UTA AO BSN: Upper-Division Clinicals/Labs/Exams Schedule

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Hey everyone!

I’m trying to find specific (and current) info about the AO BSN program offered at UTA. If anyone is in the program right now, or has just graduated, I would greatly appreciate it if you could respond to any of the following:

1.       Upper-div schedule (preferably at the College Station location, but please respond with the schedule for any location): Are clinicals and labs on Saturdays and Sundays most of the time and how often are they during the week? Could somebody just tell me what their schedule looks/looked like as an example? I spoke with an advisor, but they couldn’t give me specifics. They said that, once accepted into the upper division, the schedule would vary by term and that one wouldn’t be able to see it until 30 days prior to starting. I have 2 young kids and my husband works M-F, so I kinda wanted to see an example schedule and have at least some idea long before that about what I could (potentially) expect and how to plan for childcare. I’m currently working on my prereqs and planning to apply to the upper-div program for Spring 2022.

2.       Also, the exams during the upper-division program: I was told that depending on the course, some of them would have to be taken at a testing center during the week. Again, if somebody could tell me how many courses required this (as opposed to online proctored exams taken from home); was there a specific “exam day” or does it change from week to week or course to course; and are there specific times the exams are scheduled for (mornings/evenings)? 

3.       Lastly, for anyone who has taken at least some of their prerequisites at UTA (dynamic sessions), and is currently in the upper division, how would you say the course load and difficulty compare between the lower and the upper division? Just curious. I read elsewhere someone comment that their Chem course alone was harder than their entire J1 term LOL. So, do/did you find some upper-div courses easier than some lower-div ones based on your experience?

Thanks in advance!

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Specializes in Critical Thinking-Critical Care.

Hey there I am about to finish Junior 1 and can answer some of your questions.

1.)In regards to clinical rotations they will tell you before the semester begins when you will be attending. We were told that we would be attending labs and clinical rotations Saturdays and Sundays. For my clinical rotations I had to show up at 6am and left at 4pm. For the labs I would start at 7am and leave at 5pm. For the clinical rotations my clinical instructor wanted us to show up early so we could have a preconference prior to being assigned a nurse to follow around for the day. During the preconference we  were given expectations for what skills and tasks we would complete during the day. At the end of the day we had a post conference were we would discuss as a group what we learned during the day.  Next semester my clinical rotations could be during the week and not on the weekend. I was a teacher before entering the AO-BSN and had to resign my position in order to be flexible. Each site is different in regards to which days you will be attending. UTA tries really hard to get meaningful clinical experiences for you to learn but you do have to be flexible in regards to your schedule. 

2.) The tests for AO-BSN have been every Thursday at 8am or 9am on respondus lockdown browser for all my classes. You will be taking a test every Thursday. You will be studying for tests during the week and completing assignments. On the weekends you will be attending your clinical rotations and labs. You will have to carefully plan out your time in order to fit everything in. The assignments are composed of online quizzes, simulations, presentations, writing journals, discussions, and reading assignments. What worked for me was knocking out all assignments first and then focusing on tests. Try not to spend to much time on assignments since the vast majority of your grade comes from your exams scores. From 70 to 80% of your grades will be coming from the tests. Also their is something called the student success center that gives you great advice as to how to study for each test so I recommend you use them as an additional resource.  You will feel overwhelmed at first but just plan your tasks for the  week, do not procrastinate, and then take it one day at a time.  You will do just fine. 

3.) In regards to difficulty of understanding the material, it is no more difficult than pathophysiology or pharmacology. However I felt that the workload was more since there was a lot more assignments to deal with then just online quizzes and test. So therefor you have to plan out your schedule carefully. Honestly I wanted to get a job as a substitute during the semester but as the semester progressed I realized that in order for me to get the grades that I wanted I was not going to be able to work. If you work it will take time away from studying for tests which is already so limited. You are only going to have like 3 days to study for each test so if you work then you will have 2 days or less. Working unfortunately will effect your grades at the end of the semester and since I want to be competitive for graduate school I decided not to work. 

I had one classmate who had a young child and she studied at night when her child was a sleep. She also would give her child something to watch on Youtube while she studied and completed assignments during the day. It was challenging for her but she did just fine this semester. She didn't work during the semester. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can also get student loans to cover your cost of living other than the subsidized and unsubsidized loans.  If you need more money than what is provided by subsidized and unsubsidized loans than look at the college access loan which has a good interest rate and deferred payments until you graduate. 

http://www.hhloans.com/

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What classes do you have to do clinicals in? 

Is it every class with a lab?

Is it 15 months of straight clincials twice per week, every week, or is only 6 months of clinicals? 
 

Does anyone else have any experience managing full time work and this program?

