Does this bother you?

HappyNurse2005, RN · Aug 3, 2006

to quote that website w/ the article:

students spend two years earning an associate's degree while still in high school, they would be much better prepared to enter the job market upon graduation, he said.

HA! how many of us ADN nurses actually spent only 2 years doing it?

this person seems to think that a student can actually do nursing in 2 years. Plus high school, too? unrealistic expectations of hte program, i think.

someone needs to make him do a nurse shadowing program and see if he thinks his 17 year old is able to handle that stress. i dont think so. i wasn't at 17.

sassy_cassie · Aug 3, 2006

I am for it if someone can handle nursing school and pass boards then they are competant in my mind. I was not much older when i went to nursing school I graduated from high school at 18, became a LPN at 19, and a RN at 20. I am a very good nurse. I work on a inpatient rehab floor and once I explain to them that I am an RN and I have graduated college most of the patients like having a young nurse. However many other students and nurses have made very rude comments to me about my age. In a world where there is a nursing shortage they should be happy to have a young nurse who will be able to aquire many years of nursing experience. However due to jealousy or just meaness many nurses are not willing to give me the chance.

BettyJ21 · Aug 7, 2006

Hell yes, it bothers me! It is another example of RN's getting very little credit for brains.

NancyNurse27 · Aug 7, 2006

Well i'm not sure how comfortable I would be with an 18yo RN but the idea of the 5-year program is great. My sister is 17 and currently in a similar program here. She is not getting her ADN however. Next May she will graduate with her AS in engineering and then about 2 weeks later graduate from high school. All of her college credits count as high school credits so she is able to get both simultaneously. The program is very very hard to get into and trust me she has worked her butt off to get her degree. I might add that those in the program are unable to get into the nursing program until after they have graduated. So maybe that guy should take a look at some other successful 5-year plans!

Sodie, BSN, RN · Aug 7, 2006

It sounds a bit odd. In MN it seems that you hae to be 18+ to work in a job where you deal with medications.

In SC, the Associate program that I went to required that you were 18 to go into clinical. Not only was the young age a problem, but I think that some insurances may not want to cover people under 18 in the profession. Some institutions require you to be 18 in order to have a paid job working with patients. I know that there are Volunteers that are teenagers, but they have limited roles in interacting with patients.

truern · Aug 8, 2006

The same thing is happening in my area...I'm just happy to be off that campus

http://www.wral.com/news/8068747/detail.html

Partnership Brings Health Sciences To New Wake High School

POSTED: 5:38 pm EST March 16, 2006

UPDATED: 11:29 pm EST March 16, 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Some rising Wake County 9th graders will get a big headstart in a health career. Between 50 and 100 of them will enroll this fall in a program called the Wake Early College of Health and Sciences. It's the result of a partnership between WakeMed, Wake Technical Community College and Wake County Schools.

Normally, the labs and classrooms in the Wake Tech facilities behind WakeMed are filled with health sciences college students. But this fall, high school students will share the space. It's a 5-year program that could lead to an associate degree or free transferable college credit.

"This school is part of our continuing effort to make our high schools more personalized, more challenging and more alligned to real world experiences", said Bill McNeal, Superintendent for the Wake County Public School System.

WakeMed provides clinical instructors and hands on learning opportunities. Students will be exposed to such fields as nursing, dental hygiene and medical lab technology. The experience could prepare them for up to 700 different jobs in the health care industry. Some students may continue on to medical or dental school.

"That's exactly what this program was designed to do. Bring along people who can learn at a very early age with a love of the industry and then be given the very best education at the soonest time possible", said Bill Atkinson, President and CEO of WakeMed Health Care.

Full enrollment will eventually be no more than 400 students. Rising 8th graders can begin the application process now for the fall of 2007. McNeal admits it will be a difficult selection process that will leave many deserving students out.

Interested families are invited to an open house in the Wake Tech Health Sciences building on Monday from 7-9 p.m. It's on the corner of Sunnybrook Road and Holston Lane behind WakeMed.

Midwest4me · Aug 8, 2006

You're not kidding. What an insult to RNs today, that this is a job anyone can do who is "willing to work". Wow.
Hey, got some time to kill at the end of high school? Might as well ding around for a bit and get that handy RN--never know when McDonald's might have a hiring freeze, and THEN where would you be? That is, as long as you are "willing to work".
Wonder what he'd feel like if his child were being cared for by someone who got an RN this way--as an alternative to "dropping out"??

It's a big insult to LPNs too. While I have advanced education in a field other than nursing,I do recall that LPN program being difficult. I don't feel that teenagers are mature enough to endure ANY nursing program; by and large they need a couple of years' prerequisites and time to "grow up" before tackling nursing.

