Overwhelmed with so many nursing programs

[andendeavor]

Hello everyone! I'm a freshman in my 2nd semester, and I've started to look at nursing programs to apply to so I could see what other classes and requirements I need in order to qualify and apply. I found a website which gave me a list of all nursing schools in California, and I excluded the community colleges and private universities. However, that still left me with many options. I've been spending hours reading the information and comparing it to other schools, but I feel completely overwhelmed. I'm not sure exactly where to start.

This is off topic, but for some programs, they include volunteer and health care experience for points. I've noticed some people say that the program they were applying to only accepted hands-on experience, but what does this exactly mean? I assume that filing paperwork would not be counted. Also, for the health care experience, is there any possible way for me to get that as a pre-nursing student? I've read on forums that pre-nursing students can become a nurse secretary/tech, but wouldn't that require previous experience in the field and more knowledge on the field that a pre-nursing student has?

Thank you in advance for answering my questions!

[mperal10]

hi andendeavor,

it's good you're looking at schools early. you would want to start considering where you want to reside in California and then start researching colleges. there are a plethora of well established universities here that will serve the purpose of giving you a good education, so finding where you'd like to live comfortably would help your decision with which college to choose from. assuming that your GPA will be no less than stellar and that you've done some volunteering time (or worked as a healthcare employee) when the time comes to apply, you will have the choice of applying to any of which you like. the 'hands-on experience' that schools are looking for could mean assisting with gurneys, helping the elderly, etc. this could be all done by volunteering at a nearby hospital or rehabilitation center. if you want to get your hands dirty and start learning more about the job (while you're still in pre-nursing) you could enroll into a vocational school program to attain your license as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and learn how to take vital signs, assist with patient care, learn how to chart, preform EKG's, clean bowel movements/empty out catheters and JP's (Jackson-Pratt Drain) and all the like. There are other routes as well, but the two i mentioned above will give you clout and will be seen as initiative to learning the field. hope this helped. good luck to you.