I am an aspiring to become a nurse. Does anyone know of any 2 year associates degree programs in nursing that don't require pre-requisites? I am looking to go to a school in a state that is hot all year round. I live in Pittsburgh and I hate the weather here. Please reply with a school in a state other than Texas. Also, I am only interested in going to community college since it is affordable.
Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.
As stated already, I would imagine if you don't do pre-reqs, you will still need to do those classes. You will just do them while taking your nursing classes. Personally, I would not want to do that. But some people don't mind at all. One thing you might want to think about is I have a friend who went to one of those expensive private schools and then couldn't transfer over any of the general classes she took. The way it was set up, a lot of the classes were incorporated into everything else and therefore did not help her when she was seeking to continue her education at other schools. She had to take all those classes again. Be sure you know what will transfer and what won't by calling and inquiring at other colleges/universities, if that matters to you at all.
Also, I would think long and hard about taking on a lot of debt. This is coming from someone who had student loans, struggled to pay them off and once I did, I vowed to try everything I could not to take them out again—or at least limit them as much as possible. And my debt wasn't even high! I shrugged my shoulders and had all kinds of ways of looking at it to make it okay when I got the loans. But my advise to you is to really understand what huge debt out of school will mean to your life after you graduate and need to pay it back. I'm not saying never take loans. I'm saying pause and think about the amount before you do.
You will have to take pre-reqs before the program starts or co-reqs while you are in the program. Pretty sure every ASN program requires some kind of math, an English comp, A&P, Micro, and Psychological and maybe more. My choice would be to do them as pre-reqs. I just would not want to mess with learning A&P while making care plans. But hey, by all means do the program you want to do.
This sounds like you're looking for the fastest and easiest route possible. Why is that? If you are willing to relocate then you should also be willing to do your due diligence in making sure you don't take on a crazy amount of debt to become a nurse from a "quick" program. If you want to be a good, well educated nurse, do your research and talk to some people in the field, face to face to see what they recommend.
Side note: I live in Las Vegas, people die from the heat here. The grass is not always greener.
thank you all for your replies. Acutally, I wanted to take the pre-reqs while in the nursing program. so they would be co-requisites. Florida seems like a nice state. anyone know of any community colleges there or anywhere else with built in pre-requisites for the nursing program? thanks.
If you don't have a solid foundation of anatomy, physiology & pharmacology, you are going to struggle mightily in nursing school.
Quick & fast does not mean quality. The truth is, most 2 year ADN programs end up being 3 years because you need to complete so many pre-reqs before admission. Yes, some schools will allow you to take certain courses along with your nursing courses. However, with the heavy course load we have with just nursing courses, it would be incredibly difficult to fit in extra classes, let alone have enough time to study everything and earn good grades. It would be a nightmare.
I can understand your need to avoid prerequisites, but as far as I know, there is no Community College RN Program in Florida that does not require a minimum number of prerequisites. You can try some of the For-Profit Schools, but IMHO, most are super expensive, of inferior educational quality, High failure NCLEX rate, poor job placement stats, take just about anyone that applies and are not viewed highly by RN Recruiters. You will find a few of the graduates who will come to their aide because they too were unable to get into a fully accredited and inexpensive program. In Florida, the Total Tuition (In-State) for an RN Program is somewhere around $6-$7K, while it will cost you anywhere from $20K to $60K+ at one of the for profit schools.
Laws passed in recent years to boost the number of nurses in Florida have resulted in more nursing education programs on probation and more nursing graduates failing the national competency examination.Measures passed unanimously by the Florida Legislature in 2009 and 2010 allowed colleges and trade schools to open nursing programs without the scrutiny of the state’s 13-member Board of Nursing, which for years has assessed and approved proposed nurse education programs.
The bills increased the number of shorter-term nursing education programs, adding 100 new programs through the end of last year, from 181 to 281. These two-year and certificate programs are aimed at getting nurses out of school and into the system. Meanwhile, the percentage of bachelor’s programs for nurses dropped.
