OK, we got in, but now what? I am a detail orientated person and I want info! When can I start picking up things I need? What are those items?
I have really lost it! I went from thinking about getting in to wondering what to do/what to read/what to buy before class starts.
And how big of a backpack do we REALLY need?
Anybody out there from CLC have any advice? Help me before my family moves out of the house permanently (wait...maybe that would be a good thing:devil:)!
Hello there. Mary Buckner is awesome! I am finishing up 2nd semester now, but had her for my first semester. Nikki is good, too (we had her for 4 weeks of this semester - we had 4 instructors this semester) but I can't comment on how she is as a first semester instructor. I would highly recommend Mary for your first semester. Mary tends to "hold your hand" a little more than the other instructors, and she is soooo nice and caring. This was extremely helpful, especially since we were all trying to navigate the CLC way of life. Good luck!
I don't know if I replied to your comment about quality. I have to say that CLC graduates have a reputation of having an excellent education and therefore the quality of the schooling is good.
Last week I spoke to a fellow student, in the hallway, taking the CNA course at CLC. It turns out she was considering going to Harper (and moving), because they offer a traditional program where they present material. She said, "I am paying for them to teach me". Most people cannot understand the way CLC makes students research everything prior to class.
I understand also (from a student I met at clinical), that Oakton does it much the way CLC does it.
The amount of work I put in at CLC in preparation for the program and in the program really is equivalent to that of a BSN degree. But I live so close to the college, it was in my district, I was accepted the first time, it has a good reputation for quality and I did get scholorships. For me, CLC was a good choice even though I don't like the methods.
Most of the nursing instructors were excellent and very easy to understand. CLC nursing program is known for being a "self taught" program, but to be honest, if you don't have the initiative to go home and read a textbook or do some research, especially when you know you will be needing that info during clinicals, there isn't much else the teacher can do for you. The instructors all held master's degree and higher, they all had ample amount of experience, as well as good rapport with the neighboring hospitals. There are a couple from what I remember (I graduated a year ago) that have peculiar personalities, no one was un-bearable. They did re-vamp the program since I left, they now require students to be a CNA before entering which lowered the NLN scores considerably, which in turn caused the students to score considerably lower on the cluster exams as well. But since the changes I really dont know how the program turned out, Id like to know, if anyone has anything to say about it.
First, there is a module and/or a complete packet in the bookstore, then it is made available online on the bulleitn board they use (blackboard). In that packet there is a syllabus, calendar, modules and a books list. It contains required and optional books. Oh yes, they use to charge something like $60 for the complet package with all the modules. I found it worth the purchase because we could buy it early and it was prepared in order. It was very useful for navigating through the class and clinicals. I use to download all the online modules to my computer and organize them logically. I put them on my NAS (web) server and made it available to our study group so we could all be organized. You will prepare information in parts of the modules for class and the electronic version was nice to have (and free). Oh yeah, the school now charges something for printing more than 250 pages a semester. That can easily happen with your required work. Be prepared to print a lot say with a laser printer because it becomes more affordable than an inkjet one. You can pick up a good one for like $150. Or you can print everything you want at work. I went through probably 10 reams of paper or more and two 6000 page capacity toner cartridges in the 2 years of nursing plus 1 year of biology and other classes at CLC.
I found it a waste for me to get optional books. And when they changed the program, the value of the books dropped. I spent about $860.00 for a complete package of books for all 4 years, but I wanted to sell most of the books back but they were worth only a total of about $13.00, nothing compared to the investment. Most courses in which the books are used for following semesters fetch about 50% of their value or more. But for nursing, there is a chance it won't be used again. 1 semester after mine, they changed the entire program so the books were worthless.
Note: when you study or get info from the books, focus on those things that give the biggest bang for the buck. I wouldn't waste a lot of time on all the small details. Also, the books in the bookstore, at least in the past, didn't come with an online version. The publisher offered an online connection for virtually all the books which allowed searches across the books so you could capture data you need into Word. When I questioned the publisher in our semester, they (Elsivere - not sure of the spelling), stated that the nursing program director specifically stated she did not want the students to have the online capability with the books, (stating she was saving us close to $100.00). But in reality, that was an option if we bought, could have saved us a lot of time. Many students put 20-40 hours in per week studying, but the online version would have cut that down to 5-10 hours per week.
Oh yes, I forgot. The buleitn board they use is clc.blackboard.com. I know they investigated another provider but I don't know if they switched it yet.
Hi, I just took just finished taking my test. I am knew here though.. I am so worried now because nothing on the test was in the Study guide. I read it over like 15 times and practiced all the tests (English, Science and Math) over 12 times. I am highly disappointed right now. Does anyone know my chances? How can I start studying again? Please advise.
I felt very disappointed at myself after this exam too. But it turned out I did okey (Composite 97%). I would wait for the results on your place... I believe you would be surprised how well you did. I answered only 50 out of 60 science questions correct and it gave me 99% in science section. I mean they don`t take many questions into the account and I assume those questions that were not covered in McDonald book are the ones that are not counted.
It is so nerve wrecking to wait for the results but you did your best to prepare for the test and there is nothing else you can do at this point. I truly thing you did very good.
When can I start picking up things I need? What are those items? 
BBPeds
1 Post
Hello there. Mary Buckner is awesome! I am finishing up 2nd semester now, but had her for my first semester. Nikki is good, too (we had her for 4 weeks of this semester - we had 4 instructors this semester) but I can't comment on how she is as a first semester instructor. I would highly recommend Mary for your first semester. Mary tends to "hold your hand" a little more than the other instructors, and she is soooo nice and caring. This was extremely helpful, especially since we were all trying to navigate the CLC way of life. Good luck!