A couple questions

calinursestudent818 · Nov 30, 2012

Hi there! I hope to begin my prereqs in a couple months and apply to nursing school in Oct/Nov 2013! Yes it is possible to work and go to nursing school! Although I hear often that the last few months of nursing school if you can cut work to part time or not work, it's better, so you can finish up strong without any distractions. Those last few months are also a good time to pick up a few hours of volunteer work at a hospital and/or start shadowing a nurse. However, financially you should have a plan for the possiblility of not getting a job right out of nursing school just in case, as there seems to be an unpredictable & fluctuating hiring market in nursing.

Pick 2-3 nursing schools you want to apply to and then plan out your prereq plan once you figure out where you want to apply. Then find out from each nursing school you decide on what they accept for transfer--online classes, no online classes etc. I know some nursing schools that will accept online class credits ONLY for non sciences-english, pysch etc but for sciences, they expect you to take a live class. Prereqs take 1-2 years to finish, it just depends how much time you have to dedicate to it. The more time you have for prereq classes, the faster you can get through them and start applying to nursing schools.

Also, look at the nursing job hiring market at hospitals and LTC facilities in your area. See what most job descriptions are looking for ADN or BSN? Then plan which program you will go into based on the pattern of the job market. I know in Los Angeles ADN's are being phased out, so the BSN is the route to take for sure in my region.

Good luck to you! Have any other questions PM me I'm always glad to help. :)