Frustrated Pre Nursing student!!!

AJayG3310 · Oct 26, 2014

I got accepted into my LPN school 4 months before I found out I was pregnant (this was not a planned pregnancy) however, it gave me the extra motivation to get through those 13 months of the rigorous schedule and stress... My sights were set on getting my ASN afterwards &(eventually BSN, but i try not to get too ahead of mysef lol) I graduated at the top of my class and was inducted into the NTHS with a 4.0! while living in a low income housing complex, on foodstamps, with a newborn, working a manual labor job (CNA) and going to school was so very hard and every back breaking shift I worked as a CNA ony fueled my determination to get through it...because I knew that once I started working as a nurse I would not be in that situation ever again. I graduated in 2011. I've been working as a nurse for 3 years now and I LOVE IT!!! I'm so very happy that I chose to do the LPN and gain that hands on experience in the nursing field. I feel that it gave me a good sense of what I was getting into. I like it so much better because now I don't have to stress about family finances while I'm trying to get my ASN...I will be working around whatever schedule I end up with during RN school...I'll be able to work fewer hours and still make more than enough to make ends meet while I'm in the transitions RN program. I'm thankful that I am an LPN, it allows me opportunities, flexibilities and securities that I would not have had if I had gone straight into the ASN entry level with no experience.

However, I'm not sure that I would recommend that everybody take the CNA-LPN-ASN-BSN route that I've chosen because everyone's life dynamics are different. With the situation I was in...I felt I chose the best option for myself, my son, and my husband. I love the nursing field. I love having an impact on the patients I treat.. and I'm excited. I know that I have a lot to learn and a lot to experience.

Well, that is my experience so far. I work long shifts and knock out 50 hours/week in only 4 days...and now I make more $$$ as a nurse in 1 week than what I made in 1 whole month of working as a CNA. My job is flexible and I'm able to switch shifts or trade schedules with other nurses to work around my schooling... I just feel that becoming an LPN first gave me better options and a closer look into this vast world of nursing.

Hope my "mini novel" helps...

P.S. I was not planning to write that much sorry :sarcastic:

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Oct 26, 2014

A friend once told me that the problem with most Americans is "instant gratification takes too long". I do believe most suffer from this very popular belief system!

OP, it is going to take you longer than you'd like to become a nurse. While I appreciate your desire to do it faster, it's really NOT reasonable for you to expect that you can. The programs simply don't have as their goal getting you to the end FAST, but getting you to the end WELL-EDUCATED. And that takes time.

Good luck!