CO Nursing Programs?

I'm nearing the end of my prereqs and have starting filling the upper division applications out!

Anyway, my girlfriend has a number of potential engineering opportunities at various places in the state and suddenly CO nursing schools were on my radar. Specifically looking at BSN programs.

Anyone with experience care to chime in? Looking to go into ICU/Emergency and eventually flight FWIW.

Do you have previous ER or medical experience?

Yes.

I work in an ER, healthone hires new grads in the ER. My director looks at where you did your clinical rotations in making his decision on hiring new grads. Go to school where ever, get good clinical rotations. You aren't going to get into the ICU as a new grad. If you want to be in the ER don't do the majority of your clinicals on a med/surg floor.

Rotations are tied to the program you're in. Which is why I'm asking this question.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying?

There is a nursing school in Grand Junction at Colorado Mesa University. St. Mary's hospital often has nursing students working in the E.R. and there is a CareFlight service out of the hospital. Also many of the ER nurses and techs are also climbers.

Scott Krankkala wrote:There is a nursing school in Grand Junction at Colorado Mesa University. St. Mary's hospital often has nursing students working in the E.R. and there is a CareFlight service out of the hospital. Also many of the ER nurses and techs are also climbers.

Colorado Mountain College has a nursing program. I think they work in the ERs in the different mtn locations. They also have lots of flight for life going out during the winter months.

Nick Stayner wrote:Rotations are tied to the program you're in. Which is why I'm asking this question. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying?

OB/GYN Nurses get early retirement and pensions! Because that field of medicine can give you bad tunnel vision after so many years.

Although not in CO, I've heard of tales of quality accelerated BSN programs in both Laramie and Flagstaff.

Zirkel wrote:Although not in CO, I've heard of tales of quality accelerated BSN programs in both Laramie and Flagstaff.

Don't know much specifics but the girlfriend just got accepted to the CU nursing program for her bachelor's degree which is based out of the Denver medical campus which is incredibly nice. ucdenver.edu/academics/coll…

Regis university is another major one and they have an accelerated program. Regis will also make you take some random religion classes too before acceptance. Also I believe there is one on the Denver Metro campus as well.

That is about as much as I know. I do believe that the CU and the Regis are the top two in the state but I could be wrong.

Nick Stayner wrote: Nice. Did you go there or know anyone who did? Just looking to get some personal anecdotes.

My wife is close to finishing her BSN at CU Denver. She is in the accelerated program (18 months). Be prepared to get rejected, especially if you are out of state. Apparently there is very high competition for slots in these programs. There are several good programs in the Front Range, some of which have varying pre-reqs. I believe the Red Rocks program requires Organic Chem (which is crazy!).

Best of luck and hope you find the program that fits. Oh, like others have probably said, clinical experience and a stellar GPA/GRE score help in the acceptance of out of state applicants.

nurse focker

I will look into all of those. Thanks and keep it coming!

Tits McGee wrote:Be prepared to get rejected, especially if you are out of state. Apparently there is very high competition for slots in these programs.

Tits McGee wrote:There are several good programs in the Front Range, some of which have varying pre-reqs. I believe the Red Rocks program requires Organic Chem (which is crazy!).

NickinCO wrote:You aren't going to get into the ICU as a new grad. If you want to be in the ER don't do the majority of your clinicals on a med/surg floor.

Hey Nick,

I'm finishing up the accelerated program at Regis that Andy mentioned above. He's right that they make you take a religion pre-requisite but you can do it at red rocks or whatever community college. I took religion in film for one of mine and wrote about the big Lebowski with the dude as a "Christ figure"... so it's really not too rough.

When I was applying it seemed the Denver area schools that had accelerated programs were Regis, CU, Metro and Denver school of nursing. DSN isn't accredited though so I stayed away from that one. The other three seem to all have good reputations. The things I liked about the Regis program is that it's the shortest (12mo) and you can bid on clinical rotations. From what I hear (this may not be true) you simply get placed at the others. So while you can't always get what you want you do have some say. I got to do a rotation in the CICU and a brief stint in the ER. There are also a few hospitals that only take Regis students, or give them first priority, so that may be an advantage, though the same is true for University hospital and CU I suppose.

Not sure what type of program you're looking into but they also have the "choice" thing for people with prev. health care experience.

Good luck and let me know if you want any more nursing spray!

I'm in CU's program at the Anshutz Medical Campus. I am in my last semester and have about two months left. CU's program is competitive to get into as are all BSN programs in Colorado. I think admission rate is around 10%. I have a feeling that being a guy will help your chances as there is a desperate need for male nurses in the profession.

Getting In:
I was initially rejected then offered a place literally a week before school began based on a number of people who gave up their place in the program. Basically I was pretty lucky. My impression in talking to the other students is that for getting in GPA in your prerequisites has to basically be a 4.0., there were few exceptions to this rule. The essay counts for a lot with the themes of cultural experiences and critical thinking being especially important to expound on. Having prior experience as an EMT, CNA, or just as a volunteer is huge as well. Finally cumulative GPA counts quite a bit as well, they were pretty big sticklers about me submitting transcripts from even high school classes that I took for college credit back in 1996. My cumulative GPA from my first degree (I graduated in 2002) was quite low (3.1) and I think this is why they initially rejected me.

The Program:
The program is quite good. There are some very good teachers, some bad teachers and plenty of in-between. The resources available at CU are top-notch as it is a true medical campus with med school, pa school, pharm school and several more. While we get some of the best clinical opportunities out of any school in the state, you really don't have much control over where you are placed clinically and I have never heard of anyone being placed in an ER for any rotation except occasionally their last practicum rotation. On pretty much every rotation however you do have an opportunity to spend a day or two in the ER, ICU, or surgical unit. You do get to request clinical placements but the requests aren't always honred and they have to be reasonable. I believe this to be true for all schools. On the flip side I have never heard of any students doing a rotation at a nursing home which is a huge plus. As a beginning student, even with ER experience, you really want to start out with the basics on a med/surg floor.

The program does a really good job of easing you into things and giving you progressively more responsibility. Needless to say nursing school is not like any other type of school (except other medical professions) in that you do have peoples lives in your hands. You participate in live births and will tend to patients as they pass away. You see some really sad stuff (I worked on a pediatric oncology unit) and some really uplifting stuff. You deal with a ton of busy work BS and it is really stressful at times, but in the end it is well worth it. You will have a challenging job with amazing flexibility and benefits and plenty of room to further your education. You can gain tons of experience in your medd/surg rotations and make connections so that maybe you can do your final practicum in an ICU or ER and get hired in one of those places on graduation (it is rare but it does happen). I want to work in an ICU or ER on graduation but would be just fine with med/surg for a year or two, there is a lot to learn.

Ohh, I did the traditional two year program (differs from the accelerated by one semester) and while it can be extremely stressful at times, I still had plenty of time to climb and work part time. I think the accelerated would be a different story.

Hope this helps,

-Patrick