Going to College and a SAHM. Advice would be awesome!

[SWalker0914]

Hi, everyone! My name is Sara. This year I got in touch with my best friend from elementary school. We hadn't talked in thirteen years. When we finally got in touch, we talked about what kind of jobs that we wanted to do. I am a stay at home mom and haven't worked a day in my life outside of being a 24/7 mom (which can be very challenging!). She made me realize what I wanted to do. We bounced ideas off of each other. After our 2 hour conversation on the phone, I felt like my old self, my little kid self. It was like someone had taken off my blindfold and showed me who I was, who I had forgotten I was. After we got off of the phone, I immediately looked up everything I could about pediatric nursing. I found out that I needed to take prerequisites before applying to a nursing program and that it would take a while. I looked at the salary that the average registered nurse earns in California and the benefits they could get. It was like an explosion of excitement. Now I am on my way to becoming a nurse, but I have to graduate from college with my associates first (which will be in three years). This is a great time for me, and I have been finding myself along the way.

I would LOVE some advice on how to study and how to put my best foot forward to get into a nursing program. I created a binder of basically everything that I researched. I have three nursing schools in my area that are out of community colleges. I wouldn't have to pay for anything because I get financial aid. I live in the Sacramento area in California. The colleges I am looking into for nursing are Sacramento City College, American River College, and Sierra College. I know that I have a long road ahead of me and I am willing to fight tooth and nail to be a pediatric nurse! I love kids, and I have always had a soft spot for them. I wish with all my heart to work in a children's hospital :) I got straight A's in the fall semester, and that was a challenge because the last time I had been in school was nine years ago and I did that without an off the wall 2-year-old! I am going to put her in daycare this spring semester for two days a week so that I can get some study time in without interruption lol I am taking psychology, English Comp, and Medical Language.

I made my own website: nurse-mommy.com It is a record of my journey so far!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

So glad to hear that you have re-claimed your MOJO!! Parenting is a self-limiting activity that will eventually dwindle to just a support role as your kiddos get older.... it's not a career. It's very wise to make sure that you are in a position to support yourself if anything unexpected occurs in the future.

Be sure to fully explore the nursing employment situation in your area. You are likely to discover that hospitals only hire BSN nurses. If so, you need to be prepared for the fact that going through an ADN program will limit your job options to non-hospital settings. It would also be a good idea to find out what sort of GPA it takes to be admitted to a nursing program so you will know how high to set your pre-requisite class goals.

Please be sure to review the AN Terms of Service. I believe that you cannot identify yourself as a nurse unless you actually are ... so you may need to change your user name.

[SWalker0914]

Thank you! I just changed my username :)

[SWalker0914]

I heard that there are some places that hire nurses with Associates, but they want them to get their Bachelors. They help pay for the nurses to get their bachelor's to further their education. Have you heard of anything like that?

[Buyer beware, BSN]

OP,

You sound like an awesome person.

I would just like to tell you about a link that I believe is less biased than the heavily weighted for-profit nursing program link that has been suggested to you as it seems like an advertisement for all colleges rather than a way to separate the wheat from the chaff.

To each his own but I would refer you first to the dept of ed published site (collegescorecard.ed.gov) first to look at tuition costs and graduation and retention rates of the schools that may suit your purposes and lots more.

These are good quality indicators that will portent your chances of academic success as well as help you decide which schools will be the best financial choices for you and your family.