Excessive nursing applicants everywhere!

U.S.A. Maryland

Published

This is more of just a general rant about whats going on with nursing school and the nursing field lately. It absolutely drives me CRAZY that its so competitive to get into a nursing school bc of how many applicants there are. Normally I would just do my best and apply but the fact that I'm having to compete against people who didn't REALLY want to be nurses but they can't get a job in their field gets on my nerves. I have always wanted to be a nurse, since i was little...im 26 and ive had been working as a CNA since 2004...working my way up, starting from the bottom for experience until I get my RN...In all my science classes and people I meet, they all have degrees in dance or english but can't get a job or they want more money so theyre like "screw it, ill try nursing".....For someone who was born to be in this field, not just any person can be a nurse, you have to have a big heart, and a tough stomach. WHATS up with this!?! find something else to go to school for!!:idea:

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I totally agree with you but I wouldn't worry too much about that. There are so many people who go into this field for money that when they actually get to nursing school or (by some miracle) become a nurse, they will realize you have to love what you are doing. They will end up being unsatisfied or just fail at all altogether. It will be their waste of time and money. Just stay positive in what you are doing and why you are doing it. From what I hear and read there are tons of people who go into nursing school but definitely don't graduate with the same group of people.

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Im curious as to why you are allowed to have a late start but not the next guy. You got your CNA 2 years after you graduated HS, thats a gap just the same as those that went to college, just that you acted on your dream earlier. We all have things in our lives that have us doing things we are not happy with, and while its true that alot of people realize that their 1st career doesnt pan out very well, there are just as many that had sucessfull, well paying careers and walked away from them to heed a call from nursing that they always ignored.

It can seem unfair that they had their shot at college and they are taking yours too, but you cant hold it against them. Keep your course, crush your classes and hopefully we will make it to the other side.

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For some perspective, many of us who had previous degrees and careers don't simply "want more money". We had the opportunity to make lots of money, we had experience in our field, senority, and yet we walked away for [re req's and nursing school. Many of us, as a matter of fact, MOST of the second career students I know who are in NS are here because as we have matured and experienced the professional world, we realized we wanted something more. We want to offer something back, to leave a legacy for our children, to really leave the world a better place when we exit.

Stay focused on your dream and don't let the others get you down. If it's money they're after, they'll be sorely dissapointed. Best wishes to you!

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Specializes in Onc.

SiennaGreen said it best! Thanks for giving some credits to second career nursing students.

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Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

This topic comes up periodically, and honestly I don't think some people have more of a "right" to be nurses just because they've wanted it for longer or feel they have a bigger heart. The way the world works is that we all get in line for what we want, and sometimes we get it and sometimes we don't. You can have 30 people applying for nursing school or for a nursing job, 30 different reasons for wanting this career. Who's to decide whose motive is more worthwhile? The second degree nursing students I've encountered, with few exceptions, were focused, hard-working and compassionate, and their past life experiences only made them better rounded and more mature nurses.

Don't worry about what everyone else is doing and why they're doing it. Just put in the work to get the knowledge and skills needed to get into nursing school and find a nursing job afterwards.

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I hate to sound mean when you are looking for support, but you sound a little like the people who didn't make it into my highly competitive nursing school this semester. I am a second-degree seeker in nursing, not because I "can't find a job", but I decided soon after finishing my first degree that I would love to do nursing. Yes, I already have a degree, but I worked just as hard to get my GPA and entrance exams where they needed to be to get it (the only courses that transferred from my first degree were ENGL101 and PSYC101). I applied to 3 nursing schools in my area with a 4.0 and in the 99th percentile on my entrance exams and have a lot of people in my last prereq that are suddenly upset and a little snobby because I got it and "this is their 2nd or 3rd time applying". Sorry, but tenure in your prereqs and thinking you want/deserve it more than someone else doesn't get you where you want to be in life...working harder than everyone else does.

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As someone who's currently in nursing school, I just want to say, the people to pity are those going into nursing for the money/employment and not because they really want to do it. I am already seeing it with some people in my class who simply don't have the disposition to be nurses. It feels like toil to them. It's thankless. Those of us inclined to be nurses are already doing much better. You're competing with them now, as am I, but I suspect they'll jump on the first chance to leave nursing/have less patient interaction in a few years.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I am already seeing it with some people in my class who simply don't have the disposition to be nurses. It feels like toil to them. It's thankless. Those of us inclined to be nurses are already doing much better. You're competing with them now, as am I, but I suspect they'll jump on the first chance to leave nursing/have less patient interaction in a few years.

Keep in mind that the "first chance" they jump on is usually management so they will be our bosses in the future. Amazes me every time! :mad:

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... they all have degrees in dance or english but can't get a job or they want more money so theyre like "screw it, ill try nursing"

They can't get a job in dance? Hmmm who would have thought.

The reality is this. It is tough times out there right now. I was a paramedic for years, got out of it and went into contracting and construction and opened my own company. I did real well with it. Money was good. Then the economy went south and I lost my business. I always enjoyed the medical field and had all my pre-reqs already so I decided to go into nursing. It wont pay what contracting paid but it will be nice to have a regular paycheck and retierment. So am I wrong? No. It is called adapting. It is how people survive. Just because it wasn't their lifelong dream to be a nurse doesn't mean they wont make a great nurse.

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Well, I am pretty ****** off myself. I used to be a nurse back in Russia, but my diploma is no good here. I tried starting from scratch, but can`t get past "B" s in Anatomy, I just seem to have really bad luck on the tests. Now I know that there is no way I can get into the program, because all they look at is numbers and scores,they don`t give a rats behind about your background and some of us are capable of so much more than some dumb little test will ever show...Don`t even know what I am going to do now, flip some burgers probably

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Elena, have you emphasized at all the fact that English isn't your first language? That might help, since you do have a trickier task than those of us taking tests in our native language.

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