Many of the lower-level programs were added by for-profit, private schools that advertise degrees and certifications for a set price.
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“Florida doesn’t need more associates degree nurses,” Denker said. “These people don’t have to go $100,000 into debt. Community colleges offer programs that are cheaper and offer a way for a student to move on into a bachelor’s program if they want to down the line.”
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State law requires nursing schools to have passing rates close to the 89 percent national average. The state Board of Nursing places programs on probation if the school’s average examination scores fall 10 percent below the national average for two consecutive calendar years. The laws passed in 2009 and 2010 made it easier for a program to get off probation; it previously took two years of acceptable test passage rates, but now one year is enough
I think you guys misunderstood me. I do want to take the pre-requisites, but I would rather take them while in the nursing program, (i.e. co-requisites).
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I think you guys misunderstood me. I do want to take the pre-requisites, but I would rather take them while in the nursing program, (i.e. co-requisites).
I thought that was obvious and I thought your were perfectly clear. You specifically stated you wanted to avoid pre-reqs. You said noting about avoiding the normal, required classes.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
If you don't have a solid foundation of anatomy, physiology & pharmacology, you are going to struggle mightily in nursing school.
Obviously. Why point this out? Don't you think it is being a little condescending to point such obvious facts to people who can be expected to be in a position to know these things?
Yes, some schools will allow you to take certain courses along with your nursing courses. However, with the heavy course load we have with just nursing courses, it would be incredibly difficult to fit in extra classes, let alone have enough time to study everything and earn good grades. It would be a nightmare.
And yet hundreds of people do it every year. It's not really that hard. Lets face it, nursing courses are not super challenging.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
thank you all for your replies. Acutally, I wanted to take the pre-reqs while in the nursing program. so they would be co-requisites. Florida seems like a nice state. anyone know of any community colleges there or anywhere else with built in pre-requisites for the nursing program? thanks.
Florida may be a nice state, however it is among the worst states for nurses. Low pay, poor working conditions, and outrageous and unsafe staffing levels are common there.
None of Wisconsin's technical colleges require college class re-reqs. Every year many fresh high school grads enter these programs and graduate two years later.
Pre-requisites are actually an important part of nursing. There is a reason they're required. And generally if you don't have to have them before nursing school they're incorporated so you take them anyways.
And in that case, those courses are called "co-reqs."
OP, the only way I can think of you not taking any pre-reqs such as English Comp or math (which is usually a basic algebra course or a statistics course) is to test out of it when you apply to a program.
Obviously. Why point this out? Don't you think it is being a little condescending to point such obvious facts to people who can be expected to be in a position to know these things?
And yet hundreds of people do it every year. It's not really that hard. Lets face it, nursing courses are not super challenging.
Don't you think you're being a tad condescending with your reply? OP wants to go to nursing school with no pre-reqs. And while YOU may think nursing school is "easy", it is a LOT of work on its own without having to pile on co-reqs on top of it.
I'm trying to be realistic. Not pump a load of sunshine & rainbows.
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As stated already, I would imagine if you don't do pre-reqs, you will still need to do those classes. You will just do them while taking your nursing classes. Personally, I would not want to do that. But some people don't mind at all. One thing you might want to think about is I have a friend who went to one of those expensive private schools and then couldn't transfer over any of the general classes she took. The way it was set up, a lot of the classes were incorporated into everything else and therefore did not help her when she was seeking to continue her education at other schools. She had to take all those classes again. Be sure you know what will transfer and what won't by calling and inquiring at other colleges/universities, if that matters to you at all.
Also, I would think long and hard about taking on a lot of debt. This is coming from someone who had student loans, struggled to pay them off and once I did, I vowed to try everything I could not to take them out again—or at least limit them as much as possible. And my debt wasn't even high! I shrugged my shoulders and had all kinds of ways of looking at it to make it okay when I got the loans. But my advise to you is to really understand what huge debt out of school will mean to your life after you graduate and need to pay it back. I'm not saying never take loans. I'm saying pause and think about the amount before you do.