Getting around the 18 y.o requirement

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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My 14 y.o daughter has 21 college credits and is currently enrolled full time in a community college. She would very much like to be a nurse but does not want to start an Associates degree in nursing at 18. ( All AS nursing degrees require you to be 18 to start clinicals) We know she can complete the handful of non clinical classes before 18 but is there a beneficial avenue in which she can complete a bachelor's degree before 18 and go back for a limited time after 18 to get the nursing done?

What is the best bachelors that will let her transfer to a BSN easily or is there another method to best utilize her time in college before she turns 18?

You have to be 18 to serve alcohol in a restaurant...

I looked that up. In one state, you may serve at 17. All others range from 18 all the way up to 21.

I didn't have any luck when googling minimum age to administer narcotics.

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

Send her to high school so she can be an adolescent, go to prom, crush on people her own age and do all the rite of passage stuff one needs to do in order to become a young adult, much less a nurse.

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Specializes in ER.
Send her to high school so she can be an adolescent, go to prom, crush on people her own age and do all the rite of passage stuff one needs to do in order to become a young adult, much less a nurse.

I've seen some awesome products of a 100% homeschooling educational that are very well socialized. There are a lot of negative pitfalls to both public and private schools too.

In the perspective of human history, segregation of young people is an anomoly. Our current educational system seems to foster a delay of young people assuming the responsibilities of adulthood.

Maybe that's why this young lady in question has so much on the ball?

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

If financial aid is not an issue a well rounded education is always beneficial. With a degree in an affiliated field, which is just about anything in the sciences entering a nursing specific program later shouldn't be an issue. There are many members of this community that hold nursing degrees as a second or even third degree. Hopefully one of those members that has gone the route of entering nursing after obtaining a degree in a different field can provide some information on how they did it.

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Send her to high school so she can be an adolescent, go to prom, crush on people her own age and do all the rite of passage stuff one needs to do in order to become a young adult, much less a nurse.

My homeschooled kids get plenty of interaction with other kids - crushes and all. Public school doesn't have the market cornered on life experiences or rites of passage.

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Specializes in Critical care.

I'd like to address two things:

1) a poster early on stated even accelerated programs take 2 years which is incorrect. I attended a school with the shortest accelerated BSN (ABSN) program that was 11 months (actually less if you count the total of 5 weeks we had off between classes during the entire program). When applying to programs and going to info sessions I learned most ABSN programs tend to span 14-18 months.

2) we have a student extern in a vocational program that is still in high school on my unit once a week. She has shadowed me several times. Her role is pretty much the same as a CNA, but I go over the patients (meds, pathophysiology, etc.) with her as well.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Send her to high school so she can be an adolescent, go to prom, crush on people her own age and do all the rite of passage stuff one needs to do in order to become a young adult, much less a nurse.

I'd say the OP's daughter has the makings of a great nurse without all of that unnecessary bull poop. She is far ahead of where I was at 14.

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My homeschooled kids get plenty of interaction with other kids - crushes and all. Public school doesn't have the market cornered on life experiences or rites of passage.

I don't think the point was public school vs. home school, it's letting your 14 child enjoy the things 14 year old children enjoy vs. sending her to college and presumably off to full time work at such a young age. That poster was presumably encouraging the OP to let her kid be a kid, regardless of whether or not it's being a home schooled kid vs. a public (or private school) kid.

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.

I say let her be 14 and care-free for awhile. She can't truly know yet if she really wants to be a nurse, IMO. There are aspects of this career that 14 year old's will not be able to grasp, nor should they.

To answer your question, an associate in science transfers towards a BSN in most cases, leaving mostly nursing classes left to complete.

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Specializes in ER.
I say let her be 14 and care-free for awhile. She can't truly know yet if she really wants to be a nurse, IMO. There are aspects of this career that 14 year old's will not be able to grasp, nor should they.

To answer your question, an associate in science transfers towards a BSN in most cases, leaving mostly nursing classes left to complete.

I don't know about you, but age 14 for me was a confusing and stressful time of my life. I wonder how anyone can think that the teenage years are stress-free.

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Specializes in ED, psych.

I have an almost 14-year-old and a 15-year-old. It can be a tough age, full of uncertainty and confusing. They're both not the school dance, super involved type of kids -- they are truly introverts, just like mom. And being an introvert at the MS/HS level is difficult, especially in this day and age. However, while hardly "carefree," I can't imagine either of them knowing so firmly what they want to do as a career either. My son doesn't have a clue, and my youngest "likes art" and is choosing her HS Freshman electives based on that.

But ... that's *MY* kids.

I think if the OP's daughter is *truly* interested, than the parents can foster the interest by the many suggestions provided by other posters. Make learning a life long process that doesn't have to start at an "official" age; just ensure that it is truly what she wants (i.e., and not what *mom* wants), and tailor it according to developmental appropriateness and what's offered in her area.

Not every kid out there has fun "being a kid."

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Forgot to explain that an accelerated BSN program is for students who already have a bachelors--since all the pre-req courses for a bachelors are already done, it focuses more on the nursing courses. However, most accelerated BSN programs still require at least 2 years.

Hmm..this seems new to me. Schools don't tell you that. And there is no requirement to have a bachelors prior to accelerated nursing school. I thought they just accelerate it because they know you're sick of being in school and respect the fact that you want to hurry up and start working which I'm highly against. I don't know what it was like 10 or 20 years ago, but I have a grudge against quantity over quality that runs deep. A job that handles life and death shouldn't be an education rushing you out of your mind. "You'll be working in a fast pace environment anyway"? Shouldn't hospitals start you off during the night time to train you so it doesn't overwhelm the new employee in training?

If nursing schools are about pumping grad students out, then hospitals might as well have the quality of care build quality similar to that of a Soviet-made Yugo.

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