New hopeful student!

Published

(This may be long)

Hello everyone..Let me begin by saying I have browsed this website nearly every day ever since I found it about 2 years ago while I was a senior in high school. As of now I am working extremely hard in my second year of college to finish up my pre-reqs so I can (hopefully) begin my journey through nursing school in Fall of 2014.

The first time I was interested in nursing was in the 10th grade. I was taking a health science class which was taught by an RN. The class started off the first few weeks with learning about all different kinds of health occupations, mainly focused on those in nursing (we studied the history of nursing a little bit and she had many of her own experiences to share with us as a nurse). At that point I still didn't really "know" exactly what a nurse does or what the difference between an RN, LPN, MA, etc is. I just had a general idea of a Nurse as being a doctor's assistant or some such (forgive me!).

She also taught a nurse assisting class through which you could take the competency evaluation upon completion, which I intended on doing as well after taking her health science class. However, any interest that was sparked in me by Nursing was shut down and squashed by this woman almost every day in class. I was fascinated with everything we were being introduced to and would even borrow some of her nurse assisting books and health occupations books from her shelf to take home with me to read. However, when it came to class work and assignments, she was a pain to say the least.

She would have us practice random skills like taking vital signs or putting on gloves, etc. We were also required to turn in a 3 page essay every friday on a disease or condition found in our health books. I tried very, very hard in this class. But this teacher would berate and belittle me every chance she got, in front of everyone. She would constantly tell me I would never be a nurse or that she had no idea why I was even taking the class, and that she hoped I was not planning on taking her nurse assistant class. Which I didn't understand at all because I made sure my assignments were always good, I always put forth an incredible amount of effort in everything I done because I was desperate to prove her wrong. I held back a lot of anger and resentment toward her and always behaved respectfully. I averaged a C in her class every quarter but was just glad she didn't fail me.

I know I'm ranting here a little bit but I'm almost done I promise! Anyway, whenever I would answer questions CORRECTLY in class she would totally dismiss me as just GUESSING, and then she would single me out to lecture me on how difficult it is to be a nurse and how impossible nursing school would be for "someone like me". It was hard for me to comprehend all that because I had never told her I even wanted to be a nurse in the first place, plus I was very shy and I rarely had the confidence to speak up in class, and when I mustered enough to raise my hand to ask a question or answer one, I got completely humiliated. To sum it all up she was the reason I didn't want to be a nurse anymore and I ended up not taking her nurse assistant class. Mind you I am not the only student she made feel this way, but there weren't too many of us.

Fast forward to my senior year and I start planning for college and all that. I can't really explain the process but I became interested in nursing again - not that I had totally lost all interest since my experience with my health teacher, but I hadn't thought seriously about it since then. Anyway, I enrolled in a nurse assistant course through my community college and that is when I truly knew that Nursing is what I wanted to dedicate my life to. Everything in the class was fascinating to me, I loved reading in my text book and completing the workbook. I loved practicing and checking off on the skills even more. When Clinical came around I was ecstatic. I don't like poo and wiping urine off of my shoes but I do love taking care of those people who otherwise couldn't care for themselves.

I felt as if my instructor really helped me better understand what role Nursing plays in healthcare. We don't work for the doctor, we are there for the patient! I found that nursing and medicine are two whole different professions altogether and I finally "got it". The class was a total eye opener and I had such a positive experience. I am not saying this will determine my future experiences with instructors in nursing school, but it felt good to see that it is in fact possible for a teacher to encourage her student instead of telling them they aren't good enough. I know it won't always be that way but this one class has given me enough confidence to know that if I try hard enough I can succeed.

My pre-reqs are almost finished and I have several schools I'm hoping I get accepted into! I also passed my competency evaluation and happily informed my old health teacher of my status on the nurse aide registry (couldn't resist!).

As for Allnurses.com, browsing these forums answered A LOT of questions and reassured me when I had a lot of doubts. It is so comforting to know that if I need help or I just need to vent, I (hopefully) have the support of many students and nurses who are willing to listen. It feels wrong not to give this site credit after the integral part it has played in my life so far. I've jumped through so many hoops for my school of choice it is ridiculous, but hopefully I will be accepted. I will know the first week of April. In the meantime I am finishing up my last pre-reqs and happily working as a CNA!

