Accredited ASN Program in SF area?

[UniqueHealth]

Hi there.

My name is Jason, I am 26 yr old male, Been working in Trade Construction for 6 year's and Construction management for 2 yrs. I am currently living in the East bay of San Francisco, Ca. I have become more and more interested in making a career change and becoming a Male RN. My mother held a BSN and worked in the ER for 15 yrs. She passed away from Cancer though, Since her death i have been volunteering with non profit elderly homes in my free time, But i want something more. I have a few friends that are BSN RN's. They seem to like the work and it's very rewarding for them in multi ways.

I have a high school diploma and grad with a 3.2 GPA with no college after. I would have to start at the bottom and get the prerequisite's done before applying for a Accredited ADN program. This is the hard part with the way the economy is, Everyone is trying to get a degree which mean's there are a lot of Diploma and Cert non-accredited "colleges" out there.

My question is:

Does anyone know how i go about finding out where i can obtain information about fairly priced Accredited ADN programs in the East bay, area?

I have heard horror stories about heald college, People paying over 100k for a BSN....

Any input from folks in the SF area would be great

[NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN]

Go to the CA BRN website http://www.rn.ca.gov/schools/programs.shtml there is a list of accredited ADN, BSN, MSN, & out of state online programs. In the East Bay you have Chabot, Merritt, & Ohlone. There are others but the distance is a bit further. You can also go private but it can get pretty pricey. What you want to do is to contact a nursing counselor for each school and also make an appointment to take placement exams in math, and English. That helps place you in the appropriate classes and then you can move from there. You can also take the CNA course if you would like to gain some paid experience. After that you might want to take Phlebotomy, EKG, & RNA courses to enhance your skills. Hope this helps and good luck!

[UniqueHealth]

Thank you soo much.

Happy new yr:yeah:

[sunnycalifRN]

Jason,

as you've probably gathered by reading the various posts on this site, you've got a lot of challenges ahead if you choose to go for nursing. But, if you've been volunteering and during your mother's illness . . . you've probably seen some of what RN's do.

The associate degree route to RN will be the least expensive since the community colleges are much less expensive than the 4 yr universities but you will have to do a "bridge" program later to get your BSN. If you can afford it, CSU, East Bay or CSU San Jose will get you your BSN in about the same amount of time as the community college route.

When you're all finished, there's the matter of getting a job . . . hopefully, that won't be an issue for you since that is at least 4 -5 years off! Good luck.