Advice for a pre-nursing student!

[mikayyCNA_]

Hello everyone! This is my very first post and I am so excited for feedback from current and past nursing students. I went to Oklahoma State University straight out of high school to pursue a Bachelor's in Pre-Medical Sciences. I take full responsibility, but long story short, it was a new environment for me and partying became more important than my school work. I ended up being academically suspended, and for the past few years have been taking a different variety of classes trying to raise my GPA. I am reaching a point where I have a few semesters of prerequisites left and really want to work as a nurse while in Nursing school. Not only so I can more easily afford my classes, but also for the experience. I have been working with a school that I plan to take classes for practical nursing. Once I take and pass the TEAS exam (which I have been studying for) I will be put on a waiting list which the school has said at this time is about 4-6 months. My plan to obtain my certification as a nursing assistant this fall while waiting to begin classes and apply for jobs so I can start getting experience relevant to nursing. Once I finish and am a LPN I want to complete a LPN to BSN program. Did anyone else go through this same route and have success? Do you think I should just go straight into a BSN program if that is my ultimate goal? I really want to be able to get some experience first, which is why I think this would be a good route. But all the research in the world doesn't compare to personal experience! Thanks in advance for all of your advice. :)

[Quetzalcoatl]

You may wish to research the LPN market in your area. Here in Colorado, LPN jobs are few and far between and hospitals are switching to magnet status which means they want BSNs. If you want an easier track into a hospital, get hired as a CNA into one and you'll probably find they'd be willing to hire you as an ADN new grad as long as you are pursuing your BSN.

[mikayyCNA_]

You may wish to research the LPN market in your area. Here in Colorado, LPN jobs are few and far between and hospitals are switching to magnet status which means they want BSNs. If you want an easier track into a hospital, get hired as a CNA into one and you'll probably find they'd be willing to hire you as an ADN new grad as long as you are pursuing your BSN.

Here in Oklahoma every hospital I've checked so far is hiring nursing assistants and LPNs. I'm just a little concerned, because I'm not sure how competitive it is getting hired on as a CNA at a hospital.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Here in Oklahoma every hospital I've checked so far is hiring nursing assistants and LPNs. I'm just a little concerned, because I'm not sure how competitive it is getting hired on as a CNA at a hospital.

CNAs have reasonably high turnover as a lot of us are using the job as a stepping stone to nursing. There are few career CNAs that stick around longterm. I would think expressing your interest in nursing education in your resume and the interview would only make them more happy to hire you. They want interested, involved people, not warm bodies just looking for a paycheck.

Hospitals around here in Denver purged LPNs. If you can find an LPN job, great! Then you can do the bridge and make better pay at the same time. It's not an option for me due to the market here so I'm about to start an ADN program.