New To Nursing

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Specializes in Accounting and Income Taxes 20 years experience.

Good afternoon! I am so excited that I found this place. I am looking to get all kinds of great advice for changing my life. I am 38 years old and I am beginning a new journey. For the past 10 years, I have played around with the idea of becoming a nurse. Why so long? Well, I have 4 children and I won a very good income tax and bookkeeping business. I kept thinking my life was all set and I did not have time to devote to going to college. I homeschool all of my children and I have this business that is full-time but really only super busy during January to April months.  However, I decided to make the leap and just go for it. I have a few questions since 1- I have never gone to college for a degree and 2-I am completely new to nursing. 

What classes can I take that is a good balance of hard and easy? I want to try to take 3 a semester. I could do more in fall and Summer but Springtime is my busiest time of year and I can not handle that many hard classes. I want to go for my BSN and go from there. Any advice? 

I also would like to know where to look for scholarships? I do not want to just go anywhere because of the line of work I am in, I am very much aware of identity theft issues. So I want to go where it is tried and true. 

 

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Specializes in Accounting and Income Taxes 20 years experience.

I should also add that I am finishing up my second semester this May. 

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My best advice is to make a short list of programs that you want to apply to and base your course choices on that. The programs that I applied to did not allow applicants to have any core science courses (Anatomy, Physio, Micro, Chem, Bio) in progress when you submit your app. So I focused on getting my sciences done and submitted my applications, then took my last couple of corequisites (Communication etc) the semester that I was waiting to hear back on my applications. The applications process is sometimes almost a year in advance depending on the program. I applied in January 2020, got notified over the Summer and started January 2021. I literally made a spreadsheet with the 5 or so programs I applied to because the requirements were a little different for each of them. 

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Just realize once you are actually in the nursing program, you are at the mercy of their schedule.  Classes and labs were usually 4 days a week around 6-8 hours.  When we delved into clinicals, they could be up to 12 hours.  
 

I had a lot of help when I was in my nursing program, from friends and family.  I was a single mom of a first grader and I only worked one night a week.  It’s a very intensive program.  Just know what you are getting into.  

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Specializes in Pre-nursing.

I don’t have much advice, but just wanted to say good for you for taking this plunge! I am a 37 year old mom of 6 and am a month away from finishing my first year of pre-reqs. I have been doing them very part time, to help maintain a sense of balance for my family. Last Summer I just got my feet wet with some math refresher classes. This past fall I took Chemistry with nutrition (7 credits), which was very doable. This semester I am finishing up intro biology with statistics (also 7 credits). Statistics has been more time consuming than nutrition, but it hasn’t been too bad. I’m planning to take a 3-week developmental psych course in May, and then Microbiology over the Summer. After that I have A&P 1 and 2 and Patho 1 and 2. What courses do you have left? 

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Specializes in Accounting and Income Taxes 20 years experience.
On 4/1/2021 at 6:49 PM, LovingLife123 said:

Just realize once you are actually in the nursing program, you are at the mercy of their schedule.  Classes and labs were usually 4 days a week around 6-8 hours.  When we delved into clinicals, they could be up to 12 hours.  
 

I had a lot of help when I was in my nursing program, from friends and family.  I was a single mom of a first grader and I only worked one night a week.  It’s a very intensive program.  Just know what you are getting into.  

Yes, I am aware of this and will make accommodations necessary at that time. I can work my tax clients around my schedule, usually. I will be exhausted by I will be able to manage it. 

I also think the nursing program that I will be applying to will have flexible schedules. I have a cousin who is married to one of the nursing instructors. She was giving me a breakdown of some things they are implementing for people just like me. I hope that is the case. 

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Specializes in Accounting and Income Taxes 20 years experience.

@Willow505, Thank you. I like how you think. Slow and steady. I feel I need to slow down a great deal. I am also just beginning. I am aiming for my BSN so I have a ton of classes left to take. I had to drop two this semester and it made me cry like a baby. It was just too much on me during tax season. This past fall I had 3 classes and did fine. This Spring I had 5 and nearly died. I dropped Bio-210 and Mat-110. I really probably should take Bio-112 which is Intro to Anatomy and Physiology. 

Here is how I had mapped out my semesters:

Fall 2020: Col-103, Eng-101, Mat-102

Spring 2021: Mat-110, Eng-102, Cpt-101, Bio-210, Spc-205 (dropped Mat-110 and Bio-210)

Summer 2021: Mat-120, Asl-101

Fall 2021: Bio 211, Bio-240, His-202, Psy-201

Spring 2022: Bio-225, Psy-203, Fine Arts Un-chosen at this time, Bio-275

March: Take TEAS Test and submit applications for nursing programs.

Summer 2022: Chm-105, Asl-102

Graduate from SCC and Enroll in USC Upstate or Gardner Webb or MUSC

Fall 2022:Nurs 

Spring 2023: Nurs

Summer 2023: Nurs

Fall 2023: Nurs 

Spring 2024: Nurs

Take NCLEX

Graduate with BSN 

Now I have decided that I need to take only 3 classes at most during the semester. I am not sure how to rearrange this to do that at a good balance of hard to easy. I need to take one class that is hard and two that are on the easier side. This will help me balance things out. Any recommendations?

 

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Specializes in Pre-nursing.

Can you describe what each of those biology classes are? And which of them have labs?  I definitely agree with balancing only 1 hard class with 1-2 easier ones. I may have been able to handle another easy class this semester, but I’m glad I just have these 2. Since I have a previous degree, I don’t have many easy classes left. 

I have a little dilemma in planning my next year too. My school sets up A&P1 to be taken with Patho 1 as pre-reqs. And then A&P2 can be taken with Patho 2 as either pre or co-reqs. I’ve heard horror stories about A&P taking 20 hours a week and Patho itself being a heavy class that requires a lot of time.  Some people at my school advocate not taking them together. Or taking A&P1 alone and then A&P2 with Patho 1. I’ve heard other people saying they recommend taking them together because they complement each other and help you prepare for the rigor of nursing school. But I just can’t decide!  If anything I have under-estimated my abilities to manage my time and get my school work done. But on the other hand, these last 4 classes will be the most intense of my pre-reqs, so maybe I need to take them slowly. 

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9 hours ago, taxestonursing said:

Yes, I am aware of this and will make accommodations necessary at that time. I can work my tax clients around my schedule, usually. I will be exhausted by I will be able to manage it. 

I also think the nursing program that I will be applying to will have flexible schedules. I have a cousin who is married to one of the nursing instructors. She was giving me a breakdown of some things they are implementing for people just like me. I hope that is the case. 

I know of no nursing program that has a flexible schedule.  Things are flexible in the prereqs.  When you are in the program you will be in a cohort.  That is the schedule you follow.  They don’t cater that schedule, as there are other people in this cohort.  You may have 12 hours of clinical, then have a 50 page care plan due on the patients you had in clinical.

I’m not telling you to not do it.  I’m telling you to go in with your eyes open.  You have a lot on your plate with taxes and homeschooling.  Something will have to give once you are in the program.  Many, many people underestimate the time involved.  Good luck to you.

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