Don't choose a school until you ask these questions!

ixchel

As you consider beginning the journey into nursing, it is very important that you pave the way to success early. There are a lot of choices to be made, and it doesn't matter if you are a fresh new high school graduate or a 45-year old parent considering a second career - you need to consider some things up front. It's frustrating and sad to see, here on allnurses, posts from grads who can't seem to beat the NCLEX, or who have sent out hundreds of resumes, only to get no responses. If all of this time and money is being spent to begin a successful career, how can you increase your chances of meeting that success?

Here are some questions that might be helpful when you start to consider your options for school. This isn't a guaranteed map to success, but if you do take the time to consider all of these things and act on them, you will know that you have put your best effort in.

1. What degree will you get?

It's possible this will seem obvious to you, but for some, it comes as a big surprise to some after graduation when they can't find a job. The higher the degree, the better your job options, but the more time and money you have to invest. If you get a diploma RN, you are less likely to get the job of your dreams than an ADN, and an ADN is less likely than a BSN. It's a trade-off - do you spend more time in school to get a better shot at more jobs, or do you spend less time and money, but limit your options?

Ask yourself these questions:

How long can you wait before you are employed?
How much can you afford to spend on this? (With this, consider if you have access to financial aid or scholarships. Fill out your FAFSA!)
What options do you hope to have available when you graduate? Will going to school longer be worth it to you if it gives you more options?

After you ask yourself these questions, and decide what is more important to you, be prepared to accept the consequences of your choice. You don't want to finish school and enter the job market feeling like it's unfair that others have had experiences you wish you did.

2. What is the reputation of the schools available to you?

While accreditation is obviously something you need to look for in a school, you also need a school with a great reputation. You need to figure this out before you start applying. If you are able to move to a different area for a better school, you may decide to broaden your search and inquiry. If you can't move, this limitation might be a problem.

That said, find a school and find out: what is the school's reputation? Don't ask your neighbors. Don't ask your parents. Don't ask a guy who you know goes to the hospital a lot. None of those people will be looking at your resume in a few years. Ask the nurses. Ask the doctors. Ask the human resources people at hospitals you like. Ask the people who actually will be looking at your resume.

When someone says to you, "We love grads from XYZ school," that's the school you want to put on your list of places to apply. You should never just apply to a school that is easy to get into. Perhaps the school with the best reputation is the hardest to get into, with a year-long wait list. Would you rather wait a year to get into the program you want? Or would you rather wait a year to get a job after you graduate?

3. What is the NCLEX pass rate?

Your potential school's NCLEX pass rate is made public and probably is easy to find on the state board of nursing's website. Look this up!!! If you go to a school with a 50% pass rate, things are not necessarily looking good for your chances when it's your turn to sit for the boards. I know, I know.... "That won't happen to me!" Right? But it can. It is very possible you could be on the wrong side of that statistic.

There are people on allnurses who post that they passed the NCLEX years after they have graduated. If you get through all of school and then you can't pass the NCLEX, that time you spent in school will be meaningless. You need to consider this before you apply to schools. Don't get surprised by this after the fact!

4. Who is working after graduation?

Does the school brag about job placements of their graduates? Ask! If graduates are getting snagged before they walk the stage, this is a school you want to attend.

My own graduation is a week from today. I can't tell you how many fellow graduates have announced they've been hired. They aren't getting terrible jobs, either. They're getting hired places that are top-rated in residency programs in critical care. They're getting placements in their preferred specialties. They're landing the jobs they went into nursing to get, and they're doing it before they graduate.

This is a sign of excellence. This is a sign of a top quality program. These jobs are announced on a bulletin board in the hallway of the building nursing is in. It is so awesome to see new cards get posted on it each day!

5. What kinds of clinical experiences will you have?

This is an important one for your own satisfaction - will you have access to experiences that you feel have really taught you a lot? The thing is, you can get through school just fine with clinical experiences that aren't fantastic. But if good clinical experiences are important to you, you may need to consider traveling. This is especially true in more rural areas. In larger cities, there is more access to facilities that handle higher acuity cases and more complex medical care is possible. In rural areas, your access to facilities in general will be limited, and you may not experience very much at all.

Point in case, where I live, anything complicated gets shipped off to hospitals 2 hours away. We didn't see much. If intense and complex clinical experiences are important to you, you need to determine what is available in your potential programs before you apply. Send an email to department heads or advisors asking where clinicals are for each specialty. Find out of you feel like you will get what you hope to gain from your experiences.

6. Once you are in a program, use your clinical experiences to network.

If you want your foot in a door before you graduate, this is the time to stick it in there. Be amazing. Impress the nurses, the charge nurses, the unit managers, your professors. Take challenges head on. Volunteer for any experience you can get. Seek opportunities for learning. Go above and beyond. NETWORK. This is your opportunity to impress people you could work with in the future. You miss this opportunity, you become a name on a list just like every other person sending in a resume.

Nursing school is hard. Don't let yourself get surprised by the lack of job opportunities after graduation. You are about to invest a lot of time and money into something that you want. Imagine all of the big things in life that you would never take on without research first - buying a car, moving to a new city, buying a house... You are choosing a career, and you need to set yourself up for success. I'm not saying the above considerations will guarantee success, but you will at least be improving your chances of it. There is so much more to this than deciding that you might apply to that community college down the road.

Consider your options, consider the consequences. Decide what consequences you are willing to accept, and which ones you are not. If you don't do this soul searching ahead of time, you may find yourself very frustrated in a few years.

With that, I say, best wishes, and good luck! I hope that you find success in all you do!