I am confused about my pursuit of becoming an RN?

Merlyn · May 23, 2012

After you graduate from a nursing program and past state board test you will be a RN but you have to graduate from a nursing school first. community college about two years from university with a BSN four years. It depend on the individual University what courses they will except.

OKNurse2be · May 23, 2012

I was just accepted into an ADN program at my community college. I chose ADN because I want to have the opportunity to work as a nurse sooner. I am a wife, mother of three etc so the prospect of 2 years in school versus 4 years was a big factor. Not only that, tuition at the community college is of course less than that of the universities. Having said all of that, nobody can really tell you that you should do ADN or BSN. It really is going to boil down to how you feel about the factors of time and cost. You can get your ADN and still go get your BSN later. That is my plan. I would write an ADN vs BSN list and use that to help you decide.

sauconyrunner · May 23, 2012

You need to call any of the schools that you are interested in. Ask them how many apply each year and how many are accepted.

The community college wait list/application list will probably be much much longer than the BSN list, due to costs involved.

I found that my BSN program had half the applicants that the local community college had.

Not all schools use the teas test. (Mine did not, in fact, I've never really heard of it.)

My best advice is for you to make some appointments, dress nicely and go see the dean or someone at the schools you are interested in. All you do is call the office, and say, "I'd like to make an appointment to talk to someone in person about the nursing program". That way you will get the answers that apply to you, rather than lots of information that might not apply.

and Good Luck! I hope it works out for you!

Cruz.Cookie, BSN, RN · May 23, 2012

Hi everyone, I appreciate your replies. I don't think I've made myself clear. I am actually going to be an RN first then I'll pursue my bachelors. It's just that I want to know how long is a nursing program after you pass the TEAS test 1 or 2 years? The nursing program in schools itself? If it'll take 3 years at the max n a community college then that'll be fine, I just don't want it to be forever,lol. And I think I'm going to complete my RN at school then transfer to UCF for my bachelors( I'm going to need my associates degree in order to fufill their general education requirements)

Cruz.Cookie, BSN, RN · May 23, 2012

And what does a nursing program consist of by the way, and I'm not talking pre reqs

OKNurse2be · May 24, 2012

Hi everyone, I appreciate your replies. I don't think I've made myself clear. I am actually going to be an RN first then I'll pursue my bachelors. It's just that I want to know how long is a nursing program after you pass the TEAS test 1 or 2 years? The nursing program in schools itself? If it'll take 3 years at the max n a community college then that'll be fine, I just don't want it to be forever,lol. And I think I'm going to complete my RN at school then transfer to UCF for my bachelors( I'm going to need my associates degree in order to fufill their general education requirements)

The ADN programs are usually 2 years long. They consist of nursing specific courses like Pharmacology, Nursing theory etc. The pre-reqs will be all your sciences, general ed etc that you need for your degree. I had literally NO college experience before, so I started from scratch and I have been doing pre-reqs for a year now. I start the nursing program in Aug. Depending on what you have from before, like other college experience, you could probably shave off some time doing pre-reqs. It also will depend on the load you take on.

In Nursing school you will have lecture, lab, and clinical components. Lecture is for theory, Lab is for practice, and clinicals are for practicing on real people.

Hope that helps a little bit :)

2BRN123 · May 24, 2012

sorry in advance for the length of this post:

typically nursing programs (without pre-requisites) are between 16-24 months for full time students. which means, after you pass your teas test, you are still looking at 1.5 - 2 years of study in order to sit for the nclex. the reason for this is many of the nursing / major courses are prerequistes for one another, so you can't stack them on top of each other.

the typical nursing school programming consists of classes like this (copy pasted from my schools program)

in addition to the classes listed above (the list will likely differ in name from your school but probably be similar in practice) you'll also be required to take micro, the a&p's, nutrition, etc etc. depending on what your school requires as a pre-requisite vs a co-requisite will change the amount of classes you must take before you enter, which will change the amount of time you spend in the program.

the amount of time you actually spend in the program will also depend on whether or not your school is 2 semesters annually, block scheduled, or trimester. there are 3 nursing schools in my area that range from 18-24 months from entrance to graduation even though they are all a part of the same hospital system, simply because their scheduling is different. i think the best way to find specific answers to your questions would be to contact your school and ask them for a course outline, but i think its probably safe to say, once you pass your teas and get accepted to the program, you're looking about about 1.5-2 years to be an rn.

or is it possible for me to pass the teas test in my community college and then transfer to a university to get into their nursing program and pass their licensure as an undergraduate? can a university recognize my teas test scores from my community college?

as far as this is concerned ^ i'm fairly certain teas scores are similar to sat scores in that you own them. so you would just have to request that your scores be sent to whatever institution you choose. if your plan is to do the ucf rn to bsn program however, its unlikely that this would even apply, as in order to get the rn you would have had to have passed the teas already.

honestly, if you have alot of the core requirement and pre-requisite courses done, it wouldn't hurt to see if everything can transfer and go to the bsn program, simply because you may be looking at a similar amount of time until you sit for the nclex anyway. it doesn't hurt to apply and see what happens. bigger universites are more expensive but often have significantly larger endowments which provide for more institutionalized financial aid and grant opportunities. it might work out to be less expensive than you think.

hope this helps

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · May 24, 2012

My school is 5 semesters for your ADN. You can choose to do A&P, Micro, PSY, SOC, ENG, etc as co-reqs (which is crazy hard!) or you can do them ahead of time. I only needed A&P 1 and 2, Med Term, and Micro (all other courses were done with my previous course of study) so I chose to do their pre-nursing program "guaranteed admission" track. I'll be guaranteed admission to the nursing program for January. It is taking me 3 semesters longer this way but I like being guaranteed a spot for January.

Research the schools you're interested in because they will all have different requirements. Some require TEAS, some HESI. Some require you have your CNA certification, some don't. Some have pre-reqs, some allow you to take them as co-reqs.

Good luck!

Altra, BSN, RN · May 24, 2012

I think you have some more independent research to do, before deciding that you want to go to nursing school and you want to be a nurse. Good luck to you.

scabby21 · May 24, 2012

If you are wanting to be a RN,BSN why not just do the schooling all at once. It took me 4 years with prerequisites and all to finish RN,BSN. You will probably spend less time doing it that way than if you take the RN and then add your BSN later.

Everline · May 24, 2012

The nursing program at the college I go to takes 5 semesters to get an ADN.