Nursing School in NY and getting licensed in NJ

[CaitlinLiz]

**Excuse the really long post**

First off, hello everyone! My name is Caitlin. I haven't posted on here before, but have looked around a little bit in the past. I have been on a forum that was built the same as this one so I'm okay with making my way around for the most part. I'll tell you a little of background info before I get into my original post topic. I am 21 years old and live in NJ with my dad and step mom. I moved here last year from Illinois because my mom passed two years ago and my dad has gotten remarried to someone here in Jersey. I still don't know very much about the area, or the state in general. I am honestly a chaotic mess right now, and trying to find a nursing program that will mesh with work is making my head spin. I have been a Certified Nurse Assistant for two years now and have worked in long-term care, rehabilitation, and home care. I just recently landed a job as a Medical Assistant in a Dermatology practice. It is GREAT! I'm really happy there I love my co-workers and the Dr. is wonderful. The Dr. is training me herself, which is really nice; I'm learning a lot more than I was in long-term care! The problem is that I work Mondays 9am to 5pm. Wednesdays trade off- every other week is 9am to 5pm and the next is 10am to 6pm. Every Friday is 9am to 4pm. This wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that I would like to go to nursing school. I had planned to go to an evening program, but most that I have found start at 4 or 5 pm.

My step mom found a program at Rockland Community College in NY (for those of you that know where I'm speaking of) that will give me an Associates degree in Nursing when complete. It is made flexible specifically for working students and people that can't go during normal school hours. They give you options of day courses, evening courses, and weekend courses, not to mention you can mix the three! I'm really excited, and am crossing my fingers that I can get into the program in January or Fall of 2010. :yeah:

Now the whole point of this post is...

I don't know anything about nursing programs in NY or how they work... I mean I barely know about how it works in NJ. If I took the RN program in NY, could I test and get a license in NJ after I complete the program? I know there is a way to do all of this, but I have no idea where to start or what to do. Any and all advice is welcome, thankyou ahead of time!!

--Cait--

[Stephanieee]

I'll tell you right now that RCC is currently at a 3 semester wait for the traditional nursing program, and I'm almost positive it's even longer for the evening/weekend classes. You have to be enrolled in the school to apply but there's alot of pre-requisites so you will have something to do while you wait. It is a VERY competitive program, but is very good also.

Personally I think it would be better to look at community colleges in Jersey if you are trying to go to CC route to obtain an Associates degree, if you went to a CC in New York you'd be paying out of state tuition which is like 3 times the price of in-county tuition at RCC (I'm a former student).

[Stephanieee]

Also, they only accept applications for a 15 day period, once in October, and once in April.

[CaitlinLiz]

I'll tell you right now that RCC is currently at a 3 semester wait for the traditional nursing program, and I'm almost positive it's even longer for the evening/weekend classes. You have to be enrolled in the school to apply but there's alot of pre-requisites so you will have something to do while you wait. It is a VERY competitive program, but is very good also.

Personally I think it would be better to look at community colleges in Jersey if you are trying to go to CC route to obtain an Associates degree, if you went to a CC in New York you'd be paying out of state tuition which is like 3 times the price of in-county tuition at RCC (I'm a former student).

Okay, thankyou for the feedback! I understand that it will be more but I'm actually looking to go there from my work, which is by Alpine/Closter so it would be more convenient to go to RCC since I'm already closer in that direction. I expected it to be at least a years' wait that is fine with me, as long as I get the ball rolling in general it will make me feel better. And I have been getting ready for a nursing program in general for almost three years now, so I have all the prereqs taken already. We'll see how much transfers I guess and then I'll fill in whatever is left.

[Stephanieee]

Bergen CC is probably the same distance from Closter as RCC. I actually recently left RCC because I had finished all my pre-reqs and gen eds and felt like I was wasting time waiting to get into their program. I had been waiting since I graduated high school in 07 so I applied elsewhere and got in, I'll be starting my nursing classes this fall.