Unsure Where To Begin...

[Samanthavv]

My name is Samantha, and I have recently decided I wanted to be a nurse.

I had my daughter, via cesarean on August 29th, 2007. Before then, I had always been interested in fields having to do with biology and had considered nursing at one point, but still hadn't made up my mind on what I wanted to do for a career. It may sound strange, but I like hospital environments, and although I didn't enjoy being hospitalized, I enjoyed the environment of the hospital.

Seeing all of my nurses in the maternity ward, and all of the duties and tasks they performed, got me really interested in OB nursing and I think it would be a career I would really enjoy, but I'm unsure how to begin.

What kind of degree do I need? Do I need any extra certificates to add on to my degree in order to do OB nursing? Are there any special grants or scholarships available for people interested in nursing? Can any of the courses (the prerequisites, perhaps) be done through a correspondance program?

I really appreciate any help you may be able to offer!

[HealthyRN]

There are three ways to become an RN: through a diploma program (very rare these days, but there are a few that still exist), an associate's degree, or a bachelor's degree. Explore the site to learn more about the pros and cons of each. It is possible to be hired as a new grad into L&D, but I have found that it is somewhat of a difficult speciality to get into. From personal experience, it seems that people rarely leave, so finding a day shift is nearly impossible. It may help you to do an interternship or preceptorship in L&D while you are still in school. There are scholarship and grant opportunities for nursing students, but you would have to check with the school that you want to attend because some depend on what school you are attending and where you live. I know there are distance education programs out there, but I really don't know anything about them. Exploring that forum might help.

[lilo19]

Well, first you must convince yourself you've got it to become a nurse, then you've got to have some degree (take some courses, an internship maybe), then you gotta pick a specialty...It's an entire road...