Thanks to all of you kind souls who took the time to read this, and the ones who have shared all the info I've read through on here over the years!

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Specializes in Hospice.

I'm a nursing student of advanced age (Well, compared to you, anyway!) You seem like you will make a wonderful nurse. I am glad you didn't let that one negative experience alter the whole path of your career choice. :)

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Thank you for your kind words! And yes it was very difficult for me to shake off her words. She was a nurse for over 20 years and I naturally looked up to her. I wish you the best in your endeavors!

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Congratulations, sweetie! I'm glad that you're moving ahead and excited to be doing so. I'm finishing up my pre-reqs, too, and hope to begin in January 2014. We can do this!

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Specializes in Maternal Child, Home Health, Med/Surg.

Just remember this: you will have instructors that you just don't get along with.

Don't let her words impact you, and remember you can do this! I'm hoping to be starting fall of 2014 as well! :) I'm 21 though, and unfortunately let someone's words impact me when I was younger so I never pursued what I really wanted.

Good luck!!

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It's amazing what one persons words can do! I'm sorry you experienced that miserable teacher, but luckily you learned from it & stuck with nursing. Clearly that's what you're meant to do! I had an advisor that tried talking me into everything but nursing, because my gpa from my old school was a 1.93. Even though at her school, I pulled a 3.8, overall my gpa was still low so she told me its impossible for me to raise my gpa. I was depressed & tried choosing a different major but I couldn't do it. My heart is with nursing! I spoke to a different advisor from the same school (imagine that) and she suggested I retake some classes at my old school. Needless to say my overall gpa is now a 3.47 & I applied to their nursing program. Seriously, if I get in I want to rub it in that advisors face!! Lol good luck!!

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@acedit, I'm so excited for you! Good luck!

@illusion, I agree. Even though there will be a lot of people who will give us a hard time we just have to be fearless and persevere through it!

@mandy, I'm glad you got everything straightened out, I know how hard that can be! I hope you get to prove your old advisor wrong, lol!

Thanks so much everyone! I really do wish all of you the best. I do plan to chronicle my experience here on allnurses for all of you to see and discuss with me! I want to hear about everyone else's too - so excited!

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Specializes in Maternal Child, Home Health, Med/Surg.

Just curious what classes do you have left? You and I are on the same hopeful start date, so I'm just wondering :)

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This Fall I have A&P I, Applied Mathematics, and then Intro to Psychology which I am retaking to bring my C up to an A to improve my GPA (every little bit helps haha). After this Fall my pre-reqs are finished but I am enrolling in A&P II in the Spring which is a co-req for the program. If I don't get accepted into this Fall's nursing class then it's going to suck because I have no classes left to take to pass the time (besides Micro) until I apply for the NEXT Fall!

I'm applying to my closest community college which is the most competitive to be accepted into among the community college system in my state so I'm on the fence about my chances, I feel as if it could go either way at this point - My GPA isn't amazing (3.33), my ACT composite is 26; the only thing missing from my admission file is my results from the NLN-PAX that I take in the Spring prior to applying and that is a whole different ball game I am too nervous to even think about! I'm mainly hoping I'm accepted into this program because I really, really do not want to move away from home to go to school. How about you?

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Specializes in Hospice.
This Fall I have A&P I, Applied Mathematics, and then Intro to Psychology which I am retaking to bring my C up to an A to improve my GPA (every little bit helps haha). After this Fall my pre-reqs are finished but I am enrolling in A&P II in the Spring which is a co-req for the program. If I don't get accepted into this Fall's nursing class then it's going to suck because I have no classes left to take to pass the time (besides Micro) until I apply for the NEXT Fall!

I'm applying to my closest community college which is the most competitive to be accepted into among the community college system in my state so I'm on the fence about my chances, I feel as if it could go either way at this point - My GPA isn't amazing (3.33), my ACT composite is 26; the only thing missing from my admission file is my results from the NLN-PAX that I take in the Spring prior to applying and that is a whole different ball game I am too nervous to even think about! I'm mainly hoping I'm accepted into this program because I really, really do not want to move away from home to go to school. How about you?

