At home schools

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Hi everyone,

I am a stay at home mom and was looking into being a nurse at a children's hospital. Are their any schools that you can take that are acreditted and they count to getting a degree? Or colleges that allow you take to courses online?

I want to start out as a pediatric nurse practitioner and see where I go from there. I live in Connecticut.

Please let me know.

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.
Hi everyone,

I am a stay at home mom and was looking into being a nurse at a children's hospital. Are their any schools that you can take that are acreditted and they count to getting a degree? Or colleges that allow you take to courses online?

I want to start out as a pediatric nurse practitioner and see where I go from there. I live in Connecticut.

Please let me know.

I am a bit confused by your post. Are you currently a nurse? I assumed not when you stated you were "looking into being a nurse...", however, you then mentioned you were looking to start out as a ped's NP. Unfortunately, you are unable to just jump in and get your NP without first completing your BSN (Bachelors of Science in Nursing). A nurse practitioner is an RN who has typically received their BSN and has decided to pursue their MSN (Masters of Science in Nursing). Although that doesn't always hold true, that is the most common way to pursue your NP now days.

To answer your question about "at-home schools" -- there are many schools that provide online classes; however, I don't know of any schools that offer an undergraduate nursing degree online. Becoming an RN requires a great deal of clinical work and lecture-based work as well. If I were you, I would look to see if one of your local universities or community colleges has a nursing program and request to meet with an advisor or get information sent to you.

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Specializes in ED.

You could take some prerequisites online but not actual RN. I also was a bit confused by where you are starting. A NP is a long road. RN to BSN, to MSN. Not that it isn't possible! I hope to be a NP someday also (i am in my first year of a 2 yr AD program). If you could give a little bit of your background and education then maybe it would be easier to figure out where to go from here.

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I currently have my associated degree in early childhood education and was wondering if i could take online classes to become a cna.

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.
I currently have my associated degree in early childhood education and was wondering if i could take online classes to become a cna.

I think a good thing to do is go online and do some very quick "research" on the different nursing careers and the education required (just because your original post regarding nurse practitioner is vastly different than a CNA). I think it would be good to know all the differences. :)

But to answer your question regarding becoming a CNA. You can't do online classes to become a CNA. You could contact your local community college and see what they charge, but I wouldn't even do that. I would personally contact local nursing homes to see if they offer a CNA class. I would also look at your State Board of Nursing website (just goto Google and search for it) and look at all the accredited CNA programs. CNA programs are generally very very short (I took a CNA course in high school and it was 5 weeks long). CNA's are basically used to care for the patients, and that is their sole role. CNA courses are usually not intensive (very little theory or subject matter to learn), but rather you learn how to care for patients (feed them, clean them properly, make beds, how to properly move patients, etc.). But becoming a CNA is definitely a good starting point if you want to pursue a career in nursing! :)

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.

I'm REALLY confused because her profile states she is already a nursing student!! :trout:

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Sacredwoman, you've given us all a little mystery here! As pointed out, your profile says "nursing student"; you posted in January of 2006 about your desire to study at home to be a nurse (and at that time you had looked into the differences between MA and LPN, etc). It's now over a year later and you have the exact same questions...?

I think you've found by now that no, you cannot become a nurse of any level without going to a campus/hospital/whatever for clinical experiences. Nor can you become a CNA without the hands-on education required.

Working with human beings in such an intimate capacity requires you to have hands-on knowledge, and that will require you to leave home and go to where the education is given. Only makes sense, right?

I think sistermike's suggestion to research what the different levels of nursing are is an excellent one. It appears that by making the statement that you wish to work in a children's hospital as a nurse, you might be under the impression that LESS education is required for a pediatric position....in reality, MORE is usually the case. The degree in Early Childhood Education has prepared you for an entirely different field than nursing.

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I was thinking about getting into nursing but getting a divorce in 2006 halted that choice. Because Im a single mom with two kids I don't have any family to watch the kids while I go to school and no means of paying for the schooling. So I figured maybe a CNA course in the morning while my oldest goes to school full time. But I don't know about my son. He is going to kindergarten half of day in August. So maybewhen he is in school too. How long are the classes for community college for an CNA?

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As a single mom with 2 kids, who is thinking of re-entering the work force by improving your education, you can get tons of aid to go to school. The college I was at had 2 preschools right on campus, and the grade school was just around the corner. Go talk to the financial aid counselor and I bet you will be surprised :)

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.
I was thinking about getting into nursing but getting a divorce in 2006 halted that choice. Because Im a single mom with two kids I don't have any family to watch the kids while I go to school and no means of paying for the schooling. So I figured maybe a CNA course in the morning while my oldest goes to school full time. But I don't know about my son. He is going to kindergarten half of day in August. So maybewhen he is in school too. How long are the classes for community college for an CNA?

It really depends on the community college. I have seen courses as short as 5-weeks and as long as 16 weeks. The longer ones are generally spread out, where the shorter ones require students to be in the classroom and clinicals on the a daily basis. I would call your community college nursing dept. to figure out exact details for them. And as I stated in my previous post, I would definitely go to your state board of nursing website and find accredited CNA programs. I know of many CNA programs that are completely free (or extremely cheap) as long as you promise to work for them afterwords. Those programs are usually associated with nursing homes.

And as the other poster had pointed out, there is a great deal of financial aid available to single mothers (I am not female, nor a mother ;) ), but I know of many single mothers who have their entire schooling paid for, plus more.

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I was thinking about getting into nursing but getting a divorce in 2006 halted that choice. Because Im a single mom with two kids I don't have any family to watch the kids while I go to school and no means of paying for the schooling. So I figured maybe a CNA course in the morning while my oldest goes to school full time. But I don't know about my son. He is going to kindergarten half of day in August. So maybewhen he is in school too. How long are the classes for community college for an CNA?

You would be suprised at how much help you could get with being a single mom with two kids. If you really want to be a nurse, please go talk to a financial aid counselor at the college. If you go to the DJFS you could also get assistance with helping out with childcare arrangements et paying for it. Good luck with your decision.

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Where in CT do you live? There is a program in Wethersfield, CT that offers the CNA course that is for 2 wks. It's from 7:30-3:30, M-F. The first wk is all lecture and the 2nd week is all clinical. It cost $795 and the books cost $40 if it's not included. If you're close to that location and interested I can get the number for you.

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