I guess i'm just frustrated

[pumpkin1984]

I'm getting frustrated with so much confusing data on all these schools, which are best and which aren't. I don't know which school to go to, I know I want to be a nurse but I don't want to be forever in school. I want to get my foot in the door and I thought about becoming an LVN but then many are telling me to go for my RN. What about getting my LVN and then go into a BSN program? I'm upset that some programs have so many pre-reqs to complete that it will take a year or more to complete them all. And then there is the whole other subject of cost. I live in Stockton,CA and there are not many nursing programs here. Right now I am going to Maric college, to get my medical assistant diploma. And people tell me this is a bad idea but I see it as a good idea. Diploma, degree, I just don't know what to do after I graduate from Maric.

[Jo Dirt]

If you need to get in the workforce fairly quickly you would do good to go to an LPN program first. Later, you can go through an RN program and the transistion will be easier and you can make more money part-time as an LPN to support yourself through school, which will be a lot easier on you than struggling with some minimum wage-ish job while trying to get through a longer RN program.

Take me, for example. I went through a 12 month LPN program at the vo-tech. I started working at a nursing home. I decided I wanted to go through a program to become an RN and I was lucky enough to find a job as a private duty nurse on the night shift with a very easy to care for patient who slept all night. This afforded me time to study (and nap) through the night. I also made more money in one night doing private duty than I would have made in a week slaving away as a CNA in a nursing home. You will find all kinds of people who will tell you that it makes more sense to go straight for your RN license and that it is a waste of time becoming an LPN. Take it from someone who has been there: it is NOT a waste of time to become an LPN (unless you are young with no money worries and no responsibilities.) I'd say this does not describe most of us, though.

Good luck.

[ASSEDO]

If you have one choice, buckle up and go 4 years STRAIGHT for a BS, then you want have to worry about going back to school. I wasted two years, going from a AD to BSN, and thousands of $$$$. Nursing schools don't accept credits from one nursing program to the next. After that, if you are lucky, you will have a hospital that has tuition payments for a masters.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Right now I am going to Maric college, to get my medical assistant diploma. And people tell me this is a bad idea but I see it as a good idea.

I completed a medical assisting program at a vocational school about 7 years ago, and it was the biggest mistake I ever made. I never found a job as an MA. In addition, most MAs work hours that are not conducive to the ones in nursing school. For example, full-time nursing programs have daytime hours; however, most MAs work "bankers" hours (during the day). This means that you will not be able to work as an MA during nursing school. Furthermore, the pay tends to be disappointing.

When I made the decision to attend an MA program, the career field seemed very appealing at that time. However, many people become entangled in the vortex of medical assisting without finding the "rewarding career" and "big bucks" that are promised by the trade schools.