Thinking of a career change into nursing

[codyl002]

hello. i am currently in the Army and no longer feel this career path is right for me. So i am looking into becoming a nurse. I have four years left in the Army during which i can go to college on the armys dime. From what i have seen i think getting an ADN would be the best route as id have time to complete it by the time my contracts up. My questions are could i obtain this degree by only doing online courses, what are some schools to look into enrolling at, and if anyone knows what the average pay is in the Virginia area. Im currently stationed in South Korea so my options are slightly limited. Being in the Army and going to combat i do have a slight knowledge of immediate care to treat a wound and stabilize someone long enough to make it to a hospital, but other than that i have no other education in this particular career but i think i would enjoy the work and the outcome from the work i would be doing in this career field. any help is appreciated. thanks

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

First of all - THANK YOU!!! For serving in the military and 'giving back' to our nation.

There are no completely 'online' programs for pre-licensure education. If you think about this a while, you will realize that it makes sense. Would you want your family member to be subjected to the mercies of a nurse who had never actually handled/touched the equipment or practiced starting IVs in a skills lab??? Yeah, I thought not - LOL. There's a lot more to nursing education than just classwork - the clinical practicum is very important.

But there is certainly nothing stopping you from completing your pre-requisite courses online. These are the courses you will have to complete before you can even apply to a nursing program. They may differ slightly between programs, so it's best to contact a few schools that interest you and get a list of the courses you need. You need to ace all of your pre-requisites to get the highest GPA possible... nursing school admissions are extremely competitive, and you'll be competing with a lot of folks who have 4.0 GPAs. There are some schools who do give extra credit for admission to military veterans - you can get this information though your career counseling services.

I am originally from San Antonio, TX - with a huge military presence. We had lots of ex-military folks in nursing school and not all had been corpsmen or medics, but they all did very well in the program. I am sure you will also.