My husband is a 2003 grad of University of Maryland with a BA in Biological Anthropology. Since graduating he and I have owned our own diversified farm in Vermont. This spring we are selling the farm and trying to decide our next move in life. While in school dh had thought about nursing and pre-med. We have the opportunity to invest some of the proceeds of the sale of our farm to send him back to school and we think nursing would be the best bet for him. His parents live in the Tampa area so we are looking at schools in that area but we are very confused about the best way to approach the whole schooling thing...
His education was heavy on bio/chem but it looks like he will still need several prereqs including anatomy, pych, statistics...he has a 3.2 GPA overall. We have 2 small children and I stay at home with them so dh would be going to school full time and we'd be living off the farm proceeds until he is able to start working. Would he be better off getting an LPN, starting work then going to school while working to get his ASN then his BSN? Or if he's going to go to the trouble of getting an LPN should he just stick in there for the ASN? Do schools offer fast track programs for students who have a previous BA?
We have worked our rears off for the last 7 years with no days off (literally, no days off) so he's not afraid to take on giant course loads and get this thing done as quickly as possible. What is the best plan? Thank you so much!
Oops - another thing to keep in mind, you said your husband graduated in 2003. Some ABSN programs have time limits put on certain prerequisites (5 yrs, 7 yrs, 10 yrs), so make sure to check that out also, in case he needs to update a prerequisite. And as soon as you move to Florida, have him meet with ABSN advisors at the universities he's considering attending.
I also agree, with his bio/chem background, he'd be a great candidate for an Accelerated BSN. The school I'm going to is about 4 semesters long and takes about 15 months to complete. And although I highly recommend taking anatomy and physiology prior to starting nursing school (it is pretty essential), there are some schools out there that don't even require it (only recommend it) for admission, although I'm not sure how well one would do with out the A&P background, as well as how reputable a school that does NOT require it would be...
Also, you can usually get into a regular BSN program or accelerated program faster than being put on a wait list for an ADN program. He could also always just transfer into a traditional BSN program, and take it a little slower, but still get it done in 2 years. Doesn't make sense to really do an ADN, if you already have all the gen. eds. that make up a bachelors.
Mamba49
11 Posts
Oops - another thing to keep in mind, you said your husband graduated in 2003. Some ABSN programs have time limits put on certain prerequisites (5 yrs, 7 yrs, 10 yrs), so make sure to check that out also, in case he needs to update a prerequisite. And as soon as you move to Florida, have him meet with ABSN advisors at the universities he's considering attending.