Confused Nursing Student. HELP!!

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Hey everyone I'm fairly new to this site, but have seen so many questions answered by fellow peers and nursing students. I've read so many post that i was hoping someone, anybody, can give me some insist.

So here i go.

I went into college in full gear got my associates in science/pre-nursing, in less then two years. I was leaning towards a BSN as soon as i got out of college and had several university's i wanted to attend. Due to deadlines, a semester of waiting of getting into a program turned into a year and now after not doing so good on my TEAS i have to wait Yet another year!

I'm so discourage i dont want wait another year.

SO.. now I'm looking into something to do in the mean time

i was thinking EMT then i heard CNA, and med tech. i just want to be certified in something to get me into some hands on training while i wait.

so many options and i have NO IDEA what to do.

Did anyone else have this problem? If so any feedback

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Specializes in Critical care.

CNA is the most directly related to nursing, but I think the training/cert process is a bit longer than like an EMT. I know there are places that will do a two week accelerated EMT program. However, I think anything is good as long as you keep your momentum going!

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I almost gave up on Nursing because of the many obstacles that I had to face as well as the time it would take to come to pass. I went from not feeling adequate enough to get into a RN program, to getting accepted into two different schools!! I'm here to tell you, DON'T GIVE UP!! There will be those days where you will not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel but you have to keep pushing!!! The most important thing that I over looked when applying for nursing programs was, not exploring my options. When you put all of your eggs in one basket, you rob yourself of having a plan B. There are some schools that you can repeat the TEAS as many times as you want without penalty. You may not even have to wait another year to apply to an alternate nursing program. You should definitely do some research and continue to go after what you really want. It may not be easy, but it isn't impossible!!!

Shonta - Future BSN

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Don't give up, work, save money, and keep trying. I am not sure what state you are in, but I was a med-tech in an assisted living for 6 years and I loved it. We were trained in our facility, took a state test, and had to be checked off by a RN on a med pass. I really learned a lot doing this. Good luck to you!

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Hey thanks for your comment. I live in Texas and its true the best thing is to save money, but if i may ask what do you think the big difference is between a med tech and a nurse. Do you think you will ever want to pursue further to become a RN.

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I'm happy to hear that you made it through. I've talked to some programs and unfortunately i will have to wait another year, but Ive also heard that i can retake the TEAS so I'm happy about. I keep studying and most definitely keep pushing through. Thank you for your reply i appreciate it.

Good Luck to you.

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I have a friend who was in a similar problem as you are, and while I was waiting for my admissions I was juggling my decisions the same way you are. What I think is best is to go for a CNA certificate, for multiple reasons. CNA is the most related to nursing, and will give you an understanding and respect for what different levels of nurses do. Also, there are MANY flexible jobs that will allow you to work while going to school as a CNA, if that's something you want to do. Other jobs are not as flexible, many of the people I'm in school with now are CNAs and have schedules that are very lenient and flexible (which helps with the craziness of clinical schedules).

Also, in Colorado (where I am), there are a lot of 2-3 week power courses for CNA certification, instead of a full semester at a community college. You could try to look into that and see if there are any in Texas that do something similar. Having your CNA license definitely opens up a lot of options for you and gets your foot in the door knowing people that may help you out getting a job in the future.

And also don't give up. If nursing is something you really want to do, you'll find a way to get there :)

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Specializes in Critical Care.

After college, I worked as an EMT for a couple of years while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I took the EMT class during my last semester of college at the local community college - all in all pretty straightforward. Some people in class struggled but I did okay with it. Working as an EMT you will gain rapid assessment skills that will help you immensely in an ED / ICU setting if you think you'd want to do that when done with your nursing program. You'll learn to document your assessments and become proficient with taking vitals - if you can do it in an ambulance, you can do it anywhere. Plus, many of the ED techs at my hospitals aren't CNAs, but are EMTs. Having never worked as a CNA / PCT, I can't really comment on it too much, other than saying working in a hospital through school will definitely help you get a job at that hospital when you're done with school.

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I am in the midst of changing careers. I am changing from engineering to nursing and attending nursing school in the Fall. I did pretty well on my TEAS V. I got an 82% the first shot. Is there a particular section that is giving you trouble? I found it helpful to buy the book but if you have a smartphone there is an app for the TEAS V with questions. You can get the free version (you only get 25 questions) or you can pay $10 and get 1200 questions. I bought it and I practiced whenever I was waiting for something.

If you need help, send me a message with the question you're stuck on

Good Luck!

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After college, I worked as an EMT for a couple of years while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I took the EMT class during my last semester of college at the local community college - all in all pretty straightforward. Some people in class struggled but I did okay with it. Working as an EMT you will gain rapid assessment skills that will help you immensely in an ED / ICU setting if you think you'd want to do that when done with your nursing program. You'll learn to document your assessments and become proficient with taking vitals - if you can do it in an ambulance, you can do it anywhere. Plus, many of the ED techs at my hospitals aren't CNAs, but are EMTs. Having never worked as a CNA / PCT, I can't really comment on it too much, other than saying working in a hospital through school will definitely help you get a job at that hospital when you're done with school.

Being an EMT has also been something that's been on my mind ever since the beginning ,but i guess being a female and not the average height, strength i could always work on,. Lead me leaning more towards nursing. Little stupid things like that shouldn't worry me but it has brought me down. If you can do the job and have a passion for it people shouldn't worry about it, right.

Yourself being an EMT do you think you'll ever want to go further, maybe becoming a paramedic.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Don't worry about your height or strength. You'll always have help to lift. As far as moving on to become a paramedic - no, I never had any desire to. It'd be a fun job, but certainly doesn't pay well. I decided to go to nursing school since there are so many specialties and areas of nursing I could have gone into, and not just emergency like I would as a paramedic. I've been an ICU nurse and I'm going back to school this fall..

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