Best way to get into school

BrandyBSN · Jul 23, 2001

My advice is... :)

go into the program office, and talk to the secretary, director, and any other staff you can find. Introduce yourself, and let them know how much you want to be in their program. Wear something professional, and bright, it will help them remember your face and name when they are looking at applications.

If you are wanting to volunteer, you might try the American Red Cross. Try to volunteer for their phlebotimist program. You will get a lot of great (free) training, and you will be a pro at blood draws before you even get to do it in lab.

Were your ACT scores really high? Even if they dont ask for them, put them on the application. You have to sell yourself to them, and make yourself seem like a smart investment.

Good luck!

Brandy

PhantomRN · Jul 25, 2001

Since your are a teacher- I am assuming you already have at least a Bachelors- the nursing school will jump at you. You already have a track record of being able to complete school and you are a teacher. Nursing is alot about teaching---we teach pateints, family members and each other daily. That is an excellent background to bring into the field.

Nursing schools are not as competitive as they were 5 years ago. As I am sure you are aware, the annual enrollment of nurses has slowed down. So, I would not worry if I were you.

As for the volunteer stuff. When you go in to talk to the secretary, see if you can talk to one of the instructors or better still the Director of the program and ask HER what she recommends...then do it.

Enright · Jul 25, 2001

I did a complete career change to nursing... I highly recommend that you look at the accelerated BSN programs out there. I had a bachelor's degree and all the pre-req sciences but I couldn't afford to take 4 years off just for school (again). I was able to get my BSN in 12 months at Creighton University in Omaha. It was not easy or cheap but it was thorough. I only had to go without income for 12 months....You might try the National League for Nursing as they catalogue all nursing programs by type. Good luck!

jzprple · Apr 14, 2004

My advice is... :)
If you are wanting to volunteer, you might try the American Red Cross. Try to volunteer for their phlebotimist program. You will get a lot of great (free) training, and you will be a pro at blood draws before you even get to do it in lab.
:) By the way, I work for the American Red Cross Blood Services and there is no possible way to "volunteer" for the phlebotimist position. All of our nurses are paid staff and in most regions we take either MA's, LVN's, LPN's and/or RN's. B/c of the heavy FDA regulations that we have to follow, all staff is trained for nearly 3 months on FDA requirements, blood borne pathogens and ARC foundation classes before even being released to the field to draw blood at blood drives. Unless you know of some random program I've never heard of..the only volunteering you can really do at the ARC is out in the field in the canteen or registration areas of a blood drive or in the office side of things.. sorry..
Julie

manna, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2004

I would check with the admissions or nursing office of the school you plan on applying to and find out what criteria they base acceptance on. Volunteer work is certainly noble for its own sake, but not all schools consider things like extracurricular activities or volunteer work as part of the admissions process (I know mine doesn't).