Pre-Pre-Nursing student with lots of questions

[Kyra760]

I just registered for my first semester of college having just graduated from high school in 2009. I have an idea that i want to be a nurse, specifically baby delivery. I am going to a community college that has a nursing program. It would be very helpful if someone could explain the steps to me of what getting an RN degree entails. And then what i have to do to go from RN to LDR nurse? im guessing thats the title?

Also i have a few questions:

From what i understand i need 4 years of schooling 2 are general ed classes and 2 are the nursing classes?

like i said i want to be in baby delivery, along the way do i have to do anything pertaining to trauma or the ER?

i know being in delivery we would have to be trained inn things like that in case something bad were to happen to mother or child but what im asking is like do we have to be trained in car wrecks or anything crazy like that? lol

Any feedback is greatly appreciated =]

[Kyra760]

Also would it be better or even possible to get a certificate instead of doing the 4 years for the RN? im prepared for the full 4 years but some friends have been telling me just to get a certificate, is that even possible?

[Staragate, ADN, ASN, RN]

You can get a RN with an associates degree. With that program, or any RN, you will be introduced to a range of nursing specialties. Kind of like a sampler. Check out your community college and local private colleges. (Apollo, Phoenix, etc)

[Lajimolala, BSN, RN, NP]

In nursing school, we don't learn just one specialty. Once someone has an RN license, this means theoretically that they can work in any specialty: oncology, surgery, pediatrics, labor and delivery, ER, intensive care, etc. So we need to be prepared equally in all aspects of nursing.

We also get exposure according to what is wrong with the patient, not the cause of their problems, if that makes sense.

If labor and delivery is what you want to do, that's awesome. it's great to know ahead of time. But you will get rotated to many different units during the course of your nursing education, and you will be expected to know just as much from each specialty semester to semester.

Good luck in your pursuit of a nursing degree. I love nursing school, it's hard, but in my opinion, this is one profession that I find to be the most fulfilling.