My daughter has taken, with the exception of A&P I&2, her prereqs. She is taking both this summer. She will be eligible to enter the ADN program this fall. I am so excited about her getting her uniform, white shoes, stethescope, nursing care plan sheets, and clinically rotating this fall! She is contemplating going to a BSN program instead. The BSN program at the university is $455.00 per credit hr as opposed to $81.00 at the Jr college. Obviously money is an issue for us, and I do not want her to go into debt. I told her that it is best to take her NCLEX asap and not to put unnecessary time and info between that time. I also feel that she will get more nursing experience by doing it what I call the 2+1 way, which is the bridge program rather than the 3+0 way, not to mention that the hospital will probably pay for the bridged year. I do not like (4) yr colleges b/c I have never had as great an exp. at any of them as at the community colleges. I have gone to (4) diff (4) yr colleges, and (2) diff community colleges. I am currently enrolled in an ADN community college program and I love my instructors! She will be going to a different community college in a different state. I am very familiar with the community college that she will, God willin', go to this fall, b/c I graduated from there with an AS degree and she has taken all her prereqs except Micro there. We disagree every night about this decision b/c I do not feel that more general education classes will make her a better nurse, and it will cost her a year of work. She plans to meet with the (4) colleges and find out if she can enter with sophomore status. I have looked at some of the (4) yr curriculums and they are absurd. They require pathophysiology (4) cr, pharmacology (3) cr, foundations (5) cr, nutrition (3) cr, and sociology (3) cr this is a ttl of (18) cr which is inhumane, as opposed to (8) cr at the Jr college. I really feel that (18) cr is a recipe for failure. She tells me that she wants to be challenged, live on campus, she is convinced that she can have a social life while going to nursing school, and has long range plans to go to med school. I tell her lets make small successes, and then progress to bigger ones.
Edited by Nurse Ratched: exciting update to original poster's story on post #75! Congrats to daughter! :) Adding this because I don't want folks new to the thread to miss it.
Specializes in Postpartum, Antepartum, Psych., SDS, OR.
If the course required were known to me when my interest in nursing began I would not have gone for the ADN. The young need to go for their dream when they can as then their Doctorate. Thanks Doctor!
oh, so us ADN students aren't going to succeed? shucks.
Yes, my sentiments exactly! I decided just to drift off this segment b/c now the "edu-speakers" have gotten involved. I truely felt that this topic was closed w/ the (4) year scholarship? And when I said that whatever she does will be her decision. What part of "her decision" are some readers not gettin"? She is not even sure at this point she will pursue nursing, and we still have folks responding to her choice to follow the BSN vs ADN program? At this point I wish this was the issue at hand. Now my brother's "engineering" ideas pervase. It'll be interesting to see how this all turns out, but in the meantime I have a lot of cardiac drugs to study. Thanks RninMay2005 for stickin' up for us ADN students. A lot of the decision to go to ADN+1 vs BSN rests in the money, and a student's tolerance for non-stop school, and a willingness to append one's self out of the work-world for (4)years. The funniest thing is that some people did not even interpret the "ADN+1" part of my statement. Some people just jumped to the conclusion that I wanted my daughters education to terminate after the (2) yr ADN program, that is really (3) years. I said that I wanted her to take a "Plus 1" approach to this. If nothing else this segment has taught me to listen to the patient. As for me you will find me cruising other links where I can get some practical knowledge. The scholarship created a whole different scenario. The cost of tuition is now removed.
I have just been following this interesting thread toward the end. What I am doing now is teaching my 9 and 12 year old children a very valuable lesson- get your education completed before you have "life" responsibilities. It makes it very hard to wait. I am an RN and went through a Diploma program which I loved and learned to much to prepare me for nursing. However, this many years down the road I have decided I want to become a nurse practitioner. Now I need to go back to school for my BSN and then my MSN. It is much harder to do this now than when I had just me to look after.
