Feeling really discouraged....

[stefanyjoy]

Hello everyone!

I am currently taking pre-requisite courses at Durham Tech to get into their ADN program. At this point, I probably will start the nursing program in Fall 2012, which already seems so far away. My ultimate goal is to obtain my RN from Durham Tech, BSN from UNC-Chapel Hill, then Duke's CRNA program.

Sounds like a tall order, eh?

I guess I am feeling very discouraged today, because I work full-time and am a mom to a 5 year-old, and I already attend classes at Durham Tech full-time as well. Today I was researching the prerequisites to get into the RN-to-BSN program at UNC Chapel Hill, and WOW! They want so many additional classes that weren't on my plan of study for the ADN program. I'd have to take like 13 or 14 extra classes (classes, not credit hours!) on top of my pre-reqs for the ADN program. I'm feeling so overwhelmed right now, like my dream is just getting further and further out of my reach, and I was just being silly to think this was possible in the first place. It's going to take me 10 years to get this all done. Will I even be able to have a life anymore?

Anyone have any motivational advice for me today?

[stefanyjoy]

nevermind; just had a long day. Lost my head there earlier. I'm motivated as hell and can't wait to break into this new career.

[TC3200]

hehe! Now, THAT'S the sprirt! :-)

13-14 extra seems like a lot. With the degrees I have looked at, the prereqs for diploma RN and associate degree RN are usually pretty much the same, and there are not a lot of non-nursing courses in the RN-to-BSN completers. So try looking at different schools. Lots of the non-clinical stuff can be done online, too, at some schools.

[birthrevolution]

Do you have another Bachelor's degree? If so, you could do a second-degree program. Or, if you don't you could do classes towards a bachelor's instead of prereqs for an ADN program and then more prereqs to do an RN-BSN program. A full BSN degree takes 4 years, so if you just did the Bachelor's in the traditional way then you would get everything done in less time. I mean, if you're already taking classes full-time at Durham Tech, working full-time and have a 5 yo you could handle it!