Completely New to Nursing

[Emily_B]

Hi, I'm completely new to all things nursing. I'm 20 and when I graduated high school I moved to the Bay Area in California to study fashion merchandising/journalism. I'm freelance stylist/blogger and although I will continue to work in fashion on the side, I have decided to take time off and go for a 2 year nursing degree and volunteer and the memorial hospital near me. Since I'm completely new to this, I was looking for any tips/advice or just to start talking to anyone on here that's in the same position about me and about to start school in the Fall.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

[ChattNurseHopeful]

Congrats on your decision. I'm in a similar boat. I recently...3 wks ago to be exact... Decided to keep working full time as a publisher at a local healthcare marketing firm, but will be taking classes on my side at a local community college. Best of luck to us both! Keep an open mind as to where you will get your RN. Apply to as many good programs as you can but make sure your pre-reqs transfer (advisors at the school you attend now should be able to tell you that). That will give u the best chance of getting into a program the first time you apply to various places.

Today, I downloaded a couple anatomy apps on my iPhone that are

Fun to play w on down time. They teach muscles,

Bones, organs, etc.

Learn to love flash cards when u are in science classes.

Keep them for nursing school because u can use them for other classes as well as the NCLEX.

Good luck!!!

[Emily_B]

Thanks for the tips! I am not sure what the difference is between RN and LPN? I am going to a community college for a 2 year associates degree and then I'm not sure what I will need to do after that to begin working in a hospital. I also plan on doing the nursing program at the hospital I will be volunteering at throughout the two years at the community college. I'm completely new to this and I'm not sure what the steps/stages are to getting a full on nursing job in a hospital.

I plan on buying an iPad 2 before school. I already have downloaded probably a dozen medical apps and drug guides onto my iPod Touch that I know I will be using to help me with my work. I also plan on buying any textbooks virtually and having them on my iPad so it saves space, haha :)

[kspooner08]

Congrats of your goal! From experience I have encountered, I know of three people in my nursing class that came here to north dakota from california because their nursing programs are ridiculous. Things like the teachers feel you need to learn on your own and very stressful with little to none down time. A LPN assists the RN and a LPN arent able to do certain things that a RN can do. I wish you the best of luck in your nursing career! I have all the faith that you will be able to make it.