Can I make a suggestion for you in case you don't get in? When I first applied in 2010 I wasn't even close to ready, but somehow made it on the alternates list, didn't get in. Then in 2011 I applied again but my gpa was not as good as it could have been, didn't get in. Finally 2012 was my year. The rejection letters only fueled my desire, and rather than be sidelined, I just stayed enrolled at the college and took co-reqs during my last couple semesters until I could apply this past Spring for Fall admission. That way, while I am in the program, I will only have to take the core NUR courses, which will increase my chances at success in the program. That gets noticed by the admissions committee, because they want students who they think will succeed. So stay enrolled, keep taking courses (Co-reqs are courses that you can take DURING the nursing program, but also BEFORE the nursing program, like a HUM elective, PSY, ENG, HLT). If you have taken all your co reqs, you could take courses that will count towards your BSN. I plan on pursuing my BSN once I get my ADN. Don't gte discouraged if you don't get in on the first round. If you are putting all your eggs in one basket and applying to the one community college in your area (same as me) then it will be very competitive. Get a letter of reccommendation from a respected professor in whose course you are doing really well. Attach a brief cover letter to your admission/application packet explaining why you think you will be an assett to the program. Little things will set your application above others in a competitive school. I wish you the best and look forward to hearing about your journey!:)

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I'm thankful that our BSN program requires all pre reqs to be finished before starting nursing classes, which is 15 credits every semester anyways. However our ADN program just requires A&P I and II, math, speech and micro to be completed first and the rest of the classes can be taken with nursing courses. I'd have to agree with the previous post, keep at it! I honestly couldn't imagine taking anything else on top of nursing courses!

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Can I make a suggestion for you in case you don't get in? When I first applied in 2010 I wasn't even close to ready, but somehow made it on the alternates list, didn't get in. Then in 2011 I applied again but my gpa was not as good as it could have been, didn't get in. Finally 2012 was my year. The rejection letters only fueled my desire, and rather than be sidelined, I just stayed enrolled at the college and took co-reqs during my last couple semesters until I could apply this past Spring for Fall admission. That way, while I am in the program, I will only have to take the core NUR courses, which will increase my chances at success in the program. That gets noticed by the admissions committee, because they want students who they think will succeed. So stay enrolled, keep taking courses (Co-reqs are courses that you can take DURING the nursing program, but also BEFORE the nursing program, like a HUM elective, PSY, ENG, HLT). If you have taken all your co reqs, you could take courses that will count towards your BSN. I plan on pursuing my BSN once I get my ADN. Don't gte discouraged if you don't get in on the first round. If you are putting all your eggs in one basket and applying to the one community college in your area (same as me) then it will be very competitive. Get a letter of reccommendation from a respected professor in whose course you are doing really well. Attach a brief cover letter to your admission/application packet explaining why you think you will be an assett to the program. Little things will set your application above others in a competitive school. I wish you the best and look forward to hearing about your journey!:)

Wow! I had never thought about the letter of recommendation and cover letter before. That sounds like a great idea. And if I'm not accepted I do plan to take the remaining 2 co-reqs before applying the next year. The only problem with taking classes toward my BSN is that my college only allows you a certain number of credit hours on your transcript toward your declared program if you aren't accepted yet; if you exceed the # of hours you are on academic probation. I scoured our student handbook on finding this out and my advisor was right. Which sucks because I am all about going the extra mile and getting as many classes out of the way as I can. I'm also applying to 2 more of the community colleges which are further away, and one university. I have all my pre-reqs finished for them and the 2 com. colleges have the same co-reqs as the ones I will be completing this Spring and Summer so hopefully one of them accepts me. :nailbiting: But at this point I feel as if the PAX is what will make or break me as far as being accepted to the com. college I'm most wanting to get into (it's also the only one that requires you to take it). They only started administering it in 2012. They haven't released any info at all about it or what scores/percentile is perferable/required for their program.

Good luck to you too! And thanks :)

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