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Old 04-09-2009, 08:59 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,297 posts, read 120,729,686 times
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Agree with the above. Here is a link to Pitt's nursing programs. Look under "Accelerated 2nd degree"

Academics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing

An ADN at CCAC or equvalent may take as long as a BSN under this program. Another point to consider is that eventually you may get tired of going to school, and never get the BSN if you go the ADN route. I work with a nurse in that situation.
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Old 04-09-2009, 09:33 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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That is true. School gets to be a lot after a while.

The only thing I get nervous about with the Accelerated Program is the fact that I wouldn't be able to work part-time to pay for my monthly bills. I'm trying not to take out loans for that (even though with an Accelerated program at Pitt I would have to for the program) considering I am already paying back my undergrad loans :/ For some reason I am thinking a certificate program such as Mercy is going to allow me more flexibility to work part-time? Maybe I am mistaken?

I think my friend did a certificate program at a Nursing School in Pittsburgh and she started out at $20/hr. I obviously would like to eventually make the most money possible that I could with being an RN.
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Old 04-09-2009, 09:44 AM
 
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Were you laid off? Many people are unaware that CCAC is waiving tuition for people who have lost their jobs. You wouldn't qualify if you quit your job though. And I'm not sure if it applies to all programs available at CCAC, but it's worth looking into though.
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Old 04-09-2009, 10:02 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,297 posts, read 120,729,686 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmk219 View Post
That is true. School gets to be a lot after a while.

The only thing I get nervous about with the Accelerated Program is the fact that I wouldn't be able to work part-time to pay for my monthly bills. I'm trying not to take out loans for that (even though with an Accelerated program at Pitt I would have to for the program) considering I am already paying back my undergrad loans :/ For some reason I am thinking a certificate program such as Mercy is going to allow me more flexibility to work part-time? Maybe I am mistaken?

I think my friend did a certificate program at a Nursing School in Pittsburgh and she started out at $20/hr. I obviously would like to eventually make the most money possible that I could with being an RN.
From what I remember of the diploma programs, you don't have a lot of spare time in them, either, to work more than a few hours a week. In my day, anyway, all were full time programs. All nursing programs have clinicals which take up a lot of time and don't give you much flexibility. You also won't be an RN until after you graduate and take the licensing exam. If you work in nursing at all while going to school, you will be working as some sort of ancillary personnell and probably paid $10-12/hr. You also probably won't be able to work a full shift except on weekends, and hospitals are notoriously inflexible. You will probably have to work in retail or a restaurant, something like that, while going to school in any of these programs.
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Old 04-09-2009, 10:31 AM
 
Location: Park Rapids
4,362 posts, read 6,531,023 times
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My wife went to St Francis (is it even in existance now?) and work came to her in bunches. She came out of that program smoking hot. We've moved to three different States and here License has followed her easily. There will ALWAYS be work in the field.

That said, the UPMC Program is your very best option. I have a friend in the program right now.

Best of Luck
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Old 04-09-2009, 10:45 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
From what I remember of the diploma programs, you don't have a lot of spare time in them, either, to work more than a few hours a week. In my day, anyway, all were full time programs. All nursing programs have clinicals which take up a lot of time and don't give you much flexibility. You also won't be an RN until after you graduate and take the licensing exam. If you work in nursing at all while going to school, you will be working as some sort of ancillary personnell and probably paid $10-12/hr. You also probably won't be able to work a full shift except on weekends, and hospitals are notoriously inflexible. You will probably have to work in retail or a restaurant, something like that, while going to school in any of these programs.
That's true. That's why many people opt to get as much coursework out of the way as possible prior to applying to a school of nursing. Regardless of which route she takes, it will be difficult to work during clinical. Many people opt to take out student loans to cover living expenses.
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Old 04-09-2009, 12:38 PM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
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Katania,

Just wondering if you see a decline in the quality of nurses coming out in the last 15 years.
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Old 04-09-2009, 12:49 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
20 posts, read 68,696 times
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No, I wasn't laid off. After many ups and downs with my thoughts, I decided to quit and move home because I miss all of my family and friends too much...plus this area isn't that great to me...especially with the cost of living.

I figured I wouldn't have a lot of time with clinical and what not. I would probably waitress considering that is what I am going to be doing once I move back home next Friday. It's not the best situation, but it gets me home

If I end up doing a certificate program at Mercy, I'm not sure there is too much prereqs I need to get out of the way before the program starts. I guess they would tell me that once I turn my transcripts in from Pitt and SRU.
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Old 04-09-2009, 12:59 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,030,943 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmk219 View Post
I figured I wouldn't have a lot of time with clinical and what not. I would probably waitress considering that is what I am going to be doing once I move back home next Friday. It's not the best situation, but it gets me home
My BIL still had a lot of studying, papers and exams to do during clinical.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tmk219 View Post
If I end up doing a certificate program at Mercy, I'm not sure there is too much prereqs I need to get out of the way before the program starts. I guess they would tell me that once I turn my transcripts in from Pitt and SRU.
I wouldn't wait that long.

Just from looking at their website, you can get an idea of some of the courses you will need to get started on:

UPMC Mercy School of Nursing Curriculum – UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

anatomy and physiology I and II
nutrition
microbiology
introduction to psychology
growth and development across the life span
introduction to sociology
biomedical ethics

Verify ahead of time which CCAC credits they accept.
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Old 04-09-2009, 02:06 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,297 posts, read 120,729,686 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by COPANUT View Post
Katania,

Just wondering if you see a decline in the quality of nurses coming out in the last 15 years.
I have a personal opinion that the AAS programs are not the greatest. Those programs have been popular for about the last 40 years.

The general breakdown of nurses by education in this country is 25% bachelors degrees, and 75% AAS degrees. There aren't many diploma nurses around any more. Here in Colorado, it's more like 50/50 (sorry, I don't remember where I read that, so I can't cite the article.) Also, I worked for a long time in public heatlh, where a BSN is required (for the most part.) So I can't really evaluate. The office where I work now has all BSNs.
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