Freshman in college interested in nursing

Nursing Students General Students

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Hi guys,

Right now im just a freshman in college and i've been interested in nursing for about a year and have started to take pre requisites. But I have a million questions about becoming a nurse and have no one to really talk about it with.

so anyways.. what do i need to even become a nurse? ive heard the best option is getting your BSN (you get paid more??) and i know you need to pass the NCLEX (i hope thats right) to become an RN? Im not entirely sure, im just so confused and all i really know is that im planning on transfering to a university with a nursing program but the help on their websites is so vague. Also, i'd love to do forensic nursing or be in the OR, but how do i go about getting there? Except I wouldn't want to become a SANE, that part doesnt particulary interest me. Thanks for all your help, i know this is really long and probably repetitive.

But I have a million questions about becoming a nurse and have no one to really talk about it with...

ive heard the best option is getting your BSN (you get paid more??)

ROFLMAO

Therein lies your first introduction to the world of nursing, the ONLY profession where those with more education do not get paid more than those with less...

BSNs do not make more money because the profession is fractured with multiple entry points. Two year degree nurses insist they can do the same job as four year degree nurses which is basically true from a skill level rhough not from an education level. As a BSN you will be more likely to be hired before a two year degree. You will be more likely to move into management. Plus you are halfway to your master's which should be your next step anyway.

Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Hi,

Why don't you set up an appointment with someone in the nursing program where you want to apply? I'm sure they can fill you in on the details about the school part. Your clinicals during school will expose you to an assortment of different areas. After you graduate you will take the NCLEX and once you pass that you will get your license and be able to work as a nurse. I'm sure others will write in with more info also. Good luck, Jules

Specializes in NICU.

Hi! I am currently in the first year of an Associate's Degree nursing program. In order to get here, I had to take all of the required pre-reqs and pass with the minimum allowed by my school. I then had to take the NET (nursing entrance test - there are others as well, but this is what our school required) and had to pass at a certain percentage above the national average to be admitted. When I have received my degree, I will then have to sit for the NCLEX (a.k.a. nursing boards) and pass those before I will be officially recognized as an RN for employment.

I think that chosing betwen the ADN and BSN route depends upon your future goals. In my area, there is no difference in pay between ADNs and BSNs as they are both RNs. However, for most of the hospitals around here, if you want to go into administration, you have to have a BSN. I am going the ADN route with plans to finish up the RN-BSN online since it is much cheaper and more convenient for me to become a RN through my community college. I plan on pursuing a MSN, otherwise I probably would not bother with the BSN given my geographical area and want to do bedside nursing rather than management nursing.

The wait-list tends to be rather lengthy to get into a program in most areas, so I would suggest that you apply to the nursing program as soon as you possibly can. You can finish pre-reqs while you wait, but if you apply late, you may have a gap of 1-3 years or longer while you wait to get into the program.

All areas/schools are different, so I would suggest talking to some nurses in your area and arranging to meet with an academic counselor for the nursing program at the school(s) you are interested in attending.

Best of luck to you, hope this helps!

Specializes in NICU.

Oh, I forgot to add: You learn general nursing for all areas of nursing throughout your schooling. After you graduate, you will then be trained in specialty areas at your place of employment. For example, if you want to be an OR nurse, you will go through nursing school and then, usually you will have some type of lengthy orientation when you first get a job in the OR where they will teach you about the specialty. They may have classes you have to take or you may have to work under one of their nurses for a certain amount of months.

I don't know if there are any extra classes/certifications you can gain to help you get into a specialty, but I'm sure someone will come along who knows before much longer.

This part is all based on what I have heard from other nurses as I have not yet graduated myself, but I am pretty sure it is correct.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I will do my best to help. Hopefully some more posters will get you more information as well. :)

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

hi, thehb chemistry!

i'm listing some weblinks below this post for you to explore and read about the profession of nursing and how to become a nurse. the are two kinds on licensed nurses in the u.s.: lpns (licensed practical nurses) and rns (registered nurses). becoming an rn takes longer. you can become an rn by attending a hospital school of nursing, going to a community college nursing program and getting an aa degree or going to a four-year college and getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. the school degree you get has no bearing on whether or not you are able to take the state board exam to become licensed as an rn. what a bachelor's degree in nursing will do for you is open the door for more opportunities within the profession of nursing. the nclex exam is the licensing exam that all rns have to take and pass to become rns. you will also hear it referred to as the state board exam. forensic nursing is only one specialty within nursing. you can find information about it on the discover nursing website (i've given you a link to it below and to the page that has the various nursing specialties). there is also a forum on allnurses for forensic nursing that you might want to check out and explore (https://allnurses.com/forums/f20/). sane is discussed there. i have been both a nursing manager and supervisor in several facilities and in all but one (which was a large city hospital) rape victims were something that were rarely, if ever, seen in those ers. i also was a medical coder for a large group of er physicians who were contracted to perform er services in over 20 hospitals and sane cases are coded and billed differently. in the two years i coded for them, i never had one sane chart come through my hospitals. in general, a full-time job in forensic nursing is kind of rare. most nurses involved in forensic nursing work as nurses doing other work and only perform forensic work as it comes up. most sane nursing is done by er nurses as rape victims appear in their ers. there is usually at least one rn on duty who has sane training who can do the proper collection of evidence from these patients. many times it is a job requirement to work in those particular ers. please continue to read and explore the many different forums at allnurses and ask questions about things you want more information on.

oh, and if you feel that nursing is something that you are meant to be doing in your life, then you need to be doing it. don't let others deter you, regardless of what they have to say about it. many of us went into nursing because we knew we wanted to be of service to our fellow human beings. too many others today are going into the profession for what they perceive to be the good money and job security. well, the job security is definitely there, but like any job, you have to work for the money you earn. i have seen too many new nurses coming into the profession who just do not have a good work ethic and do not understand what it means to be a good, loyal and responsible employee to begin with. you might want to take a look at some of the threads that are currently being discussed on some of the forums here about the bad winter weather going on right now and the thinking of some and their responsibility to get in to work. most nursing jobs in hospitals and other facilities require 24 hour staffing of nurses--that's us. nurses work in shifts around the clock and on holidays. in many hospitals we also get "floated" to other units when others nurses call off sick and those units are short of help. that's another topic you'll see discussed a lot on the forums.

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/majors_careers/45263.html - "ten questions to ask yourself" about nursing and if it might be right for you

http://nursing.about.com/od/becomeanurse/bb/beforenurse.htm - "before you decide to become a nurse". things to consider about being a nurse. lots of links to information about what skills you need to become a nurse. and, what if you're really bad at math and science is discussed.

http://nursing.about.com/od/becomeanurse/a/notforeveryone.htm - "nursing is not for everyone". this is a very down to earth and honest article that broadly discusses what a nurse does and what you can expect on the job as a nurse.

http://www.discovernursing.com/

http://www.discovernursing.com/nursing-careers - list of nursing specialties

http://www.awhonn.org/ncc/student.htm - a very nice information page from the association of women's health, obstetric and neonatal nurses on being a nurse, salary you can expect to make, types of nursing degrees, nursing specialties with weblinks to some of the major professional nursing organizations, the nurse reinvestment act, and some information and how to search for scholarships and financial aid.

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm - about registered nursing from the u.s. department of labor

https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/day-life-registered-nurse-185298.html - a day in the life of a registered nurse thread on general nursing discussion forum.

welcome to allnurses! :welcome:

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