My story (need advice) long

[Rude]

Alright just joined this great forum today, and I need advice from you all. This is my story (my life of mistakes) please read and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am 27 years old and ruined my life when I was 23. I wanted to be a nurse since I was 19 years old, I was an intelligent young adult that was unfortunately very weak without the help of others. I went for advice from the nursing adviser to increase my chances to be accepted to the nursing program. My gpa at the time was a 3.39 and this lady pretty much tore me up saying that she was VERY sure I had no chance for the nursing program and it would be best if I applied for another major.

Now, while most rational people would just blow her off and continue on their goals, I was at the worst point of my life at that time (age,23). A close relative passed away, and my fiance (dated her 8 years, all I knew) left me and because of that my family pretty much disowned me and they took my savings I had at the time, 5k (a long story). With all of these things happening at around the same time period I went into a depression, started drinking and etc. While I wanted to be a nurse the feeling of being a failure took control of me, all I wanted to do was graduate as soon as possible and just be gone for a while....This is/was my biggest mistake.

Today I hate myself for doing this (what was I thinking!), over the last 4 years I changed my major 4 times to criminal justice, business, dietics, and communication disorders. Now, I am very intelligent but without passion for something you are destined to fail and this is what happened. I would take these classes and hate it, hence the reason why I changed my major so many times. I took a lot of classes and I would get c's and would drop classes destroying my gpa. I then lost my financial aid and had to work full time just to barely pay my classes in time, plus over the last 2 years I coudnt even afford books, so I would just go to class without a book to study and not do as well as I could getting these horrible grades.

Forward to present day, my gpa is a pathetic 2.85 and Im a year and a half away from graduating with a communication disorders degree. While my new major interest me, my love is for nursing, I feel horrible about the mistakes I made over the last 4 years, I really wish someone had cleared some sense into me before I ruined my gpa.

My question for you all is,

Would you still trying to get into a nursing program knowing my situation? What would you do if you were in my situation? Im assuming if I attempted nursing again I would have to take my Anp, and bio courses again.

I am going to speak to the nursing director in my school but I just want to hear other peoples opinions on the matter before I do.

Thanks for your time and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[JakeF]

First, for your situation... I would say it is normal to make mistakes or even switch majors multiple times. Try not to be so hard on yourself. In regards to nursing school acceptance, you might want to start at a new college from scratch and build a high GPA. This may sound rather daunting at first but it makes sense. I don't know your whole story but believe me "if there's a will there's a way". If living with depression is a concern of yours, there are a good chunk of nurses who are living with depression or other forms of health problems. There has been a stigma about mental illness. I truly do not see the difference between a diabetic patient who needs insulin and a person living with bipolar disorder who needs psych medication. Both have a health issue and require medication to live and function. Hope this helps any!

[Batman25]

I would definitely still try to be a nurse if that is your passion. I would check your local community colleges to see what their admission policy is like. They should be able to send you the info in the mail. You can check the classes you need to take and see what criteria you have already fulfilled. You often need to take a nursing entrance exam i.e. NET, NLN, etc. Many community colleges have waiting lists so you want to do everything you need to do ASAP and get on it. I even had a waiting list to take the nursing entrance exam. While you are waiting you can take your pre-reqs and work to get good grades.

You can also check into 4 year schools but I think a community college might be better for you to start as you are overwhelmed. You can graduate in a little over 2 years and then work and continue for your BSN if that is important to you. Good luck.

[fungez]

Oh, if you really want to be a nurse I have no doubt you'll get there. It's going to be hard, it might take a while, it'll probably get you in debt, but you'll get there.

Start by visiting the nursing schools in your area. Talk to one of the counselors. Lay your situation out, and be honest. If he/she tells you there's no way you'll get into that school, ask the counselor to recommend a school you can get into. If you exhaust the schools in your area, then talk to out of state schools. Yes, the tuition is prohibitive, but you could move to that state and work and save for a year while establishing residency.

