Is there any up from rock bottom?

Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2015

I'll give you my story, it may not be the same but it was my own little version of rock bottom.

I graduated high school in 2006 with high honors and a GPA in the top 10%, of course I was young and foolish and turned down a couple of full ride scholarships to college because I wanted to stay close to my then boyfriend. I went to community college where I excelled the first semester, come the second semester my relationship was in the dumps and so were my grades. This trend continued until 2008 when I said enough and moved forward with my life.

At this point financial aid refused to pay for my education, and rightly so as I had nothing to show for it. I worked extremely hard taking one class at a time to rebuild my GPA. I reached a 3.4 GPA from a 2.2 in 2008. I transferred out of community college to a 4 year to study biology and enjoyed that but knew my heart was in nursing. In 2012 I applied to the local hospital based school of nursing and wrote a letter to the admissions board explaining the grades that were present on my transcript. I received an acceptance later about 2 weeks later and this January I graduated from nursing school.

Moral of the story, life throws some crazy curve balls at you but it's what you do with it that makes a difference. If this is something you truly want go for it, but be prepared to truthfully discuss your failures and what you have done to correct it.

Best of Luck!!

NuGuyNurse2b · Feb 3, 2015

If it's something you want to do, you simply have to work hard for it and keep at it. I couldn't pass organic chem to save my life during my first round at university. I flat out got an F, I was so lost and behind the herd that I simply failed with flying colors. I couldn't drop it cause I had financial aid that required me to have certain credits. It also kinda told me pre-med might not be my smartest goal also. Well, years later, with my BA in hand, I'm bouncing around from entry level job to entry level job, and I say let's give health care a try again, so I applied for nursing. To my chagrin, all of my math & science courses were over 5 years old, the college would not carry them over. I had to re-take everything, Bio, Chem, Micro, Stat, and some additional Psych courses specific to nursing, and of course A&P. I was a full time working adult, a 9-5 job 5 days a week, I took all those classes at night, 2 a semester, took summer classes to speed things up. It ended up taking me another 3 years of education just to get back in the game. But it was something I aimed for, I studied harder, passed all my pre-req's with A's and some B's, applied to a few nursing programs and thankfully got accepted into one and now I'm here. While my GPA wasn't an issue like yours, I did have an F that I needed to overcome in my GPA to become competitive, I still had to work much harder than I anticipated when I first set my foot on this path. My point being, it's in your hands. It sounds like you will have an uphill battle to get that GPA to a competitive level. My suggestion is to keep taking classes and do well in order to overcome it. It will take you a few years, it won't happen in a semester or two. So you will need to see if that's something you can commit to and realize that after all that, you're just at the starting line like everyone else aiming for a seat in their respective programs...

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2015

By definition: If you're at rock bottom, everything is "up." :) You can do it. Hard, long, but doable. Small hint: Do not ever say you failed a class because the teacher was bad. While it may be true, in college you have the responsibility to learn the material using as many resources as you can find. It's not like in high school where there's only one geometry teacher or one Western Civ teacher. We hear from a lot of kids who think they failed because their faculty was mean or unfair. Sometimes true. But only ... sometimes.

Do NOT do a "trade tech" school. If you want to be a nurse, go to an appropriately-accredited school. See this important information.

Nursing Program Accreditation Resources

Accreditation

-it's a term that you have likely heard in the past, but do you know what it really means? If not, you're not alone. Many people are unsure about what it means when a program or school is accredited, the different kinds of accreditation that exist, and how this elusive term

affects your education and career

. Here are some important things that you should understand about accreditation as you prepare to start your nursing education.

What Is Accreditation?

When you enroll in a degree program, you want to be confident that everything you are taught meets professional standards.; You want to know that the curriculum will prepare you to enter the healthcare industry with the most current skills and knowledge in that field.. This is where accreditation comes in.

Accreditation is a process by which educational programs are evaluated by an outside body that determines if professional standards are being met.

These organizations help ensure that the education you receive conforms to certain requirements,, allowing you to proceed knowing that the time and dedication that you put into your studies are a wise investment.

Accreditation is given at two important levels: institution and program. It is important to understand both, as each is important to your education plan.

University Regional vs. National Accreditation

Colleges and universities can earn 1 of 2 types of accreditation: regional or national.

In the United States there are 6 regional accrediting agencies:

Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools (Commission on Higher Education)
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (Commission on Technical and Career Institutions and Commission on Institutions of Higher Education)
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (The Higher Learning Commission)
Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (Commission on Colleges)
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities

National accrediting agencies focus not on areas of the country, but rather associations of schools with common themes.

These agencies tend to accredit post-secondary technical, career, and vocational programs.

There are 52 of national agencies in the United States. Some examples are:

Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS)
Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT)
Council on Occupational Education (COE)

What does this difference mean to you as a student?

The biggest issue is the ability to transfer credits between different schools.

eLearners.com points out that schools that are

nationally accredited typically accept credit from both regionally and nationally accredited schools, but the opposite does not hold true; most regionally accredited schools do not accept transferred credits from nationally accredited schools.

