I'm getting ready to apply to RN programs

[PincheVanessa]

Hi!

I'm Vanessa. I'm new to this site but since I want to be a RN I don't see the harm in making an account...so once again, hello :)

Well lets see, I'm 20 years old and I have completed all my RN pre-reqs! Yay me lol. I'm getting ready to apply to five RN programs from the months of August - March '15. All applications I am putting in are for the Fall 2015 semester. So hopefully I get into one of the programs so I can get this show (my career) on the road!

As time is getting closer for me to apply to RN programs, I feel TERRIFIED. It's starting to hit me that nursing school is right around the corner. I'm scared! Hahaha.

But nursing is what I want to do - I am currently a CNA. I work with RN's and I see what they do daily...and it hasn't scared me off. I work directly with patients, so I have already seen the good, bad and the sad parts of nursing. And all of that has just reassured me time and time again that this is what I want to do. I want to be a RN.

I'm mostly scared of the RN program - I have NO clue what to expect. The CNA program I did was easy as hell (for me, anyways). I passed with an A and my state test was a piece of cake. But I KNOW the RN program will be sooooooooooooo much more difficult, and I don't know where to start in terms of bracing myself, and being prepared for day one of the nursing program.

I like to think that I'm getting accepted to at least one of the five schools I am applying to, although I know that's never for certain. The RN programs around where I live are so competitive.

But just in case I DO get accepted, does anyone have any advice on how to prepare myself? I have bought books I plan on reading that sing the tune of "how to survive nursing school" but I'd like some advice from people who have been in my shoes?

Thanks:)

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Good day, PincheVanessa:

Welcome to allnurses.com! Congratulations on completing your prerequisites. Until you are in a program, I would hold tight on purchases. Once in, then based on the the school requirements, you can focus in on what you really need or would find helpful.

Thank you.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

A good gem of a book to have is "Critical Thinking and Nursing Judgement" by Alfaro-LeFevere which is available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/143772776X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1407115060&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

A great book to know how to think like a nurse.

I also like the How to Survive and Love nursing book as well.

[guest798886]

I just finished reading "How to succeed in nursing school" by Caroline Porter Thomas! It's for both nursing and pre-nursing students! I highly recommend, it's a great book and it's only $8/9 on amazon!

[dan1100rt]

You've already started gathering bedside skills as a CNA so good for you - you'll be ahead of a lot of your classmates who have never been in a hospital setting prior to starting school (as I was). The fundamentals of patho and pharm are the basis of the rest of nursing: if you understand how body systems are supposed to work and how they don't work correctly when they're broken as well as how the drugs work that are used to help with the broken bits the. With an understanding of patho and pharm you can work your way backwards during school and when you're practicing at the bedside. Pay attention, volunteer to do things in clinicals, and ask a lot of questions.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Good day,

If you are on a budget, Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Critical Thinking and Clinical Judgement: A Practical Approach to Outcome-Focused Thinking - $4.00 including shipping and handling for one version back on Critical Thinking and Clinical Judgement: A Practical Approach to Outcome-Focused Thinking.

Thank you.