need some advice about nursing school!

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Hi everyone,

I was hoping someone could give me some advice on what my next step should be in my whole journey to nursing.

I am a 22 year old student currently attending a 4 year university in Seattle. I have thought about nursing for awhile, and knew I wanted to do something in health care my whole life, but just recently decided to seriously pursue nursing. I just finished my CNA class and will be taking the test June 28th to get certified:nuke:. here is my dilemma:

I am not a nursing student at my current school,so i have 2 options: i will either be graduating in one year (hopefully) with BA in anthropology and then pursuing nursing at a local community college and then doing the extra year for a bsn afterwards. Possibly a masters later on. Or i will be dropping out of the university and just start the nusing degree. I have considered switching my major to nursing here at the university I attend, but they have one of the top nursing schools in the country, it is extremely hard to get into, and while I have done well in the prereqs i have taken, i know i can do better in an environment with smaller class sizes. plus, they just raised tuition here considerably and my parents wont pay tuition for me anymore after my fourth year of college. so at this point i'm on my own. the fafsa i found out will not make me eligible for any grants after i get my first BA, and this would have helped me because i will be 24 soon and can actually possibly qualify for them. so if i get this BA degree, i will just have the option of more loans and work study for the nursing degree.

My plan was the take the prereqs over this summer and next summer (while doing my current major during the school year) and then fall quarter of next year and then apply to nursing. I am seriously considering just dropping out of this school all together and just going into the nursing thing now so i can graduate faster. the thing that is stopping me is dropping out of this university, it is a good school, and i have spent 4 years on it already.

Does anyone have any thoughts? i know this is kind of long and confusing, but i could really use some guidance...

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If I were you, being 22 w/ one year left of my BA- I would finish it out. Take this year to look into accelerated BSN programs, apply, etc, etc, and by then, it will be time to start that BSN program, hopefully.

Sorry- I probably am not that helpful. I just see this very black and white.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

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If you don't want to name names that is fine but I think you are talking about UW and can totally understand where you are coming from. I would not want to drop out if I were you. Don't they have an accelerated program for people who already have a bachelor's degree? I would think you would have a higher chance of getting into their program if you finished your BA there...I really have no idea though, it's just a thought.

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I have thought about the accelerated program and they do have one, i am kind of uneasy though about packing 4 years of schooling into two, plus, i dont think i would want an MSN right off the bat, and this is what the accelerated program offers. i know i probably should finish out the degree, its just hard because i kind of see it as a step backwards from my goals. i am sure though that i can learn something from this degree that i can take with me to nursing school.

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No, you really aren't packing 4 years of schooling into two; nursing at a community college is two years (4 semesters). If you went year-round you just pack all four semesters into one year. Shoot, I'd do it that way if I could. But definitely finish what you started first, then go to the next goal.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

once you get your cna you can work and earn some money of your own. if you find the right job they will even give you some tuition reimbursement.

i know i can do better in an environment with smaller class sizes.

i think that is an interesting comment. i don't think class size has anything to do with how well anyone will do in a nursing program because nursing students get a lot of individualized attention all along the way through nursing school. you will also have to take the initiative to learn some things on your own in nursing school and the instructors themselves will direct you to do that. nursing school is not like other programs of study. you will be constantly challenged to find the answers to questions you have on your own.

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Hey

I am in the same boat as you. I am getting my BS in Biological Anthropology in the spring. Before I graduate I will be applying to many different accelerated BSN programs. What field of Anthropology are you studying? For me I applied once to the nursing school, and did not get in. So I decided to take Anthropology classes, now I am almost graduating. I decided to take Anthro. classes that would help me in nursing. So i took many classes related to forensics. So depending on the kind of Anthro degree you are working on it can really help!

Hope this helps a little. :nuke:

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hey,

yeah I'm doing medical anthropology and global health so i def think it will help in nursing. I am just gonna stick it out and then do nursing after, i couldnt imagine not graduating after i've been at my school for so long already. good luck to you!

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Specializes in Flight RN, Trauma1 CVICU STICU MICU CCU.

SERIOUSLY!

Drop out of school, Go to nursing school. Get in before the nursing shortage gap closes. What happened to teachers? There used to be this huge shortage of teachers... what are they doing now? In LA county, not 1 single new grad teacher has been hired this year. I heard that on NPR today on my way to the EMS station. My sister told me that she read somewhere that the teacher gap has closed (she's been a teacher for 3 years now). She also told me that she read in the same article that the nursing gap will be closed in 5 years. The economy hit my class hard. less than 40% of our students have gotten jobs since graduating in may.

You can always continue your anthro degree 1 class at a time if it really means that much to you. honestly, are you going to use that 4 year degree? Take what you have learned that you can apply to nursing and run with it now.

