Any information about UT Austin School of Nursing?

[zhugeliang1]

What degree program was she doing at ACC and has she graduated from ACC? And the BSN will be pursued where? I'm likely to do my coursework in Texas but probably will try to go over to Louisiana (or as close to Louisiana as possible) to find a job when the courses are done.

[hts]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Lol really .... who cares that you're spending your holiday in Europe? What does any of that have to do with this topic? Happy thanksgiving.
Btw my "traditional experience" didn't involve partying and drinking. It involved working, studying, and commuting

The point was obviously lost on you so I'll try to explain it a little bit slower this time. Life is a journey--not a destination. It's not a sprint to the finish line; it's about enjoying and appreciating every precious moment we have in this earth. For many people (including the young lady who is bright enough to be admitted to UT), getting to a nurse as quickly as possible isn't what they're interested in. They're interested in a fuller, richer life experience. One that a community college can't provide. Things like dorms. Athletic teams. Greek system. Richer club offerings. Etc. Hopefully the Prague reference makes more sense now. And we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Paris today. Happy Thanksgiving.

[IC_deLight]

Originally Posted by hts

The point was obviously lost on you so I'll try to explain it a little bit slower this time. Life is a journey--not a destination. It's not a sprint to the finish line; it's about enjoying and appreciating every precious moment we have in this earth. For many people (including the young lady who is bright enough to be admitted to UT), getting to a nurse as quickly as possible isn't what they're interested in. They're interested in a fuller, richer life experience. One that a community college can't provide. Things like dorms. Athletic teams. Greek system. Richer club offerings. Etc. Hopefully the Prague reference makes more sense now. And we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Paris today. Happy Thanksgiving.

??? "Greek system" is your idea of a "richer life experience"? If you believe in hazing, misdemeanor criminal activity and occasional felony criminal activity, forced alcohol and other drug consumption, occasional deaths from the same, the waste of monthly dues, parties with a false air of exclusivity, activity designed to detract from educational objectives, and generally misdirection in life then maybe that's a "richer life experience" for you. Others would prefer living life without hazing, sexual abuse, alcohol poisoning, drug overdose, criminal activity, or unnecessary criminal records and accompanying investigations - and don't care to participate nor to be victim of what Greek system participants characterize as "fun". If you want a richer life experience then avoid the Greek system like the disease that it is.

No the Prague and Paris references don't make more sense since you've pushed the "Greek system" multiple times now. Getting through and getting her degree and career going are more likely to enable her to travel where and when she wants to as opposed to participating in the "Greek system", especially at UT.

[hts]

Who was talking strictly about UT? I was discussing the relative merits of a traditional 4-year undergrad experience vs a two year associates degree for someone who can afford to invest the time and money early in their career. I'm not knocking the AA route, but merely asking why anyone who has the opportunity to get a BSN directly out of high school would choose to do the associates degree route eludes me. I spent 3 years in an undergrad frat and didn't witness/experience any of the issues you raised (perhaps I missed out?). After hitting the Louvre yesterday, today we did Musee d'Orsay, then walked the 5 mins to Musee l'orangerie (besides Monet's Water Lillies they had Grant Wood's American Gothic on display--what a treat!) and then we ended up at the Pompidou Centre. I think the kids are all museumed out, lol.

[velardern]

Originally Posted by zhugeliang1

Velardern, your comments were very enlightening as I was reading this discussion while sitting with my son who was in the ICU in San Antonio last week. There seems to be a shortage of ICU nurses because everyone who's staffing ICU is running like crazy. Not the sedate scene I was envisioning. So is demand for nurses in any particular city the driving factor in salaries? Someone in this thread was thinking newly minted nurses were making 60K in Texas, but I was wondering is that true only in cities like San Antonio where there are multiple healthcare systems? I've thought of going into ICU nursing myself but I don't want to stay here in Austin forever myself because there seems to be so few healthcare systems.

It's interesting to read the perception of family members in relation to the ICU environment. At times it can be serene and sedate. Usually not though because the sickest of sickest end up in the unit needing constant care whether it be through nursing interventions such as turning a patient every two hours, providing oral care for vented patients, administering medications as ordered, bed baths, wound care dressing changes, tube feeds, etc....these are highly acute patients requiring one on one care and at times there is no quietness in the unit which is stressful for the patient and family members. So yes at times our nurses are running around like crazy. The other side of that is we have a quite a few contract nurses that while are great nurses do not know the lay of the unit so they're trying to orient themselves to the charting process, where supplies are, etc.

Danbe's comments are correct.

And yes the shortage can lead to the increase in salaries in some areas especially rural areas. In the larger cities not so much. The healthcare systems tend to stay in line with salaries offered which dilutes competition and recruitment.

Working in ICU can be very rewarding. It's important to include the family members in the plan of care so they know what to expect. I am sorry to read your son was in ICU. I hope that his issues have resolved for the better, that he and you received compassionate care, and that you can reflect on the experience as a caring experience. It's never easy on anyone when a loved one is in the hospital.

Healthcare as a whole with payor mix and reimbursement is changing. Adding the cost of supplies, new technology, price of medications, etc into the mix changes the landscape of budgets for many healthcare systems. And all of us in healthcare are paying close attention to the new president elect and what his plans are....how they will impact healthcare. We are also paying attention to state bills being passed and how they financially affect the hospitals.

I'm not begrudging those that choose the traditional path to nursing. It's the one I chose, but at 45 if I could have done it differently with the mindset that paying off a $45k loan down the road would potentially impact affordability of living I might have chosen differently. My point of responding to the original poster is that there are a few different avenues to get a nursing degree and one should explore all to determine which best fits their goals.