junior in highschool wanting to become RN but not sure?

Alliedhealth · Sep 3, 2011

I'm not in the nursing program, however, I am still doing my pre reqs. I have experience in the healthcare field. I'm pretty sure any field you go in, classes are going to be tough. School is to prepare you for that field; the tougher the better. However, classes and clinicals cannot prepare you enough for the "real world".

My advise to you is to keep all your notes from HS if you can. Write them over in composition notebooks and save them somewhere safe. If the college your going to attend has a pre entry nursing exam, you will have a very good advantage with those notes.

I have a friend that I am very close with who was actually in the program. She recorded all her lectures, went over class notes with me, and I even helped with homework. As far as I can tell, it is a lot of quantitative research and complex thinking. I am used to this kind of research. :nurse:

If you get into the program and you feel it's not for you, many of your pre reqs should be transferable to other programs.

MN-Nurse, ASN, RN · Sep 3, 2011

And ive read that nurses are always available for jobs and make good money.

You heard wrong.

I suggest you go to your school's career/guidance department and see what information they have about nursing careers. See if they can get you somewhere shadowing a nurse.

Here's the thing about the "jobs and good money." I have a job. I make good money.

However, I rock at math and chemistry, got stellar grades, solid experience in healthcare and kicked butt in my healthcare jobs while I was in nursing school.

Find out more about nursing. It may be for you. But if you are primarily in it for the bountiful jobs and good money, you may be in for some surprises.

Good luck.

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Sep 3, 2011

Andy 272,

I have to caution you on what you read on the internet. Many of the articles on the internet are influenced either by the author’s personal biases or by political agendas. If you search on allnurses.com, you will find similar stories of recent graduates who, after six months or more of searching, are not gainfully employed. I am not trying to scare you away from what you want to do, but I think it makes for good decision making when the person is presented with all of the facts and information.

What is your definition of decent money? Again, if you are reading on the internet where nurses are making 70K a year or more, you need to consider where the statistics are being generated from. Nurses in California and New York make great money (other states too), but the cost of living is significantly higher. Thus the cost of living often times off sets the amount those nurses make. This information can be found with the federal or state government agencies. What is nice about nursing is quality of life. I work three days a week (36 hours/week). Because I have four days off, I am able to pick up extra shifts or another part-time job if I choose. Or I can decide to pack my things and take a three day dive trip somewhere.

Nursing school is difficult. You must be able to synthesize the material. In other words, simple memorization doesn’t work. Prioritizing and delegation are key elements in the classroom and on the national examination. Your day is so much more than attending lectures. You will be required to invest time practicing skills in your school’s lab. Those hours are outside of classroom hours. You will be required to attend clinical. I am not sure how long your clinical days will be because I completed an accelerated BSN program, not a traditional program. We had two 12-hour clinical a week. You also will need to set time aside for studying.

Now, I am not saying you can’t have a social life or work. I have known people who did both and were successful in the program. Here is what I would suggest. Contact the school of nursing where you are interested in attending. See if it is possible to “shadow” a nursing student for the day. I would encourage you to find a first or second-year student. This will paint a more accurate portrait of what you’re getting yourself into. Once you have completed that, call a hospital in your area and ask if you can shadow a nurse. See if you can shadow for the entire shift. This too will provide some insight of what you are getting yourself into. Then if you are still interested, apply! Good luck to you. We need more male nurses!

buttons93 · Sep 4, 2011

But if you are primarily in it for the bountiful jobs and good money, you may be in for some surprises.
Hello! I am currently taking my prerequisites for a nursing program at a CC. As of right now im working on my GE and (at least for me) it is not too hard. I took Anatomy and Microbiology in high school and Physiology over the summer. Now, I got an A in Physiology, but I worked my a** off and I earned it. I was a nerdy AP student in high school and even though I only passed English, those classes sure tought me how to study. So if you say you're at a prestigious high school and the academics are challenging, you might have what it takes just to GET IN to a nursing program. But definately don't underestimate those GE classes and don't believe everything you hear about professors aand how hard they teach. If you go in already knowing how to work hard you should be fine.
But also, I learned from some of my friends in nursing school that brains and grades definately won't take you very far in the program. My friend that didn't get into the program because of her GPA was put on a waiting list and she was completely crushed. She wanted to give up on nursing completely but it was her attitude and her desire that got her through. She is in the nursing program now because she was able to retake one of her science classes for a better grade (but, the catch is that my program only allows one retake! Some don't allow any retakes and some allow multiple so if you really consider going into nursing, you definately need to look in to programs that interest you and find out all this stuff!). Also, another one of my friends, he got into the nursing program with straight A's and after his first clinical he dropped out because he-I quote- "didn't want to bath old people". Mmmhm. He didn't want to do the dirty work yet, he wanted "good money". Lame. Everyone has to start at the bottom!
Another thing that really helped me choose a program is by going to an informational meeting. I went to a meeting because there was a rumor that the program I want to get into is "on lottery" and other people said they just pull names out of a bucket to decide who is in and who isn't. You will probably hear things like this too. I was discouraged from applying to the school because I heard this, but they were wrong! If I get a 4.0, I will be guaranteed a spot. For example, the program I want takes 40 students, if 35 get in with a 4.0 there is 5 spots left. Say there is 10 people with a 3.75 GPA. The nursing supervisor will put all those names into Microsoft Excel, give everyone a random number from the random number system, then pick the top 5 numbers and those people are in. My point in this little story: ask questions, don't believe everything you hear, and find out what the requirements are.
Another good thing is: talk to people! I volunteer at the soup kitchen in my town and almost everytime I go there is someone there that is a nurse, a teacher at my college, or knows someone that is a nurse. I talked to a woman today that teaches at a university and she gave me so much insight. I guess you could say nursing jobs are abundant but her students that graduated didn't always get the job they wanted right way. She told me a story of a student that graduated with a BSN, wanted to work in ER, there was no openings so he got hired as a nusing assistant. a NURSING ASSISTANT! He was, of course, angry and mortified because he was qualified for a better job, and he was qualified to work in the ER but there just wasn't any openings at the time. Eventually he applied when there was an opening (like 3 years later) and he got it but her lesson to me was: students don't always go right in to what they want, some have take another route, but getting your foot in the door definately helps!
But anyways, not that I'm done blabbing, don't be discouraged! This just shows that nursing isn't like a quick ticket to making good money. There is a lot to think about if you ever have setbacks or discouragements when you apply for your first years of GE, if you apply to the program, and even when you are considering getting a job. There's so much that can happen. But hey, if you have brains, the right attitude, time management, and dedication, you will be successful. And an inspiration! Because I agree that there needs to be more male nurses in this world :) So good luck!
And sorry if this is long