CA woman looking for advice on going into nursing

[SimoneB]

I am a 26 year old Californian interested in going back to school for nursing. I live in the SF bay know that openings for nursing schools and jobs are very competitive right now. Forgive me, but I have a lot of questions and hope that some of you can help me out.

I have two and a half years of college credits from a prestigious liberal arts college but not a lot of experience in the sciences. I worked in sustainable agriculture for four years and have been working as an office manager for an insurance broker for the past two years. In my current job I do a lot of reading and writing about health care policy (I write a weekly blog for my boss) and am pretty well informed about current issues in health care reform. I just completed a three month training to become a collective member of the Berkeley Free Clinic, where I work referring low income people to the health and other social services they need.

I am hoping that the interest in public health shown in my recent work can help me get into a nursing program. I know that I could finish my bachlors in something else and then apply for the accelerated BSN or masters program but I feel like I probably have to take so many science classes anyway that it might be wise for me to transfer into a BSN program at USF or Mills/Samuel Merritt. I am a good student but I am concerned that the accelerated programs would be very stressful.

So my quesions are:

1. Will it be impossible for me to get into a bay area program without a long history of work in the sciences? Can I succeed in nursing school if I haven't alway been a "science person"?

2. Where should I take some pre-nursing classes before applying to transfer into a BSN program? The Mills program says, "We recommend refreshing your knowledge of chemistry and biology in order to make a successful application.Take community college classes in introductory chemistry, biology, and English before applying for admission."

I took chemistry and biology in high school but clearly that was a while ago. Is there a community college where I can take science classes designed for aspiring nurses?

3. I am more interested in working in a clinic or private practice than a hospital. Is it impossible to get such a job as a RN grad? Could I go straight from getting my BSN into a masters program to become a nurse practitioner or do I need work experience first? How about going from a BSN into a Physician's Assistant program?

Thank you so much for any advice you are able to give me; I really appreciate it.

[caliotter3]

You don't need a work history necessarily to get into nursing school. Work in a healthcare setting, such as certified nursing assistant or emergency medical technician might give one points in the admission process, but that would be limited. Nursing schools look for completion of the prerequisite courses and the grades in those courses. There are other criteria, such as volunteer work in healthcare. Each school sets their own criteria. Look at the entry level MSN program at, I believe UCSF, to see what their criteria are. For that matter, explore the criteria for all of the local schools and see which would interest you and might be obtainable. As far as a job upon graduation, you need to attempt to make favorable impressions in every clinical rotation to help you with job prospects and be prepared for a difficult time as a new grad. It is best to be realistic about getting work in the Bay area.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Hi - I'm a Californian as well. But up north of you.

I went back to school after majoring in Social Work initially. The closest college was a cc - and they took my high school chemistry class, even though high school was 20 years in the past.

Your background certainly negates the need to take an English class.

As to working in a clinic or physician's office . . . .unless you become a nurse practitioner, that might be difficult. Physician's offices usually use medical assistants because RN's are too expensive. The local community health center does use RN's . . as triage nurses and case managers as well as doing patient care (immunizations, wound care, etc.). But that doesn't pay well although the benefits are good.

I had never had any college science classes and my first pre-req class was Anatomy and I did fine. Even proctored for that professor after that. Physiology was next. Then Microbiology. I did well in each class.

You need to speak with someone "in the know" at the college you wish to attend. I've been out of school for 12 years although I am in an accelerated RN to BSN program right now.

Good luck! You sound as smart as a whip and should do just fine!

steph

[NurseJeanB]

I am in the Bay Area as well. I worked 20+ years at a Bank before "retiring" to go into the nursing program. I ended up taking my prereqs at Diablo Valley College. There were 10 prereqs for my program: Basic college English, speech, basic chemistry, organic chemistry, microbiology, anatomy, physiology, cultural anthropology (or sociology), statistics, critical thinking. Other programs have different prereqs, but I wanted a BSN and I applied to only two schools SFSU and CSUEB, I chose CSUEB because it was located closest to my home. The schools I applied to admitted based on GPA (emphasis on the prereq gpa) and the TEAS test scores. They also gave you a few extra points for employment in a health care field, but I was told that only a small percentage ever have that. So don't let your non healthcare experience hold you back. I think first you will want to decide what kind of nursing degree you want. There are ADN programs, BSN programs etc. Then check out the schools you are interested in attending. Find out about their prereqs and then visit your local community college. Most schools provide a class listing of the local community colleges that satisfy their prereqs. Good luck to you.