My daughter wants to be a nurse

rustynail · Jan 11, 2012

Not to discourage anyone from becoming an LPN but in the military world, LPNs start at E5 (junior NCO level), while RNs start at O1 (junior officer level). As such, enlisted folks (E5) have about 20% probability of staying in for 20 years. Officers (O1) have a probability of 50% to make it a career.

If your daughter decides to go the ADN route, she will be in an RN-to-BSN program before you know it :)

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2012

i put this question to a colleague in tx with hiring responsibility, and this was her response:

in my system we will choose a bsn new grad over adn. we typically have way more applicants than we can hire at the new grad level, this is in dfw. we provide a yearlong residency in most areas.

with an experienced nurse, all things being equal we will choose bsn but if the adn has better competencies we will go with them, though some of my system's hospitals will only hire in bsns no matter the experience. baylor is doing the same. i coach my non-bsn nurses to get their bsn so they have more options. they can stay in their current jobs but if they want to do something else in our system they may be blocked. there are several local schools with online classes supplemented with clinicals which make it easier. we also provide some tuition reimbursement.

chiasmus100 · Jan 11, 2012

My daughter wants to go to nursing school. She's finishing high school this year. She wants to go to a community college and do the associates degree nursing program. She says that after she gets the RN she wants to do the bachelors. I would like her to go directly to a bacholer degree program. What would be better? I've heard that going to an LPN program and then go for the BS in nursing is also good. Any inputs? Thanks

I didn't read all the replies, but I will say if finances are an issue she should definitely put in two years (or one year) at a community college to earn an associates, then transfer to a four year school. There is a ton of scholarship money for students who do this (graduate from the community college with a high GPA). Whatever four year school you are looking at check out their financial aid page and it will give more details.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2012

What's your local job market like? I would consider that in what you advise. Is she looking at local schools? Which ones have the better clinical hours and placements?

Nurse2b7337 · Jan 12, 2012

@maelstrom143 what State are you from? I'm trying to find out where exactly they are faxing out ADN's. Thanks for your response.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jan 12, 2012

@maelstrom143 what state are you from? i'm trying to find out where exactly they are faxing out adn's. thanks for your response.

in my state they actually email them. we're pretty high tech. :smokin:

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 12, 2012

my unit is trying to find more adns (in preference to bsns). they stay longer.

Nurse2b7337 · Apr 26, 2012

Awesome Ruby Vee!!!! That's encouraging as well!!

stephanie2012 · May 3, 2012

Hello, yes, there are chances, and leave the decision to your daughter .

NursingLens · May 4, 2012

I knew even before I graduated high school (2010) that I wanted to be a nurse. I had the same problem on choosing which path to take. Luckily for me, everything worked out just fine.

I started off at my city's community college(cheaper than uni), took all my pre-requisites and enrolled for their ADN program. I didn't got accepted, my advisor informed me that they prioritize students with more 'experience' . I was very disappointed. However, I also applied to a few universities for BSN. I was accepted to one of the best, if not THE best, university in my state. They offered me 1700+/semester transfer scholarship based on my GPA. Another university offered me the same tuition rate as my old comm. college(which is much cheaper than the traditional tuition rate).

My advice is for her to do her best in all the classes she takes. Whatever path she'll end up with, her grades can really help(get in the program, scholarships, etc...). And one more thing, she'll need YOU. Not only financially but for emotional support. I can say that my first semester with nursing classes was by far the wildest semester yet. So much stress and break downs, I was lucky my parents were there to give me strength when I was ready to give up.

Good luck and God bless to you both.