There has to be an easier way....

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I was currently going to school for IT but that was terribly boring so I went to my second choice, nursing. I was thinking about taking the LPN program at Erie 1 Boces but thought why wouldn't I go straight for my bachelors to become an RN. I have completed a majority of my prerequisites so I mind as well go for the BSN right? What do you guys think about that?

Hahaha awesome thanks. That's what I thought, but it's been a long time since I took a linguistics class!

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Specializes in Hospice.

Oh for Pete's sake. I'm a grammar nazi myself, but she's not writing an essay, she's writing a post in AN. I can write a killer paper but on social media I just don't give a :poop:. :roflmao: I crack myself up.

If you can, I would do the BSN. I am starting an ADN program in the Fall, and I am worried about finding employment. I plan to go on for my BSN but I will be 50 when I start in August so who knows when I will finish my BSN!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.
First you need to stop and think about why you want to be a nurse... Do not do it for the money, Nurses work long hours and are on their feet all day. You will very rarely be sitting at a computer. Going to nursing school is much like a job you have to miss out on all the parties and having a social life is mostly a no no you will have no time, it is even worse going for a BSN.

Second, you seem a little confused as to what a LVN, RN, and BSN are... You do not get a BSN to become a RN, a RN is also known as ADN and is an associates not a bachelors. You get the BSN mainly to become a manager or head nurse somewhere BSN and ADN are the same classes you just take more administrative and management courses as a BSN.

and Last not to be rude, but nursing is very competitive at some schools over 1000 people apply and they take 55-80 students, so having great grammar skills is a must( you do not become "an RN" you become "a RN")

Sorry, Anthony. You are incorrect with your corrected grammar. You become "an RN" is correct. Now if she had spelled it out, it would be, "You become a Registered Nurse". Using the initials may be spelled with a consonant but the pronunciation of it makes the sound of a vowel, thereby requiring the word 'an' before RN. (Not meaning to be rude to you, either.)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

Oops! Looks like someone else already corrected your corrected mistake. Sorry....no need to hear it from multiple members.:nono:

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.
Thank you ladies and gents for your replies. Oh and taking up for me in regards to my bad grammar haha.

Not to worry. If you go for the BSN, they will nit-pick your grammar for you. I just finished the writing requirement final for the BSN just a couple of hours ago.:yes:

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I'm just gonna go off topic here a bit a dust off my previous non nursing education in linguistics.

The rule governing the use of "a/an" is "a"-->"an"/__[vowel] which would be spoken as "a" (the default) becomes "an" (the variant) when it occurs before a vowel at the word boundary. It's important to distinguish here that we're talking about phonetic vowels, not graphemic vowels. Therefore, it would be correct to say "a registered nurse" because the "r" in "registered" is both graphemically and phonetically a consonant (the phonetic consonant in this case being a retroflex velar approximant). However, if you're using the initials "RN," it's pronounced similar to "arr en" in spoken English. Since the word boundary in this case is phonetically a vowel (a back unrounded open vowel) even though it is graphemically a consonant, "an" is appropriate to use.

TL;DR: it's "a registered nurse" and "an RN."

*stepping off my soapbox*

Thus endeth the lesson :)

That's what I thought. No one says "a RN", but some people speak faster that they think. Maybe a little less sass, a little more thought:smug:...

Girlfriend, if you want to do this thing, then go for broke and get your BSN because the way things are trending now, by the time you're done with school, you'll probably need it!

Good Luck!

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That's what I thought. No one says "a RN", but some people speak faster that they think. Maybe a little less sass, a little more thought:smug:...

Girlfriend, if you want to do this thing, then go for broke and get your BSN because the way things are trending now, by the time you're done with school, you'll probably need it!

Good Luck!

Thanks. I literally laughed my butt off at "apparently we're being graded..." :roflmao:

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I've pursued 3 different degrees over the last 18 years...Child Development (CD), Business (Biz) and now Nursing. I use knowledge obtained in those CD and Biz classes on a regular basis, both professionally and personally. So, in my opinion, there's no such thing as too much education. :bookworm: Just be sure you love the field before you invest the dough. I hear student loans can be brutal :dead: although I don't yet have any of my own (thank God!).

I would suggest you try volunteering or working as a CNA while you consider which nursing program to enter. These options will allow you to discover (for a nominal price) whether or not the profession is something you have a passion for. You'll also learn the differences between the duties of the different levels.

No one on here can tell you which path to take. We can, however, share our experiences so you may learn from them.

Best of luck to you, no matter what you decide.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical.

I think you become an RN because grammar rules include the letter sound when choosing to use a or an. If the beginning sound sounds like a vowel you would use an. So I would say an RN, not a RN. Sounds better to me just saying.

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Specializes in Pedi.
First you need to stop and think about why you want to be a nurse... Do not do it for the money, Nurses work long hours and are on their feet all day. You will very rarely be sitting at a computer. Going to nursing school is much like a job you have to miss out on all the parties and having a social life is mostly a no no you will have no time, it is even worse going for a BSN.

Second, you seem a little confused as to what a LVN, RN, and BSN are... You do not get a BSN to become a RN, a RN is also known as ADN and is an associates not a bachelors. You get the BSN mainly to become a manager or head nurse somewhere BSN and ADN are the same classes you just take more administrative and management courses as a BSN.

and Last not to be rude, but nursing is very competitive at some schools over 1000 people apply and they take 55-80 students, so having great grammar skills is a must( you do not become "an RN" you become "a RN")

I think you're the one who is a little confused. There are many of us on here who are BSN prepared RNs for whom BSN was our entry to practice. I went to nursing school (college) directly out of high school, graduated with my BSN and became an RN. An RN is not "also known as an ADN." I am an RN, I do not have an ADN. The vast majority of RN programs in my state are BSN programs and the vast majority of bedside nurses are BSN prepared... you need it to even be considered around here.

I believe everyone else has already done a thorough job of explaining why "an RN" is correct.

OP, go for the BSN.

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No need to be rude about grammar- plenty of people (nurses that I know included) use "an" in front of RN, and it doesn't make them stupid or ineligible to be a nurse. Why be so negative?

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Since you have all of your prereqs, try and go straight for your BSN. You will save a lot of money versus going for lpn to rn or lpn to bsn, etc. Try and knock everything out HOWEVER, if you have to go the lpn route then bridge over, then do what you have to do. I took all of my prereqs for a BSN program but took the lpn route after getting turned down 3 times, twice by the same school. I am bridging over Good Luck

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