Helow to all and and I am in need of guidence

[ARTHURDJR338]

Helow to all as this is my first post at this website. I guess I should start out with a little about myself and why I am here. I would also like to appologise in advance for any of my glaringly obvious spelling errors as I have become far to dependent on my Windows Spellcheck feature, and unfortunately it is unavailable to me for this posting.

Im here first and fore most because I am in desperate need of help in the form of good solid guidence on getting the education nessasary to become employed in the field of nursing, and trying to make the right desions education wise, while doing it so as to make this whole proses as quick and mimamaly painfull as possable.

I like so meny of my fellow hard working Americans these days, find myself in the quite unenviable position of having to compleatly change their cariers through absolutely no fault of my own. For me it is not a matter of choise as much as a matter of survival, not just for myself, but a reasons of far greater importance than just myself that being for my wife and two sons, who are to me no less important than the air I need just to live.

I will undoubtedly be posting quite a few questions pertaining to how exactly do I go about obtaing a degree or certificate in order to persue a carier in the nursing field. What I would please like some one to do for me at this point is please point me in the right direction as to which one or more are the best forums here for a person who is not yet in school persuing a nursing degree to get the cold hard truth about what exactly do I need to do to make my education as quick and although I dont expect the prosess to be pain free, I would like to keep it below the level of a root canal if at all possable.

The single biggest obstical to my success at present is common to all in my position in that my job makes going to school full time impossable. So I will be left having to go to school part time at mostly at night, although internet classes could prove to be my salvation at least in part.

This entire predicament I find myself in has proven to be rife with irony. You see a few years after i graduated highschool, two friends of the family were both RNs specializing in anesthesia and thay talked me into persuing a carier as an RN with possably specializing in anasthesia as thay both had. I was past half way through my first year of collage, with I might add a 4.0 GPA when my present carier oportunity presented itself. Much to my now and lasting regret I withdrew from school to persue my present carier.

If I may, I would like to ask a few questions so anyone who is willing to offer their help and advise may get some idea of the type of assitance I will be seeking. First off are any of the collages that are offering on line nursing degrees lagit and do thay deliver on what thay promise? and how do I find out in advance the transferability of any credits I obtain from them? I have been searching the net ant the information concerning on line nursing education is so extencive as to be overwhelming, at least to me that is.

Second, considering the fact my job makes obtaining a two year nursing degree quite hard, would I be better searved first jetting a LPN degree then quit my present job, work as a LPN on second and third shifts so I can go to school full time during the day to finish my RN degree?

I hope these few questions can give anyone willing to help and advise me some idea what type of assitance I am in need of and looking for. I already went back to the original collage I was going to back when I first begain my quest for a nursing degree, but the councelors there are so over worked they only allow you a 30 minet max session, and none realy specialize in the nursing program itself, so thay were not that much help to me, although they are extreamly nice people.

Well I have rambled on long enough for my first post. I would like to thank in advance anyone who can offer me the benafit of their first hand experience in the form of advice on what should be my first steps in my persuit of a carier in the nursing field.

Again, hellow to all from a newbe in search of help.

Arthur.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Hi Arthur, welcome to Allnurses.

There are only a couple of distance learning programs to get your nursing degree, and you have to set up your own clinicals, something your local hospitals might not be willing to do because someone with a nursing license has to be liable for you. Plus, you have to make sure they have the right accredidation. National League of Nursing accreditation transfer readily to any and all nursing schools as that's the standard. I wouldn't recommend getting a nursing degree online, it's best to do your clinicals with an instructor and classmates with you.

Most programs do have pre-req courses like Anatomy & Phisiology, Pysch, English, etc. that you can take online.

Going the LPN route is definately an option, which can get you working quicker, and in fact you might find an employer willing to help you continue with your RN degree.

Finally, take advantage of the 30 minutes an acedemic advisor can offer you. Go prepared with a list of questions. 30 minutes should be enough to get your started.

Good luck. Please feel free to ask any questions. We're here to help. I moved this to Nursing Career Advice which is the best place for these questions. Also we have a pre-nursing forum here you might want to check out.