The universal shortage of nursing is for "experienced nurses," graduate nurses are getting the shaft left and right! Get into a 2 year associate degree program and then LATER you can upgrade with an RN bridge to MSN (you'll pick up your BSN along the way in that program)

and you won't have earned your "first bachelor's" and will still be eligible for grants. Don't try to work during nursing school, that is a huge mistake. Nursing was the hardest thing i EVER did in school. Its not the same, i don't care how academically smart you are. I went into nursing school with a 4.0 and ended with a 3.3 At the end of nursing school getting a B was STILL bringing my GPA down! Me, honestly, i'm the straight A's without opening a book kind of person. In nursing school, i studied so freaking hard and made b's and c's at first. I could have made an A if i wanted to study 50 hours a week. i finally did make 1 single solitary A in my last semester of nursing school. But that was after i had finally mastered the balance of enough pathophysiology book knowledge balanced with nursing interventions, prioritization and application of nursing judgement.

Also, i didn't really get alot of "individualized attention." So you are right to stay away from a huge competitive university system. My class started out with 79 and ended with 53. I did get a low 10:1 teacher ratio for clinicals, but all of the slower, less capable students monopolized the time for my instructors.

If you seem like you know what you are doing they are gonna let you run with the ball until you fumble! I wasted all of my grant money getting a bachelor's in psychology, that i never really used professionally. Are you gonna work somewhere with your BA in anthro? If not, then put it away and pick it up again later if you still feel like you want it. Did you have fun at university?

Well good, that is what college is for, having fun, until you figure out what you want to do!

If you are dead set on nursing, you would be best advised to get in to school and get out as soon as possible because, our economy troubles are not over. Just call around and see if the hospitals have a "hiring freezes" in your area.

DO take a job as a CNA, then when you get into nursing school, cut it back to 20 hours a week or maybe 16, so that you can study hard and adjust to taking tests with 3 right answers, but only one REALLY right answer. Your CNA experience will help you get a job as an RN and it may even get your foot in the door to the DREAM job that you want. If you can get into a specialty area that excites you - and you can work hard and impress them, so that they WANT you to finish school to come work for them.

If you finally found out what you want to do, DO IT. Don't waste time getting some degree that you thought you wanted a few years ago, if the only reason you are finishing is because you invested 4 years on it. If you aren't into it and you've had 4 years of it, why do you want 5, for a piece of paper to surround with wood and glass on your wall? There will ALWAYs be time for you to go back and finish what you started.

Now then, my perspective is coming from the lens of "i have finally figured out what i want to do, after spending my 20's goofing off and getting my bachelor's degree." So i'm 31 now, and just waiting on authorization to take my NCLEX, so that I can start working at the dream job that i have to drive into the next major metropolitan area to work at! There's a HUGE hiring freeze in my area right now. I'm glad to be commuting because that means i have a J O B.

I know everyone else assuaged your desires to finish what you started, but you'll just be delaying everything that you have decided now, for another year.

i know i totally ranted at you, but that really wouldn't have been so bad if we could have had a face to face conversation! :)

Good luck on whatever you decide. You have done yourself a major favor by getting your CNA, who knows, maybe you will see what nurses do and decide its not for you. I know that when i found out what nurses do, i decided i would ONLY take an ER or an ICU job. Floor nursing... noooooo wayyyyy not in a million years!

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Specializes in GYN/GON/Med-Surg/Oncology/Tele.

I say finish school while completing your pre-req's, then apply to an ADN or BSN program. Once you pass your NA exams, apply to either hospitals, or LTC's that offer tuition reimbursement programs that way when you do decide to go back to school for nursing, your employer can pay for it. Either way, who's to say the degree you're currently seeking will be useless and even if it is, what's the difference between a "useless" degree in anthro and an RN license that isn't being used because you can't find a job? Most ABSN programs that I've come across are 16 months long which is really only about a semester and a half less than most average BSN programs that are 24 months long.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck!

BTW...this is coming from a second degree student who is currently pursuing an ADN. I may not be using my "useless" degree but at least I have it to fall back on if nursing doesn't work out!

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Specializes in Flight RN, Trauma1 CVICU STICU MICU CCU.

sorry i laid on the "useless" degree thing so thick~ :) i mean... its a great resume builder... but so is an RN behind your name :)

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Hey-- I actually just went through a very similar situation. I just graduated with a BS in Psych and Bio, and about a year before I was set to do so, I realized I wanted to be a nurse.

My school also had a wonderful BSN program that was extremely hard to get into. I chose to apply to my local community college for several reasons.

1. It was a lot cheaper. I'm at the point where I cannot afford to pay out of pocket and getting loans in this economy is very difficult.

2. It was a lot closer.

3. It was a lot shorter. I rather be able to nurse in 2 years and pursue a BSN after I'm absolutely positive that I'm going to love this field. I don't want to go through another four years of schooling and realize that again this isn't for me.

Ultimately though, you have to do whats right for you. I still advise finishing the degree that you are going for. You've come so far it would be a shame to not finish it! For instance, my psych degree will come in handy at some point since I'm hoping to go into an oncology unit. You never know when your second degree might help!

Best of luck!

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