I still want to get my RN license, and I was really close to getting it before **** hit the fan with PTSD flare-ups, not taking medial leave when I should, or getting the help I ought to have gotten.
I know I have the capacity for grades for the ferocity of nursing school (I got pretty damned far unmedicated, untreated for mental illness) but it was low grades that ultimately got me kicked out.
Is it impossible for me to still become an RN? I was in a BSN program at a university level, and I since have moved out of state and sought treatment for my problems. Would I start from the very bottom? I don't like the idea of starting over, but I will do what I have to in order to get back into the program.
Go to a couple of your area community colleges and ask about getting into their ADN classes. If they don't want to do that, ask about the LPN classes. I have a feeling you will be able to get into the 2 year ADN, then from there you can go for you BSN if that is what you want to do. Since you have had some of the classes already, the classes will probably make things clearer for you now.
Also, ADN programs can be very competitive, don't let the "community college" element fool you. Many won't accept students with a GPA below 3.5 or so.
You can try appealing. I would consider appealing if you can. I would also begin going to the different areas and talking to them. It is not common but not uncommon to have people fail out and then go to another school. We would kind of trade people and they would get some credit for classes they did but not all the credit. One group would come back to the ADN program and those that failed our program would go to their ADN or BSN program. It was funny to hear the people trash the program they failed out of.
We did have people fail out of our RN program and go into the LVN program. They could then apply to go to the LPN to RN bridge and get credit for the classes they completed. A friend of mine did that.
You can try appealing. I would consider appealing if you can. I would also begin going to the different areas and talking to them. It is not common but not uncommon to have people fail out and then go to another school. We would kind of trade people and they would get some credit for classes they did but not all the credit. One group would come back to the ADN program and those that failed our program would go to their ADN or BSN program.
I'm not sure if I can appeal at the BSN program that I failed since I have moved out of state from the university I attended.
Heh, the idea of trading people does sound pretty cool though!
Hey! There is hope! I failed my ABSN hybrid program last May, and after a TON of work, I am officially accepted into an associates RN program. Make sure to be accountable for your failure, don't blame it on anyone but yourself. Have a plan of what you will do better, because they most likely will ask.
There is hope for us! You just have to work hard and you'll get where you want to be. :)
If you really want to be a nurse you have many options. Apply at a two year RN program (usually these programs are found in junior colleges), apply for an LPN or LVN program or apply for an on-line program. However my concern is your PTSD. This never goes away and as you know can flare up at the worst times. Nursing is an extremely stressful profession at best. I have been a nurse for 25 years and no matter how much training you have, no matter how many people you've helped, no matter how caring you are people will still say mean and nasty and cruel things, you will meet co-workers who will try to make you quit every day, and you will be assigned young supervisors who will take the word of a patient in a psychiatric chrisis over yours. What I am trying to emphasize is that as a nurse you are routinely challenged in every way. You must be prepared to defend yourself at all times. Therefore, my advice to you is that if you decide to pursue nursing look for a job which allows you a lot of room to make your own decisions and work at your own pace. It's much less stressful. Ultimately you may consider making your PTSD a strength rather than a weakness by going into psychiatric nursing, hospice nursing, or something similiar. Imagine the insight and empathy you already possess! Good Luck!
Miss Infermiera2b, BSN, RN
380 Posts
Also, ADN programs can be very competitive, don't let the "community college" element fool you. Many won't accept students with a GPA below 3.5 or so.