While in nursing school the first time I worked in non-health jobs. After graduating I could not believe how easy it was to find a job and how I wasn't always worried about getting laid off. That is one of the nicest things about nursing. You are always guaranteed a job (it may not be your dream job- but it's work) and you can go many different directions in nursing.
If she has some confusion over MD vs NP- have someone explain to her that the basic part of nursing is to be a holistic healer taking into account each individual. Some docs practice this way, but it is not the way they were trained. The nursing philosophy fits my personality better.
If she obtained her BSN and became a nurse, there are so many areas that she could go into to. Many in direct patient care, many in management, and many in insurance, etc. If not happy in that area, she can go on and get her MSN and become an Advanced Practice Nurse. Teaching is a possibility there as well as patient care on a different level- a doctors level of care. Again, many ways to go.
My parents never sat down with me and said "Do something you love, but also make sure it's something that you can support yourself with." Others may agree, but I think it's pretty good advice and have told my children this over and over.
It is very hard being a parent. You can see them wanting to spread their wings and fly, but they still need to know you are there for them and always will be. Becasue your daughter is so smart and sought after in the way of scholarships, many people will be throwing lots of career advice to her. My advice is, you know her better than anyone and you know where her love and aptitude lie. She may succeed in an engineering program, but would she like the work? Let her bounce ideas off of you, make lists of various options, and help her with her scheduling. My kids cringe when I tell them I'm going to college with them!
I don't know how parents can just turn their kids loose once they go away to college. I think that's when the kids really need the parents advice.
My daughter will be graduated from a BSN program July 2009. She is now happy that I encouraged her to go to nursing school. We have had and still are having interesting talks and bonding along her journey of nursing. We just reviewed together for a psych nursing test. I can't tell you the joy this brings me to quiz her, offer real life experience, and then see her make excellent marks on the test. She still wants to be a doctor and I am encouraging her pursuit of this. She took the MCAT this summer and did well. She plans to take a year off from school and work as a nurse during this year.
as a parent of adult daughters, i beg to differ with this train of thought on the following condition:
you're right in saying "she is an adult" (assuming she is already of legal age).
you're right in saying "it is her life and her decision". can't argue that, either.
what is not right is if the parents are footing the educational bill for her.
the original poster stated that they could afford the $81.00 per credit hour tuition rate, but they could not afford the $445.00 per credit hour tuition rate. therefore, if their daughter insist on going to college where her parents have already stated they cannot afford for her to go, then the daughter needs to foot the bill. afterall............that too is part of being an adult and making decisions that affect her life as an adult. :)
the "op" stated money is an issue, and they cannot afford the higher rate. they should tell their daughter they will pay up to whatever amount they can comfortably afford to pay with daughter paying the balance.
it's good to want. daughter needs to understand the facts. the fact is there is only so much money to go around, and her parents are willing to give her what they can afford. if she really wants to go to college and become a nurse, she will accept what her parents can afford to pay and stop whining about wanting what she wants........regardless of her rationale behind it. :)
facts can't change the truth.........but, truth can change the facts. daughter needs to begin understanding this reality of being an adult now that she is one. :)
you're 100% correct. i was just going to say the exact same thing..except you said it with so much grace.
If she wants to pursue a higher degree such as her MSN then I suggest she go ahead and obtain her BSN now. If she doesn't then I think the ADN will be fine. If money is an issue and you, the parent, are paying for the tuition then she should understand and go back later to obtain her BSN.
Congratulations on your daughters graduation (which, by now, should have already happened)!!! I'm so glad she took advantage of the BSN - wherever she ends up!
Let her try the BSN program. Sure, it's more expensive and more intense... but she'll get her BACHELOR'S degree. There are more opportunities for her if she has a bachelor's degree. Don't you want what's best for her? If that doesn't work, she can then fall to the ADN program. And why is she going out of state for a COMMUNITY COLLEGE?
RN Zeke
415 Posts
If the course required were known to me when my interest in nursing began I would not have gone for the ADN. The young need to go for their dream when they can as then their Doctorate. Thanks Doctor!