Future RN... need help!

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Hey! i just became a member on here (:

So, I start Broward College in August and I have decided to study Nursing. Here's the thing though, I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I want to eventually become a neonatal nurse. I went to a vocational high school but I studied Financial Services. (im 18) I could of been a Nursing Assistant right now. :( So anyways, I realized that I wasn't going to do numbers all days and I love babies and well the medical field is great.

I've read on here that BC is somewhat hard in nursing... which kinda scares me since I have no background in medicine at all. I wanted to hear from you all how your first years in college were? I graduate BC being an RN but how long does it exactly take? I'm in a dual degree program. Meaning that when I finish BC I am going to transfer to FIU for my BSN. Which leads to my next question, when I go study for my BSN am I going to be specializing in neonatal care or will I take more general nursing courses covering every aspect of the hospital?

Thank you so much!! :redbeathe

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, Peds ICU.

Your BSN is going to give you a general background in basic nursing sciences, leadership, research, and several different clinical areas. My program had rotations in mental health, adult med/surg, critical care, pediatrics, maternity/postpartum, and community health. Check with FIU to see how they do it.

If you're fortunate, you may be able to spend some time in a NICU during your maternity rotation. I did mine at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Ashby Campus, in Berkeley, California, and got to spend about half of my time in the NICU.

Also, I don't know how things are in Florida, but here we had a senior preceptorship. You pick a specialty you're interested in, and compete for placement to work one-on-one with a nurse in that field during your last semester. For mine I logged almost 300 hours working in a neuroscience intensive care unit. If you perform well, it's almost like an extended job interview in that you can do a lot of networking.

Hope this is helpful, and good luck!

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Hi there! I am a new member on here too but I thought I would share with you what I know about college and nursing programs. I guess the first question I should ask is "have you already been accepted into the nursing program at your college?" if yes, then it is likely that you will not only be taking nursing courses, but you will also be taking some prerequisite nursing courses as well, to include Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology and at least one math class. if you have not been accepted into the program yet, but have been admitted to the college, you are likely looking @ at least 2 years of prerequisite classes BEFORE even being able to apply to the nursing program. I'm not sure how your college does things, but all the college nursing programs I have dealt with ( I was in the military, so I moved around a bit) "recommended" but really required, that you do all prerequisite course work first, with the exception of maybe Microbiology and Developmental Psychology, before applying to the nursing program. Also, there are some schools that require you to take a pre-nursing entrance exam before applying, as well. You may know all of this, and I'm sorry if I have wasted your time, but I would hate for you to be thinking that you are only going to be in school for 2 years, when in reality, it could take more than that. I hope this was helpful if not informative, if not, again, I am sorry for wastingyour time.

Good Luck!

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You did not at all waste my time! The thing is that there is a difference because i was speaking earlier about an AA degree but in my college they offer an AS degree in nursing. (72 credits) equals to mayb about 3 yrs. so im just confused really in going for my bsn 4+ yrs or jst doing the AS and become an RN after... what would you recommend?

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

i've read on here that bc is somewhat hard in nursing... which kinda scares me since i have no background in medicine at all. i wanted to hear from you all how your first years in college were?

first of all, "hard" is a subjective term. what may be hard for one person could be very different for you. nursing is not the same as "medicine". probably more than 50% or more of the students who enter nursing schools have had absolutely no nursing (or medicine) experience prior to the start of nursing classes. i didn't. i think the reason you will hear nursing students say that nursing school is hard is this: in all your years of school, the subjects you study are usually built upon what you have previously learned. with nursing, just about everything you learn is new and unfamiliar to you. you are constantly being bombarded with this brand-new information. it never seems to let up and that can be stressful for some people. some people interpret that as being "hard". others will call it a challenge. who knows what you will call it? people in medical school have the same sort of situation--4 years of it because they go to school for much longer and have much more information they need to learn and, i guarantee, it is of a much more complex nature. if you do not have good study habits and skills going into nursing school you will struggle with assimilating and processing all the new information that will be coming your way.

i graduate bc being an rn but how long does it exactly take? i'm in a dual degree program. meaning that when i finish bc i am going to transfer to fiu for my bsn. which leads to my next question, when i go study for my bsn am i going to be specializing in neonatal care or will i take more general nursing courses covering every aspect of the hospital?

in your other thread i explained that once you graduate from any
rn
school, whether it is a 2-year or 4-year school, you would be eligible to take the nclex exam.
everyone
must get generalized
rn
training first and get an
rn
license. once you pass the nclex exam and get your
rn
license
then
you can apply for
rn
jobs. hospitals are aware that newly graduated from nursing school and newly licensed rns need additional training. many hospitals have special orientation programs specifically for new graduate nurses. neonatal nursing is a specialized area and rns who work in that area require additional training which they receive by the hospital that employs them. you will want to apply for a job at a hospital that is willing to hire and train you to work in their neonatal unit. however, you must be an
rn
first, so you need to concentrate, for now, on getting through
rn
school.

you need to read the information on this website about
rn
nursing and specifically about neonatal nursing:

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hey there Ash

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