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Discussion

Has anyone else had this problem?

I am currently a stay-at-home mom (my youngest will be starting school this year), but I have already have a bachelors in Graphic Design. I have been wanting to go back to college to pursue nursing, but things have not been in my favor.

I live just a few miles from a college that offers a fairly competitive BSN program and originally my husband was on board with me going back to try my hand at it, but then he thought about the tuition and how I struggle with math and thought that it was too much of a gamble. So, he is no longer for me getting a BSN even though I already have one degree through this college.

I mentioned becoming a LPN at a community college, which would be nearly $14,000 cheaper than getting my BSN and he would have been okay with that if I didn't have to drive either 30 minutes for one community college, or nearly an hour away to my hometown college's other campus. I am exhausted and confused as to how I can live next to a college that offers nursing, but not be able to pursue a LPN on a campus that is just a few minutes away instead of being forced to drive an hour + every weekday for classes. This isn't really feasible for me since my husband is the primary source of income (his job doesn't let him miss much work) and I need to be close by in case of small emergencies (we don't have anyone to really help with the kids if we need them).

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there anything that I can do to bypass any of this so I could get my LPN at my local college? Someone told me that after completing specific coursework that I could submit paperwork to get my LPN while I am working on my BSN. Would I be able to do that and just drop out after I finished my NCLEX and got my LPN? I want to make this work, but I can't see how it makes sense to make students travel when they have a campus where they live. I can't say that I fully understand any of this. Any advice or experiences would be most appreciated!

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    You will need to check with your state BON if they let RN students pursue the NCLEX-PN after a certain point (many do not). Also, unless they offer the class on that campus I'm not quite sure how you would bypass that... if they don't offer it, they don't offer it.

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    Call the school specifically to see if the state would allow you to sit for NCLEX-PN partway through the nursing curriculum. Some states and schools do allow this, though not all.

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    Okay, so the option of getting an LPN after going so far in an RN program and then dropping out is a bad idea. 1) you almost finished the program. By the time you get it you could be ready to apply for your RN test (I trained an LPN who did this but needed time off a month later to prepare for her RN test and never saw her again). 2) by the time you can challenge the LPN test you already completed the math class that you husband is claiming as the issue.

    You need to consider the job opportunities for LPNs in your area. Not only at the present time, but what are they trending towards? If I had known when I got my LPN that I would need a bachelors degree as an RN years later I wouldn't have dragged my heals for a decade and a half to complete the program. If your husband's only reserve is that your math skills need a bit of help, take the math courses next semester and pass them, problem solved. But it may be more than that and you need to talk to him to find out what the real issue is with you going back to school.

    One last thing. Child care. Schools are very strict with attendance. You will need to figure out a plan for this should it arise since your husband cannot get time off from work. In the event that you can do your theory online, you still have to go in for labs and clinicals. You really need to have a system in place if they are sick, need after school care, etc, because not having a sitter available will not get you a retake on you on ground theory test or an excused absence from a lab/clinical. I'm not trying to discourage you. I've been in the exact same situation. It's just something that you need to arrange before signing up or you could have problems later due to attendance. Good luck though. See what works for you.

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    • Author

    Thank you so much to everyone for the insight! I just wish that things would work out so I could just get my BSN and be finished with the whole decision. If things can not work out any better, then I may just put it on the back burner for a while and see how things work out in a year or so. Maybe I can work and save a little extra money to help with some of the financial strain of going back to school?

    Regardless, each of you have offered up some good advice. I appreciate it!

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