So if you began your higher education coursework at a nationally accredited school and then want to transfer to a regionally accredited school, your coursework at the nationally accredited school many not transfer.

This issue isn't just limited to transferring credits; it

can also have an effect on your ability to continue your education in advanced programs

, which in turn can impact your ability to progress in your career.

Many institutions of higher learning require you to have an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution in order to apply to their graduate programs.

Nursing Education Program Accrediting Bodies

:

The Department of Education sanctions two national organizations that accredit nursing education programs. The first is the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) --

reorganized as the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)

. As detailed on the organization's website, ACEN is responsible for the specialized accreditation of a wide variety of nursing education programs, including clinical doctorate, master's, bachelor's, associate, diploma, and practical programs.

The

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (

CCNE

) also accredits nursing schools, but only those that solely offer master's and bachelor's nursing degrees. Similar to the accreditation process of the ACNE, the CCNE offers a nongovernmental peer review process that operates in accordance with nationally recognized standards, according to the CCNE website. The organization's mission statement outlines its intention to accomplish several purposes, including:

Holding nursing programs accountable to the community of interest,
Evaluating the success of a nursing program in achieving its own goals and meeting its expected outcomes,
Evaluating the extent to which a nursing program meets the standards for accreditation,
Implementing changes that can continue to improve nursing programs, and
Informing the public of the value that accreditation has, so that institutes that have such status are recognized for their merits.

Beyond the ACNE and the CNNE national accrediting bodies, there are also other accrediting bodies for specific, advanced practice nursing fields. For instance, the

Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education

(ACME) is responsible for accrediting midwifery education programs.

Why an Accredited Program is Important

If you will be seeking financial aid to pursue your nursing education, choosing an accredited program is vital. In many cases, you cannot qualify for federal and state financial aid, tuition reimbursement programs offered by employers, nor scholarship and grants unless the program is accredited by the ACNE or the CCNE. Similar to the regional vs. national accreditation issue, you may face an admissions issue to a graduate nursing program if you earned your nursing degree in a non-accredited program.

Both the

ACNE

and the CNNE list accredited nursing programs on their websites.

Your Future

There are many resources that you can utilize when trying to learn more about schools and where their accreditation positions them in relation to your career path. All universities and colleges have their accreditation information listed on their websites, and there are also countless resources available online to learn more about accreditation and how it affects your education. In the end, the more information and knowledge you possess as you make the decision about where you want to pursue your nursing education, the more confidently you can make a decision that will in turn help you to shape your career.

Sources:

National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc., "About NLNAC," http://www.nlnac.org/About%20NLNAC/whatsnew.htm (accessed November 3, 2011)

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACE) http://www.acenursing.org/mission-purpose-goals/ (accessed 1/22/14)

American Association of Colleges of Nursing, "Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education," Mission, Values, & History. American Association of Colleges of Nursing | http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ccne-accreditation/about/mission-values-history (accessed November 2, 2011).

American College of Nurse-Midwives, "Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME)." http://www.midwife.org/acme (accessed November 3, 2011).

eLearners.com, "Regional Accreditation vs. National Accreditation," Issues to Consider. http://www.elearners.com/online-education-resources/ (accessed November 3, 2011).

Last edit by NRSKarenRN on Jan 23, '14 : Reason: Updated to include ACEN info/weblink

illinoisnurse2 · Feb 3, 2015

Keep pushing ahead. .You can retake the class to help your gpa.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Feb 3, 2015

I started nursing school at age 45. I had NEVER had algebra, not even in high school. The state made me take TWO pre-algebra courses before I could take college algebra. My GPA was 2.8 when I started my ADN progoram and finished Masters with 4.0. You can do it

clover89 · Feb 4, 2015

thanks everyone for your advice and feedback. I suppose I have some work to do. :) Congrats to your accomplishments!!

CareQueen, BSN, RN · Feb 4, 2015

You can do this! Study as hard as you can and be prepared to explain what life dealt you, to the powers that be. They WILL listen! Believe me!

realcaregiver · Feb 5, 2015

Basically, Anyone that can tell their story with the eloquence you did can change their story too. Master your fate. Sounds like you deserve it! I have a friend whose scores were even lower and he prevailed.

nowayis · Feb 5, 2015

It's possible, and I think the best person who can tell you if you can or can't is you.

What I discovered was that finding reasons for not doing well in the past is like "reading" it is good for gaining facts and knowledge, but the understanding has to come from you. and what I have found is that the only true belief is a belief that you will do the best that you can and if you falter the belief that you are capable of improving. The rest may not be up to you, even the outcomes, yet...

There are plenty of things that we do that waste our time that have seemingly little risk, and we accept them as a fact of life. Moving toward a chosen life, a dream, a goal in my opinion is not a waste of time, regardless of the outcome you will be a better person for having taken a step in following your heart.

Whatever you choose to do I wish you all the best

realcaregiver · Feb 9, 2015

I am always considering what is best for everyone in my life which may lead me to be overly cautious. I think I am just going to meet my challenges head on from now on. Thanks for the words. I read it twice and each time I got this sense of up-beat in your post. Thanks again!