Nursing Pre-Reqs

CA85 · Mar 15, 2013

One thing I forgot to also ask- I will be applying for a post bachelor accelerated nursing program since I already have my bachelors degree. Is it necessary to take a CNA course? I'm not sure if this will help me when I apply for nursing school or to get a job? Any advice with this would help!

MusicToMedicine · Mar 15, 2013

I recommend researching the nursing school programs you are interested in. Pick the ones that are your top choices and list out all the pre-reqs they require. Then go from there. I am limited to the location I am in, so I chose two local programs to apply to. Then I got started on the pre-reqs for those specific programs. I think you'll find that there's quite a bit of overlap with the pre-reqs across programs. They all require basic biological and health sciences: usually the equivalent of BIO 101, Chem 101, Microbiology, and two semesters of Anatomy and Physiology. All of your sciences will require a lab as well. Then the programs tend to differ with whether or not they require a math/statistics course, human development, and a handful of others. Also be sure to double check if your preferred programs accept online courses. Not all of them do. A program I applied to required all science courses to be taken in person, not online, but allowed other courses like statistics and nutrition to be taken online.

So to answer your question, yes, I recommend choosing your top three or four programs that you're interested in applying to and then taking the pre-reqs that you need in order to apply to them. You can always call the schools and talk to their admissions and registrar offices as well to see what classes would transfer or be equivalent to their requirements. And you may have them evaluate your transcripts for your B.S. in political science. That can help you be certain to not pay for courses you don't need. For example, my first B.S. is in education and I already had all of the psychology and sociology courses I needed and that saved me time and money! I especially recommend discussing things with the registrar/admissions officers if you plan on going out of state because equivalencies can get a little murky when you're going across state lines. I hope that helps and good luck!

lauraline · Mar 15, 2013

I am pretty much in the same boat you are in. I have a useless B.S. in Criminology and Law from UCI and no medical field experience. I have finished most of my nursing prerequisites within the last year, but I am still working on speech, pathophysiology and pharmacology. I am also planning on re-taking chemistry since my grade was somewhat low, but I don't really have to.

I have applied to only RN programs at the city/community college level. Most of the Masters or ABSN programs require more than I've completed thus far. Ideally, I want to get into a Masters program, but I decided to apply everywhere since it's so hard to get in anywhere in CA and I don't want to waste anymore time.

You really do need to make a list of the programs you want to apply to. Most likely you should take Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology including the lab portions. (Some programs I applied to did not require the lab, but I took it anyway, because I knew that I would eventually want to go for a Masters and I did not want to have to back track and take the labs after the fact.) There is also usually a speech, psychology, sociology/anthropology, statistics, nutrition, chemistry, prerequisite too. Most likely you have already met the English and Math requirement since you posses a bachelors degree. Take your transcript and bring it to the counselor at the program you want to apply to, that is the only way to know for sure what you've taken will count.

Then you also might have to take pathophysiology and pharmacology, if so, then you can do it online from Samuel Merritt. But, again, it depends on the school.

I also thought about doing a CNA program in the meantime while I'm applying. You can do it in a matter of weeks if you really wanted to. Some schools admit students based on a point system, in which they will count things like being certified as a CNA or HHA, etc.

lauraline · Mar 15, 2013

Also, have you looked at assist.org?

It helped me figure out which exact classes to take for my prerequisites.

Such as which specific speech class will count.

Fireman767 · Mar 16, 2013

I know most people stated it all already but ill make it simple, the most common required courses colleges require are:

Anatomy and Physiology 1 (most colleges require lab, in fact every college in the northeast USA requires it)

Anatomy and Physiology 2 (same as first for lab)

Microbiology With lab (this is a must, any good nursing school requires it)

Psychology 1

Psychology across the lifespan

Sociology

English 1 & 2 (depends on college but usually required)

Technology course of some sorts (college dependent)

Statistics (almost all BSN programs require it, an ABSN will require it or have you take it there)

Public speaking or rhetoric

Chemistry (usually the top tier schools require it, grad programs for NP require it)

Nutrition (again top tier schools require it)

I understand you have a B.S. but you may want to consider an Associates program or a slower BSN program. Most of the students you will see in an ABSN program are either med school students who changed their mind, students who got a degree in biology, health care admin, or some other health care field. There are relatively high drop out rates compared to ADN and BSN programs because you are compressing 3 years of college into one. You can't usually work during the program and in fact most schools require you to not work. CNA is a decent thing to consider, and since you were no where near the medical field in your last major, and you plan to go for an ABSN you honestly need all the medical field experience you can get.

To put it into perspective, Im at an ADN program for my second degree (first in health care management from Stony Brook University) and im seeing people failing around me because of no experience or anything to help them, and this is an associates degree. My friend is at Drexel university ABSN and he's saying theres a drop out rate with most non medical people failing out or being told to leave. Many of the people in my ADN program are people who just want to get their RN so they can work and pay for their BSN and move on to MSN.