Advice on the best way to go

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Greetings,

I am a 28 year old veteran and I recently graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in Political Science. Well it turns out I hate the political arena, and based on my experiences as a volunteer at a veterans nursing home, and talking to my aunt who is a professor of nursing in Ohio, I have decided to persue a career in nursing. Of course now comes the griping that pretty much everyone who decides to go into nursing does. 1. The CNA classes at my community college filled up in about 2 minutes and I was stuck waiting in line at registration and on hold via my cell phone trying to get through to register. Had I gotten into the CNA class, I would need another semester of pre-requisites after the CNA class to be eligable for the two year waiting list. To this end, I have been talking to an Army recuiter and if I go into the National Guard as a 68W(health services) I can come out and do the Excelsior program. I am a little worried about the CPNE evaluation with only 6 months of training, but I work and learn fast (I completed my BA with a 3.4 gpa in three years, while serving as a drilling reservist 5 hours away from my school). My question is, have I explored all the possible avenues to becoming a nurse in Illinois? It would be nice to even get into an LPN porgram to get some practice. Any advice would be excellent. Oh I looked into UICs direct MSN entry program but I wouldnt have the pre-requisites done until next semester, causing me to miss yet another year of application eligabilty.

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Specializes in Sub Acute and Wound Care.

HI Brandi,

Congrats on completing your Poli Sci Degree! I was the same way- I earned a degree in Management & Accounting ( worked as an accountant for almost 10 years) and once I was done with my degree I realized I hated it. So now I'm back in school to become a nurse.

My first and probably the most important piece of andvice is this... GO GET THE CNA. CNA work is the most grueling- labor intensive work, you'll know from your clincal experience if this is something you want to do. Tjere are plenty of "schools" out there that do CNA certification in as little as 5 weeks. Do a search on CNA schools in Illinois. The cost can range from 300-1000 depending on the program. I did mine at Health Restoration in Oak Lawn, it was a 5 week class, and cost around 500.

Either way you go (LPN or RN) you will need a few pre reqs- A&P to be sure and then RN requires (usually) a intro CHEM, Micro BIO, Human Growth, and Nutrition. I highly suggest that no matter the route you get these pre reqs done at a community college. A lot of the vocational schools that offer LPN also have A&P but I'm not convinced that it's transferable.

s-

If you register at a CC for Summer you can knock out several pre reqs quickly during that session. Just be prepared to study, study, study. Also, I would clarify the "waiting list" idea- most schools do not having waiting lists and require students to apply every term- this sort of levels the playing field once all your pre reqs have been met.

I have all my pre-reqs for RN but it was taking way too long to get into an RN program so I went the route of LPN. I'm enjoying what I'm doing and it's only 1 year and I'll be working. I'll give myself 1 year of experience before I get back in school. Depending on my employer (and their benefits) I'll do either ADN or BSN.

Have you looked into the programs at Lewis and Xavier for people with Bachelors degrees already. They are great, my only hesitation for those was the price. However, being a vet you may be able to access special grants for nursing.

good luck to you

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Hi Deepseekingnursing,

If I may ask, how did you like the Health Restoration Program and what LPN program did you end up going to? I'm still trying to figure out my own plan. I have it set for a community college but I'm worried it will take forever to get into anything.

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Specializes in Sub Acute and Wound Care.
Hi Deepseekingnursing,

If I may ask, how did you like the Health Restoration Program and what LPN program did you end up going to? I'm still trying to figure out my own plan. I have it set for a community college but I'm worried it will take forever to get into anything.

Hi Willi,

Well, when I was at Health Restoration most of my classmates and I were like "What in the hell is going on here?". The classroom part was a bit of a joke, but when we got to clinical we worked. CNA work is a lot of on the job training but the state requires you to take classes. Honestly the CNA test can be passed without ever taking a class or studying.

As for LPN I attend PCCTI. They are a newer program with their first class just graduating in August. I do a weekend program that started in June and i can honestly say our instructors have been really great. There have been some bumps and dramas along the way but so far I'm satisifed with my instructors and the content I have learned at PCCTI. There's a thread that's been going for a while now about the school and I will say this- read it and take it for what it is- posts on a message board. Any post that has a glowing/glorious review is probably not really a nursing student and any post that is super negative - probably has an axe to grind. When I first started the search for LPN schools I didn't realize there were others out there- from what I hear Americare (in shaumburg) is realllllly good. If you're considering Health Restoration you're probably on the South side? Shaumburg might seem far but if you do an evening program you'll be missing traffic and if you do a weekend you''ll miss traffic and not have to drive everyday. Whatever you do Research, research, research!

Good luck to you!

Desp

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