didn't go too terribly badly. Everyone in my group kicked some serious tail, and there seemed to be a fairly decent rapport going on with the interviewers. We all got the chance to ask our questions at the end. I never feel that good after an interview because I always think of the things that I forgot to say. Since the TEAS FAQ still says that the test comprises 35% of the final admissions score, I hope that maybe mine will slightly offset the potential less-than-stellar interview score. I was still beyond impressed with the other applicants.

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Honeybadger - you probably did better than you think, and remember we were competing against everyone, not just those in our group.

I think about the points too though, especially since some of the folks got invited with less than 700 points. Unless you tanked the interview I bet you make the cut. :cool:

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What kind of questions did the applicants ask when it was their turn to ask?!

Good luck everyone!! I'm taking notes for fall :)

I don't remember verbatim but the whole interview went something like this:

Introduce yourself.

  1. How do you balance the demands of your busy schedule with school, family, job, friends etc...
  2. If you were in a clinical situation as a patient, what attributes would you want in your nurse?
  3. Describe the role of integrity for a nurse.
  4. What is your backup plan or alternate career choice if you do not get into nursing school?
  5. Do you [hopefuls] have any questions?

  • When did you [the faculty interviewers] decide to transition from nursing to nursing eduction?
  • Does UNF do anything to prepare students for the travel nursing career?
  • the last question was regarding the community outreach program, but I don't remember what she said.
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Yeah, I will have to say that I was really impressed with everyone in my group. I think I did good, but then I start second-guessing myself and my answers. The interviewers were so nice and funny, so that helped me relax a lot...

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Hello everyone. I interviewed today at 8:30 in group 1. I think it went well, I felt prepared for the questions asked and now I just have to wait and see. I was wondering what everyone was doing for housing? I'm an out of state applicant (from California) and if I'm accepted I'll be moving to the Jacksonville area and looking for a roommate. If anyone was interested please let me know. I'll be moving in the middle of April and I'm prepared to put a deposit down on a place as soon as I know if I'm accepted. Best of luck to everyone who interviewed today. Let the wait begin...

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