Hoping for advice!!!

noc_owl · Oct 8, 2006

I don't know much about the Charlotte area, but check into the universities as well. Some have programs for people who have bachelors degrees who want to transition into nursing. I have recently been looking into BSN programs and read about that type of program, but can't remember now where I saw it. I've looked into several UNC campuses (Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Wilmington), Duke, and ECU. Good luck!

Jarnaes · Oct 8, 2006

Another good option is Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, NC. I really enjoyed my time there, very good program.

BSNtobe2009 · Oct 15, 2006

You have to call each one of the nursing schools and request information.

I made a chart of the requirements for each one and cross referenced which ones that had the same requirements.

The WORST program that I found was UNC Charlotte. They required a ridiculous amount of pre-req's including 4 semesters of Chemistry. Plus, from my understanding, they have a low graduation rate and a low board pass-rate.

Mercy, Queens, the Cabarras College of Health Sciences were the best ones I found.

Spoiled1, MSN, RN · Oct 21, 2006

Hi,

There are several schools to choose from in the Charlotte area. Many have been named already. Also consider Carolinas College of Health Sciences, affiliated with Carolina's Medical Center. Just as someone else has posted, I would check into schools that have a second degree track. This is usually an option at the 4-year schools. I know that in programs such as Mercy, Cabarrus, etc, having a degree already gives you a little edge over other applicants. But if you were just looking for a place to start, I would say take some of the pre-req's ( anatomy, psyc, etc). From my understanding it is very hard to work on non-nursing and nursing courses at the same time. Not sure if you would be interested in Rowan Cabarrus Community College, but they offer a test called HOBET, and take the top 80 scores. Beginning in the Fall of 2007, there will be a night option. You should contact them, to see if it's too late to apply for the Fall of 2007. There was a mandatory nursing info session on oct 19th, so it could be too late. Good luck!

funinsun · Oct 29, 2006

Hi all,

I have lived in the Charlotte area for a while now and know a few people from each of the schools in the area. The best advice probably is to just to go ahead and step out and apply/visit these schools and talk to someone on the telephone. It can be an overwhelming endeavor even with all the comparison charts for sure, but seeing something in person can be very helpful. CCHS is a great school, as is Queens University which has a BSN and ADN program. I personally know that these schools are receptive and encouraging as far as talking with you about your options. What is great about nursing is that many people are in a similar position as you, starting a second career, and who are working very hard to fufill their dream etc. Pre/co-reqs are often the sciences like chemistry, anatomy & physiology, Developmental psych, general psychology, sociology, etc. Feel free to jump in and join us!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 29, 2006

hi, meredith!

here are some links to information about nursing and how to become a nurse.

http://www.discovernursing.com/

http://www.nursingsociety.org/career/cmap.html

http://www.nurse.com/nursecontent/ - this is a very nice site that has a career showcase that explains what some of the various specialties in nursing are as well as having information about the various licensing levels in nursing and how to prepare and get your education to become a nurse.

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/majors_careers/42226.html - "thinking about nursing school? consider your many options" from the college board.

http://www.wetfeet.com/content/careers/nursing.aspx - about nursing from webfeet.com

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

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm - about lpn nursing from the u.s. department of labor

this is a link to an official listing of the rn schools in north carolina on the north carolina board of nursing website. you can get information about nursing schools close to you. there are also links to the websites of many of the colleges listed. http://www.ncbon.com/education-nurseprog.asp

go to the websites of the schools you are interested in. go to the department of nursing on their websites. they should list the requirements you need to enter their nursing program. another thing you can do is to look at a school's online version of their college catalog for information about the degree in nursing. each school's college catalog will specifically list what classes must be taken to get into their nursing program and then to earn a degree in nursing. college catalogs are the official word of each school.

amyk_ncsu · Nov 1, 2006

I live in charlotte too, and like you, I already have a 4 year degree. I am going to Carolinas College of Health Sciences in Jan, and pretty much the only thing I have to take is the nursing courses and human a&p. I have also heard, though I can't say for sure, that if you have a bachelors degree (in anything), you only have to get an associates in nursing to qualify for graduate school at some places (instead of having to have a BSN). Because of this, from what I can tell, there is no reason to get a BSN because your BA/BS plus the ADN is pretty equivilent to a BSN. It also takes about 1-2 semesters longer to get an actual BSN than an ADN (which is the primary reason I chose a 2 year program instead of UNCC).

I have also done a lot of research on the schools around here. Most of the schools offer students with previous degrees considerable (sometimes half of the program) credit for their previous work.

The schools around here I can think of off the top of my head are Carolinas College of Health Sciences (@CMC), Cabarrus College of Health Sciences (at Northeast Medical Center in Concord), Presbyterian (associated w/ Queens now, so it costs $$$$$$), UNCC, Mercy School of Nursing, CPCC, Gaston College, and RCCC. I believe all of these offer the 2 year degree, with maybe the exception of UNCC.

This link : http://www.ncbon.com/LicStat-PassRates.asp has a complete list of the schools, their program/degree offering, and their NCLEX passrate up to 2005. I used this as a good guide to how strong the programs were that I applied to.

As a side note, there also seems to be quite a bit of financial assistance available to students... for example, I pretty much dont qualify for anything according to the FAFSA, but received a scholarship through my school. Presumably this was because of my previous education, though my grades in college were pretty average. My point is... even if you dont think you qualify, apply for scholarships anyways!!!

If you have more questions about the schools around here, feel free to pm/email me, I'd love to help you if I can!