There's pros and cons for finishing your communication degree. From what I hear, if you already have a BSN you are no longer eligible for the low interest fed. loans. But if you have a bachelor's then maybe you can do one of those bachelor's to RN things they have now. Just try not to get in too much debt as that will haunt you for years.

Don't give up!! I really admire your zeal for nursing.

[Destiny12]

If it is your dream to become a nurse, then hard work and dedication will go a long way. When that dream comes true one usually has a greater appreciation for the profession. Becoming a nurse is not by any means easy but it is well worth the hard work.

[Tait, MSN, RN]

I spent about four years mucking up my GPA with random adds/drops/withdrawls/fails before I came out of the University system with no degree and a 2.3GPA.

After a lot of soul searching I found a technical college in Wisconsin and was accepted into a lottery type system for their nursing program. I sat on the waiting list for about a year doing prerequisites, joined the program and graduated with my ADN and a 3.0 GPA. I am now pursuing my bridge to MSN.

Anything is possible. If you are only a year out from your BS maybe you could look into community colleges to wait list for while you finish your first degree, then attain an Associates to sit for the NCLEX? In the next year, with a new focus, you might find your GPA will improve as your focus becomes clearer.

I would definitely advise you to talk to your advisors at your current school and see if there is a plan like this in your area.

Best of luck!

Tait

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Let me move this to career advice and I think you will get some more thoughts.

Good luck.

[nursel56]

I don't see anything in your story that rules out your dream of being a nurse. I would consider these factors.

Are you now in a more centered place and understand what triggers caused you to lose focus and ambivalent feelings to sabotage your goals.

Have you learned new coping strategies and are sure you won't be using alcohol for that purpose any more.

Do you have a feeling of empowerment about your path in life, and not dependent on or distracted by the behavior of other people.

I am seriously not trying to discourage you! Just wanting you to be aware of some of the possible pitfalls you may encounter.

So just go right on in and tell the Nursing School director that you want to be a nurse, are going to be a nurse, and your future starts right then. Nay-sayers be hanged! Boy do I wish I had a dollar for every dynamite nurse who's advisers told they had no chance of success! Prove 'em wrong, that's what I say. Good luck!

[morte, LPN, LVN]

yup, before any thoughts of school, you need to "have your head on straight", as we used to say.....I think a few sessions with a psychologist would be most beneficial incuding some testing for career selection (the "interest inventory" test comes to mind) you need to change from external loci to internal loci, good luck

[Jellicoe13]

It doesn't sound like you have ruined your life...you've made a couple of mistakes and had some serious personal issues that were interfering with your goals....I think all of us have had similar issues at one point or another in our lives, myself included.

It's not rare for people to switch majors and/or careers...I've worked 3 different careers, and now I am in college again taking nursing. Sometimes you have to try different things to see what fits, and at least now you know what you want to do for a career.

It is possible for you to still become a nurse; it's even likely that many of the general education requirements you need for nursing program entry have been fulfilled since you are so close to the degree you are working on. My advice would be to visit several schools that offer nursing, see what their academic requirements are for admission, and also visit an admissions counselor to see what you could transfer into the nursing program.

Your GPA isn't necessarily going to rule out admission to a nursing program though you might want to see if you can increase it a bit. Also, I should point out that most nursing schools interview applicants, and this would be your chance to explain how you have overcome your past issues and intend on putting full effort into being a nurse.

You are still young, and you have lots of time to correct the minor mistakes you have made. I would also make sure that you find a new strategy for stress management (nursing school can be demanding, esp. if you are working FT like me) and stay away from the alcohol. I've been there/done that with drinking problems as well, and am happy to say that I did overcome it and now handle stress through exercise, meditation, and walking it off.

It sounds like that advisor was pretty harsh...most of the nursing schools accept someone with a 3.0 GPA pretty easily, and I am sorry she beat you up over the GPA (which actually is not bad!). It's a shame that some people have to be this way---but if the admissions person was like this, then maybe this college might not have been the best to attend anyhow if that is how they treat potential students!

I would fully encourage you to go to nursing and pursue your dreams; your post indicates that you are a very intelligent person and that you have the right reasons to want to become a nurse.

Go for it!