LPN/ADN Schools in Washington State that DO NOT require pre requisites!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 22, 2010

Moved to the General Nursing Student Discussion forum. Good luck to you!

Masami · Jul 22, 2010

I live in Olympia,WA and I graduated from SPSCC with non-medical degree(AA). I am just planning to go back to SPSCC to take their Nursing program. What they told me is you must have CNA to apply for the LPN and then RN program and must done all pre-req before you get into the program. It was very similar requirements at Tacoma Community College. You can take their CNA program and take pre-req. But what I remember was SPSCC's nursing program was super competitive. You must be very good stand (strongly recommended all A/A-). There is no waiting list at SPSCC. My nursing program friends are super active on pre-req classes to get all As. I am very worried myself because I am not really science/math person.

http://www.nursingschools.com/states/washington-nursing-schools-programs.html

So far, I never heard any nurshing program in WA or other states have no pre-req.

luvthegsp · Jul 22, 2010

ADN is an associates degree in nursing...by their very nature, ALL ADN programs have pre-reqs.. we all have to suffer thru those classes...

cnmbfa · Jul 25, 2010

Excuse me, but... How do you expect to be able to understand complex physiology without taking college biology first? Drugs or IV solutions without chemistry? Medication calculations without college algebra? Normal and abnormal growth and development without psychology?

How exactly are the nursing instructors supposed to teach you to care for today's very sick, complex patients if you have little to no knowledge of the science behind the care first?

It drives me crazy that so many people think that nursing involves just a bit of skill, but not much high level knowledge. I think they get that from watching unrealistic TV shows that show the doctors doing much of what is actually done by nurses, while the nurses are just props who stand by and hand them things, or serve as romantic interests.

The other thing that drives me bonkers is the rush to get nursing credentials while spending the least amount of time possible to do so! The reality is, that if done right, it will take a minimum of three years, even in a supposed two-year community college program. You will spend 1 to 1.5 years taking prerequisites, then two years in Nursing courses. Any ADN decent program will put you through 400-500 hours of clinical alone, since it is not possible to learn everything you need to be a nurse today in less time than that.

A LPN prgram will take 14 months minimum time to build on previous CNA skills AND on your other prerequisites.

I teach nursing history. In the late 19th century during the early days of nursing education, the elderly Clara Barton, a heroine form the Civil War and the founder of the American Red Cross, lent her good name and prestige to a 12-week long nursing program. The graduates of that program wore the typical prim and proper starched uniforms and caps of the day, and received a nursing pin and diploma, which allowed them to go out and compete with the real nurses who were graduates of rigorous three-year programs at places like John Hopkins and Bellevue Hospital in New York. Even worse, in the 1910s, you could pay $30 an get a nursing degree from a correspondence nursing school based in Chicago.

Nurses spent decades working to set standards and gain accreditation for nursing education and to gain the trust and respect of the public by upholding those standards. I am appalled that so many persons now want to take all sorts of short cuts to a nursing degree. Have you ever noticed that there are no accelerated engineering or pharmacy degrees? That there is no fast and easy route to becoming an airline pilot? Why? Because we put our lives in these persons hands, just as we do nurses. Why then do people think there should be easy routes to nursing?

Bottom line: If you want to be a nurse, be prepared to have to compete to get in to a program, then to have to work really hard for several years to succeed. Plan on spending at least 30 hours a week on lecture, clinical, assignments, and studying; thus, it is unrealistic to plan to work full-time while in nursing school. Forget about having much of a social life for a while either. If you can do all of that, then you will be a nurse, because you will have earned it.

starmickey03, MSN, RN · Jul 25, 2010

I think everyone that has responded so far has misinterpreted the OP's question. They are asking for names of schools where pre-reqs do NOT have to be completed in order to get into the program. It seems that everyone thought the OP was asking for schools where pre-reqs are not required (which would be really dumb).

There are plenty of schools where pre-reqs do not have to be completed before being admitted. These programs are referred to as direct entry programs (whether it be LPN, ADN, or BSN). In these programs, the pre-reqs are completed alongside the actual nursing courses.

So for example, the first semester of the direct entry program would require the student take A&P (pre-req), nursing fundamentals, health assessment, foundations of nursing practice, and maybe English Comp I. And this pattern would continue throughout the program.

But to the OP, I cant help you with this because I dont live in Washington. I just wanted to clarify your post so that others could understand, since it seemed like no one did.

Maybe you could google direct entry nursing programs for your state, and results should pop up.

Good Luck!

cnmbfa · Jul 25, 2010

Sorry, I misunderstood the question.

You can tell though that I am frustrated by all the queries here looking for a fast, easy, and unrealistic path to becoming a nurse.