Gods child · Aug 8, 2006

The same thing is happening in my area...I'm just happy to be off that campus
http://www.wral.com/news/8068747/detail.html
Partnership Brings Health Sciences To New Wake High School
POSTED: 5:38 pm EST March 16, 2006
UPDATED: 11:29 pm EST March 16, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Some rising Wake County 9th graders will get a big headstart in a health career. Between 50 and 100 of them will enroll this fall in a program called the Wake Early College of Health and Sciences. It's the result of a partnership between WakeMed, Wake Technical Community College and Wake County Schools.
Normally, the labs and classrooms in the Wake Tech facilities behind WakeMed are filled with health sciences college students. But this fall, high school students will share the space. It's a 5-year program that could lead to an associate degree or free transferable college credit.
"This school is part of our continuing effort to make our high schools more personalized, more challenging and more alligned to real world experiences", said Bill McNeal, Superintendent for the Wake County Public School System.
WakeMed provides clinical instructors and hands on learning opportunities. Students will be exposed to such fields as nursing, dental hygiene and medical lab technology. The experience could prepare them for up to 700 different jobs in the health care industry. Some students may continue on to medical or dental school.
"That's exactly what this program was designed to do. Bring along people who can learn at a very early age with a love of the industry and then be given the very best education at the soonest time possible", said Bill Atkinson, President and CEO of WakeMed Health Care.
Full enrollment will eventually be no more than 400 students. Rising 8th graders can begin the application process now for the fall of 2007. McNeal admits it will be a difficult selection process that will leave many deserving students out.
Interested families are invited to an open house in the Wake Tech Health Sciences building on Monday from 7-9 p.m. It's on the corner of Sunnybrook Road and Holston Lane behind WakeMed.

Interesting.

deleern · Aug 8, 2006

I am Surprised at the Reaction to this topic. My Daughter was 17 when she Started College. And was 19 when she Graduated from the LPN Program she had to do the 3rd semester over. And I am sure it was because she was just not ready. But she had the Gumption to go back and do it. Had High school been a 5 year High School the results would have been the same. NOBODY made it easier for her. MY son Graduated from College and High school at the same time... Not in nursing but With TWO College Diplomas and His high school one. He is now 20 and working for a Pipeline Co and Making a very good living.

Yes there are the ones that are not ready for the responsibility of Even being a CNA and I am sure that they will have to be accepted into the "program" as they are now.

I am taking the RN program now and it is very difficult. And you have to be ready for it. Education is the Key. And our high schools are sadly lacking.

Porcupine · Aug 8, 2006

I think it demonstrates how poorly the responsibilities of nursing are

understood by the general public. This is a politician talking and it does sound good,,,,real good, to the voters. Regardless, it will not work. It could work on certain jobs that do not require a great deal of maturity, say Lawyer, for example, but not nursing. There are all kinds of legal problems

and maturity issues, as well as patient acceptance, that will prevent

this from becoming a viable program. It will get him votes, and that is

what is really important.

Scholarnurse · Aug 8, 2006

I read an article in the local paper about a proposal from a prospective governor to create a five-year high school plan in which a student could graduate from high school in five years with an associate degree. In the article it made mention of how nursing could "lend itself" to the five year program, and that being an RN is great if you want to work. For some reason when I read that it really bothered me, and I don't understand why. I don't want to say that it cheapens the title of RN (the proposal was for RN, not LPN), but if this is something one can graduate from high school with, it seems like it would cause our profession to be looked down upon even more so. It just makes me think about all of the people who struggle to get in an RN program at the CC or university explaining to others how competitive it is to be accepted in a program (and how challenging nursing can be), just to have them open one up at a local high school. To top things off the only profession they mentioned was nursing, they made no mention of other associate degree programs being "added" to high school curriculum. Is it unreasonable to feel this way? Am I making a big deal about nothing? I can definitely see the benefits of this type of program, but somehow it seems to take away from "something" (can't put my finger on it).
I actually wish that sort of program was available when I was in school. I could have possibly been in CRNA School by age 21 (with ICU experience and everything). It would have been great to graduate at 18 or 19 and start out making 30-40,000 a year. Maybe I'm just jealous. :)

Nursing has been struggling to be recognized as a profession for some time. To propose that any high school graduate would have the nursing judgement, skills and knowledge of a professional is demeaning. You should be bothered; I doubt any such program will get the support it needs to come into being. Now, I do feel well-qualified seniors could do well in a Nursing or Medical Assistant program, similar to adult education programs.

country mom · Aug 8, 2006

My first thought was, according to federal law, you have to be 21 years old to be an interstate truck driver. I would think, given the amount of responsibility a nurse has, that similar reasoning would apply. On another note, why is it that truck drivers have hours of service rules that limit how long they can be on duty (14 hours), but nurses are routinely left on duty much longer than that. Makes no sense to me!