Desperate, Anxiety: get into Nursing THIS year

[joe84u2004]

Hello my fellow Nursing enthusiast!

I posting to this nursing forum because I am open to suggestions and opinions of my future colleagues regarding my chosen career.

As many of you who have applied to nursing schools have found, it can be excruciating experience of applying and waiting for responses.

I have applied to the following schools so far: West Hills College, Chabot College, College of San Mateo, Fresno City College, Los Medanos College, Merritt College, Butte College, Sacramento City College, and Samuel Merritt University. I will still apply to 3 others: Modesto Junior College, Sierra College, and Yuba College.

They are all ADN programs except for SMU, which I applied for ABSN.

As of this posting: I have been placed on the waitlist at CSM at 80-A (not sure what that means), not selected in the lottery for Butte, and I failed to confirm results for Fresno City College in time and was disqualified (that was in February).

Due to the lottery system of these colleges I wanted to apply to as many as I could.

I absolutely need to get into a program this year! Why? Because, I am attempting my second career in nursing and I'm married for nearly five years. If I cannot get accepted into a program this year, and have no backup plan, she will divorce me! She is tired of waiting. So, I'm in a tough position! My life will either get very exciting or fall apart this year or based on my application results!

What is my backup plan? Pursuing the LVN, and LVN to RN program. Today, I have found out Unitek provides a program, and it is relatively easy to get in. I talked to them a few minutes ago to set up an appointment, then did some research online. I do not like what I see so far! How can I go Unitek with a massive debt (plus my previous Bachelor degree debt) and gamble the chance for a job after I graduate! My life may surely be broke then!

I cannot wait to apply to state colleges, its too late, they are too long, and expensive. I was always looking for a degree in less than 2 years. That's why I was applying to the above.

I started my prerequisites for the LVN in 2012, then gave up the idea of LVN in favor or RN requisites. I am qualified for most colleges, except for a few. My grades are excellent, my TEAS is excellent, I have 18 months CNA experience, I have foreign language, I have a Bachelors Degree. I'm am a highly qualified candidate. Yet, I may still not get into a school.

Some of the best advice I could get, is which college, especially in bay area, could I get accepted into this year. Whether it be LVN or RN, I need one of them!

Unitek is an option, but is there anything else out there?

Is there any advice out there? I would appreciate it.

[klone, MSN, RN]

What is your other degree? Maybe you should pursue employment/career in that field.

[joe84u2004]

Thank you for your comment.

I have a non-professional BA in Architecture. If I wanted to practice architecture I must pursue another degree in it. Even with it, job prospects are very slim, and architecture is dieing. I have turned away from that for two years already. Working as a CNA probably would pay better than anything some office may let me play with.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Are you familiar with the job market in your area for nurses? If you think it's hard to get into nursing school, it will likely be just as much, if not more, difficult to get that first job as a nurse.

[joe84u2004]

Thank you again for commenting.

I live in the Bay Area, however, I will move if the opportunity arises! My wife will quit her work and follow (as she says). Broadly speaking I heard it is not easy, and usually requires a recommendation from someone on the inside. As far as I can tell, this applies to Hospitals. While I want to work at a hospital, I do not expect to be in a position to pick. I believe other areas will be easier, and I include skilled nursing in that category, so I am still optimistic. There are two observed reasons for this: first, I was interviewed and hired as a CNA from my sole clinical site the day of passing my CNA certification. Second, my skilled nursing facility still has LVNs and a few RNs working as floor nurses or treatment nurses. I fully expect to be hired as an RN if I have an RN license somewhere. My own director of staff development says they would hire me if I get the RN (perhaps LVN?)

I believe I will be just as qualified and on top of the field when I graduate, and could open the eyes of my clinical-site administrators. Otherwise, I will even move to another state to get work.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Do you realize the unemployment rate for new grad RNs in the state of California is a whopping 43 percent? Your spouse might not divorce you if you get accepted into a nursing program, but what's going to happen if you do not find a job after graduation?

There is no nursing shortage in CA, despite what you've heard. Remember that.

[joe84u2004]

That sounds like a mountain. Architecture is still that same mountain: they have similar statics for the entire country. 43% is a challenge, but its a challenge I would accept. Its my life and I do not plan to keep changing it. There is nothing else I want to do other than patient care. I would go into the army as a nurse if I had too. If I'm an RN working as something else, I could do that just to impress my employer.

If my first job is out of state, I'm fine with that. I could move anywhere, even Missouri (my home state). I want to get into a school, and go anywhere I can to find a job. If I want to move to Cali again, I could do that with years of experience, or go into Nurse Practitioner with a Masters Degree.

Right now, I need a school, then find any work, anywhere.

Do anyone think a for-profit LVN-RN program is good option for me?

[joe84u2004]

My point was, I would go anywhere for experience.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Were you being hyperbolic when you said your wife would divorce you? If not, then how do you think she might react to the idea of relocating to an undesirable locale, with no family around?

I know we're being quite discouraging here. But we just want you to make sure you understand the realities. The barriers you are experiencing are only the tip of the iceberg that new nurses are faced with right now. There is NO NURSING SHORTAGE. We want you to be prepared for these realities, and go into this with eyes wide open.

Here's a thought - if you're willing to relocate for a job, would you be willing to relocate for school? Why not try applying to programs in different states?

I would highly highly discourage anyone from going to a for-profit pre-licensure nursing school. It would be just a really bad idea, unless you can do it without student loans.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Also do you realize that right now many facilities are not hiring new grads AND acute acre facilities are hiring ONLY BSN grads? This is also a trend across the country. There is no shortage

[toomuchbaloney]

I share the concern of the other posters here.

It doesn't sound as if nursing school is going to solve your problems and may, in fact, exacerbate them.

There is an enormous difference between architecture and nursing. They are so different, in fact, that it makes critical thinkers wonder at the thought process that took you from A to B in the first place. What inspired you to pursue nursing of all things after investing so much time and money in another field?

[joe84u2004]

Not hyperbolic. She wants to stay at home and have a kid. She is getting tired of waiting for my pre-nursing school to be over. She is turning 30, and you know what that's like for a women? Its pressure for her.

Applying to California schools will be preferable because the California school and license are easier to transfer out of state, rather than out of state transfer into Cali.

I would pay half out of pocket and half student loans. But, for an LVN I am hoping any cheaper school would work.

It is my preference that Samuel Merritt University will accept my application for Accelerated Bachelors in Nursing. That would be the best thing for me right now, but like everything else, it isn't guaranteed.

The chances for a job are tough. Do you think my BA and CNA experience, and even certification for blood withdraw would help. I plan on taking IV and BW this summer.