Help!!!! Need nursing scholarship

disher · Jul 1, 2002

A nursing school counsellor and student loans officer can provide you with the best advice for your location. Many nursing students struggle to support themselves through school. Sometimes you can work fulltime and attend school part-time for a period of time,(this gives you the opportunity to see if you can commit yourself to the full program and maybe even save some money). Or you can enter the program full-time and take out a student loan to help cover costs. Most important is attitude if you believe you can do it, you will do it.

Tiiki · Jul 1, 2002

You have two avenues in which to persue. One is the nursing school of your choice. They have a list of scholarships and bursaries in which you can apply for. They also may be able to provide you with an emergency loan. ( I speak from experience). The other avenue is with the hospital you intend to practice at. With the nursing shortages a lot of hospitals will help fund your education in return for you promising to work there. Go to the nusing education office at your local hospital to find out what is available.

Good luck, keep us posted, don't give up!!!

Jo-Anne

colleen10 · Jul 1, 2002

Hi Nurse2B,

First stop is the Financial Aid office of the school you are planning on attending. The first thing they will probably have you do is fill out applications for Federal Loans and Grants. Most common is the "Pell Grant" and "Stafford Loan".

Most colleges also offer loans that you can take out directly through the school.

I hate to say it but throughout my many years as a college student and returning student I have never found the Financial Aid office to be helpful nor knowledgeable.

Like Tiiki said you may have other options to consider also. See if any of your local universities or community colleges offer evening courses, adult education, or part-time curriculum for those that have to work and go to school.

Or, check out your local Hospitals and Long Term Care Facilities to see if they have education programs. Many hospitals will have you go through their Patient Care Tech/Certified Nurses Aid or RN training program (usually 18 - 24 months full time for RN) at no cost to you as long as you obtain your license at the end of the program and state that you will work for them for a period of time after you get your license (usually a period of 2 years for RN).

In my area there are a number of Long Term Care facilities that offer training to become a Certified Nurse Aid. They will train you and pay for your certification/license and offer a stipend while you are going through the program. Then, from there they will offer to pay for your classes to become an LPN, RN, Master's etc. as long as you promise to work for them for a period of time after you get licensed.

With the shortage there are a number of programs out there and many of them are very creative at working with prospective students schedules. So, do a little research and don't give up hope.

Since it looks like you are pretty new to this board I also encourage you to check out the "Student Nursing" section. It has slowed down a bit because a lot of us are out for the summer but you will meet a lot of great people who are going through what you are now or have gone through just starting out and can offer you a lot of advice. Plus, a lot of us are students that also have to work full time or take care of families, or both!

Good Luck and feel free to respond with more questions.

Colleen

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jul 1, 2002

Check out:

http://www.discovernursing.com/scholarship_search.asp

Wealth of info re scholarships there.

Ortho_RN · Jul 1, 2002

What part of Arkansas are you in??? I am also in Arkansas.... I live in Fort Smith.... And the hospitals pay for school here if grades are decent... YOu just sign a contract to work for them for 2yrs afterwords... you can PM me or email me if you have any questions at [email protected]

colleen10 · Jul 1, 2002

Hi NRS Karen,

You are always so knowledgable on just about everything I was wondering if you had any information about the Act that some states have/are to pass that will reimburse nursing students tuition if they remain in state and work after they graduate.

I have spoken to my financial aid office and they have no clue what I am talking about nor do any of the nursing advisors.

If you have any information it would be greatly appreciated. I don't even know what to call it to do an internet search.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Colleen

nurse2bmaybe · Jul 2, 2002

Thanx everybody!!! I am in eastern arkansas nurs2b. I've really just started looking into this and I knew that if i asked where someone had already done it then i'd get some really good replies. Thanx alot everyone you've been alot of help for me.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jul 2, 2002

from pennsylvania state nurses assoc (psna) website

http://www.psna.org/hotissues/hotissue.htm

you can find info on:

pa ...

new-amendment adds funds to state budget for nursing education

nursing loan forgiveness program application deadline extended to june 30

federal legislation....

support needed for rn reinvestment act--please act now!

colleen10 · Jul 2, 2002

Thanks Karen!!!!

nurse2bmaybe · Jul 2, 2002

Ok, here's the situation I'm in. I am married and have no children. My husband and I are by no means rich, but we make too much money for me to be eligable for pell. We do not make enough to pay for my college out right, but we can't get any help, imagine that. I obviously can't quit my job to go to school, and I want to go to nursing school. I am not sure if i will be able to find the time, but I am more concerned about the money to pay for it. That is why I am looking for scholarships. I am also in a rural area and the closest hospital is over 60 miles away in Little Rock or Memphis(i'm about half way between both). I also know that there are programs out there for people to become nurses in rural areas, which is right up my alley, but I'm not real sure where to look for them.

Bye for now!!

colleen10 · Jul 3, 2002

Hi 2Be,

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you are except I live in the city.

I don't know anything about rural nursing but I do know that there is no better time than the present to start!

You are going to need to take pre-req.'s like Anatomy and Physiology, Micro biology, etc. and general requirements like English and Math if you have not allready taken some college classes.

You can start by taking one or two of those in the evenings or even "on line" if your school offers it. Last Spring and this summer I took 1 class in the evenings each semester just to get my pre-req's out of the way. Luckily, I allready have a degree so there is a lot that I don't have to take like Math and English. I'm taking stuff like Psych., Anatomy and Physiology for now and once I get those out of the way I will then apply to the nursing program. When I get in, I figure I'll only have to worry about my nursing classes and clinicals and not all the extra stuff so hopefully I'll be able to work part-time and do clinicals.

The good things about the pre-req's. is that they are pretty much the same for every program. So, if you take them at a Community College and then end up going to nursing school somewhere else there usually isn't a problem of transferring them. Also, it is a little easier to pay for one or two classes a semester out of pocket than a full course load.

But that's just my experience.