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Hey Sciencedude1,

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! The specifics you gave me really helped me get a better idea of what this part of the program might look like for me. I wonder if it is because of the pandemic that all of your tests have been remotely proctored via Respondus or if that’s just how the J1 term is. Either way, I hope they keep it this way! LOL

Thank you also for the tips. I’m currently a stay-at-home-mom, so thankfully I don’t have to worry about the work factor. Also, this is my second bachelor’s (and my third time in college, because I was in an online MA program before I decided to withdraw and go for a BSN), so I am pretty good at managing my time. It would be my first time, however, doing all this with 2 kids.? This is the main reason why I was trying to figure out what the schedule was like, so I would have an idea how much childcare I would need. Btw, my husband is a teacher and I see how demanding his job is, so trust me, I know one can’t do it working as a teacher and doing an accelerated nursing program at the same time!

Wishing you all the best and good luck with the rest of your program!

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Hey TXMSW,

I believe this file will answer most of your questions ? 

https://academicpartnerships.uta.edu/documents/bsn_program_graphic.pdf

Short answer would be no, not all of the classes have clinicals and there is a break between terms. 

As for working full time, I can't speak from experience. I know CONHI discourages it; they say no more than 20 hrs/ week. But I'm sure it also depends on the type of your job and what else you have going on in your life. 

Best wishes!

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Specializes in Critical Thinking-Critical Care.
18 hours ago, TXMSW said:

What classes do you have to do clinicals in? 

Is it every class with a lab?

Is it 15 months of straight clincials twice per week, every week, or is only 6 months of clinicals? 
 

Does anyone else have any experience managing full time work and this program?

Well I can only speak of Junior 1 semester. In junior one we took Clinical Foundations, Holistic Health Assessment, and Health Promotions. The only class that had clinical rotations was Clinical Foundations. But you are applying everything you learn in your classes in the clinical rotations. Clinical Foundation is a class were you learn how to do procedures on your patients like inserting a foley catheter, cleaning your patients, changing an occupied bed, taking vital signs,  wearing personal protection equipment, learning how to use syringes, learning how the infusion pumps work and so on. Health assessment is a class were you assess each organ system and gain skills like auscultating lungs sounds for abnormal breath sounds. That way you can establish a baseline of how your patient is when he/she is admitted and as you do your assessment everyday you can tell if the patient is getting better or worse. So you see even though health assessment doesn't have a clinical rotation you will be applying those skills in your clinical rotation since nurses assess their patients everyday. I am currently finished with my rotations and have two more tests before I am done for the semester and will have a month off before the next semester starts. After next semester I believe we have like 1 or 2 weeks off between semesters. This upcoming break is going to be the longest for us. I don't recommend working full time and going through the program. Like I said it is very time consuming completing the assignments and preparing for the tests. I recommend taking out loans for your living expenses while you are in school, tightening your budget as much as possible, and if possible saving before school starts. 

By the way the clinical instructors and professors are very strict in regards to attendance to the clinical's since your clinical instructors take time away from their other duties to instruct you. This semester my clinical instructor turned out to be a manager of several floors on the hospital and he took time out of his busy schedule to teach us. So you see if you miss clinical rotations it is difficult to make it up and as per the Board of Nursing you need your clinical rotations hours to sit for the NCLEX. (Not that any of your are going to be absent I'm just letting you know how it is.) Also keep in mind that the people you are meeting during your clinical rotations could be potential future employers or colleagues so try your best to prepare for each rotation. Yes you will have to study for your clinical rotations as well so you know what is going on. What you are doing one particular day in rotations might not match the test content for the week so you will have to set some time aside to prepare for labs and clinical rotations. 

7 hours ago, PotentialRNMomOf2 said:

Hey Sciencedude1,

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! The specifics you gave me really helped me get a better idea of what this part of the program might look like for me. I wonder if it is because of the pandemic that all of your tests have been remotely proctored via Respondus or if that’s just how the J1 term is. Either way, I hope they keep it this way! LOL

Thank you also for the tips. I’m currently a stay-at-home-mom, so thankfully I don’t have to worry about the work factor. Also, this is my second bachelor’s (and my third time in college, because I was in an online MA program before I decided to withdraw and go for a BSN), so I am pretty good at managing my time. It would be my first time, however, doing all this with 2 kids.? This is the main reason why I was trying to figure out what the schedule was like, so I would have an idea how much childcare I would need. Btw, my husband is a teacher and I see how demanding his job is, so trust me, I know one can’t do it working as a teacher and doing an accelerated nursing program at the same time!

Wishing you all the best and good luck with the rest of your program!

Your welcome! I was in your shoes not to long ago and I came here for information as well. Good luck on your journey to becoming a nurse! ?

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Does anyone thats from DFW know anything about the best hospitals to do clinicals at? I assume the level 1 trauma centers would provide the best training but I’m flying blind here.   

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