Pre-nurse questions about preparing

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Hello all,

I live in the Tulsa area and after a few years of careful consideration, I have finally made up my mind to pursue nursing. Though I have known for some time I wanted to do this, I didn't want to pursue it lightly if it might not be the right thing for me. No one wants to end up acting like Nurse Ratchette (sp?) because they are not really suited for this type of thing, and who wants to be treated by someone like that ?

So anyhow, I truly feel this is the right thing for me, and decided on trying for TCCs ADN program to become an RN. I have a few questions for all you friendly people.

1. I have zero college under my belt at this time. Will this be considered a big negative when applying ?

2. TCCs program is 5 semesters, the first semester being prerequisites. Should I be trying to take those courses now before even applying ? What is the best way - for all of you who have jumped through this hoop - to handle that ?

3. In addition to the first semester of prereqs, they show several science classes they say must have been completed within 5 years of applying. A few of these classes are listed in the first and second year nursing curriculum, so uhh... i'm confused. Do they need to be taken BEFORE applying, or are they taken with the rest of the nursing courses ?

3. TCCs online info (on their cost estimation section) states that not included in their cost is the CNA requirement, and that programs to get certified are approximately $450. However, when I called them to find out if they offer that course they ended up transferring me to someones voicemail.. So my question is, does anyone have a referral to a good CNA program, and could you throw some price expectations out there ?

I appreciate any light that can be shed. I'm waiting for my nursing information packet that I requested from them (TCC). I have called and spoken to a few people at the school, who could not answer my questions, as well as tried to confirm with their online info, but I remain confused. =P I have been told the packet should answer all my questions, i'm really hoping so, since not much success over the phone. I should probably go up there in person though, so i'm reserving judgement.

I also appreciate any other general tips on preparing for nursing school, the best order to do things in, and just anything you would like to share from your own experience. Thanks !

=^,^=

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Specializes in Level III cardiac/telemetry.

I'll see if I can help.

There's really more than 1 semester of prereqs. Before you can even apply you need to have English Comp 1, Principles of Chem, Intro to Psych, and Anatomy. Before you can take Anatomy you need to have Biology for Majors. So my best advice to you would be to make Bio for Majors your first class you take because it's also a prereq for Physiology and Microbiology, which you will also need. If you can have all or most of your general education classes out of the way before starting the program, it would probably be easier, so you can be taking those while on a waiting list to get in maybe.

As for the CNA class, I took mine at Tulsa Technology Center and think it was around $300. They offer it as a daytime class that lasts a couple of weeks or evenings that takes about 6 weeks. There's also a program called Dreammaker that I know some people use.

You asked if it would count against you because you don't have any college yet. I would say no, because it gives you a chance now to focus on what you really want to do and to concentrate on that important GPA that you need to get in.

It's a lot of information to figure out, huh? Just take Bio for Majors first so you can move on and take the other sciences. Hope that helped, but maybe I just made it worse!

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No, not worse at all, you really helped ! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. Ok, Biology for majors, got it. Then I will focus on the other prereqs and the CNA requirement. Thanks for the heads up about Tulsa Tech, i'm gonna look into that now.

One other thing, do you think it's ideal to go ahead and study for/take the ACT and SAT tests ? Or will the college placement/entry tests be all I need to worry about ? Do you think scoring high on those tests (ACT/SAT) gives an advantage when being considered for the nursing program or will good scores on the placement/entry tests be considered just as good ?

Thanks again Lana =)

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Specializes in Level III cardiac/telemetry.

I don't think you need the ACT, but I could be wrong. You will probably have to take the placement exam though. I don't really know about those. I took the ACT 10 years ago! If you want any help on deciding prereqs and when to take them or who to take them from, feel free to PM me.

:)

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Thanks Lana =) And good luck on graduating next spring !

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You aren't required to take the ACT or SAT.

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OURN, thanks for letting me know. That's one less hoop to jump through =)

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Hey tremblelina! I'm in the same boat as you are!! No previous college and not sure what route to take to becoming an RN. I'm trying to decide which would be better - getting the CNA or the PCT/AUA. I'm planning on working at a hospital while I go to nursing school so I'm kind of thinking that a PCT would be better as it pays more. They have a PCT class at Tulsa Tech that I'm looking in to but I'm not sure what the schedule will be. The one for this spring was 6-10 p.m., costs about $600 and is about 20 weeks long. I've heard that CNA classes are only like 10 weeks and cost like $550. Hmmm??? I just need to take my CPR class (I'll be doing that tomorrow and the next day) and figure out whether I need to do the CNA or the PCT... Good luck to ya!!

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