pre-nursing vs. LPN vs. ??

[kellihope]

Hi All!

I got some excellent advice on this board a few weeks ago and now have some more questions. My husband has a BA in Biological Anthropology from UMD, 2003, GPA 3.02. Since that time he has owned/operated a farm in Vermont. We are selling the farm this summer and will have the opportunity to use some of the proceeds to go back to school and he would like to get into the health care field. We are looking to move to Florida but are also considering staying in New England...

Since he already has a BA, many of you recommended the accelerated RN program and we have done a lot of research and it looks great. Unfortunately, even though his college career involved a lot of bio and chem, he is still shy quite a few prereqs: anatomy/physiology, stats, psych, human nutrition and human development.

We are planning to close on the farm July 1st and need to know what the quickest thing he can get into would be..and what makes the most sense. Is there such thing as a pre-nursing program that you need to apply and be accepted to that would fulfill the prereqs, or can you just sign up for these classes at community college?

What about getting an LPN, would that fulfill his prereqs and he could end up working a year or two with just the LPN before going back to get the RN?

How quick could we expect to get accepted to an RN program? I get the impression they are very competitive and that you apply a long way out from when it actually starts, but it sounds like most programs want you to have your prereqs done before applying, so what do most people do during that year long wait to start up?

Are there any other good resources for good information? I spend several hours a day online trying to research these things and seem to end up more confused at the end of the day.

Thanks so much for your help!

K & T in Vermont

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

It is very unlikely LPN will fulfill the prerequisites.. I actually have had several LPNs in my prerequisite classes just to bridge to ADN. So I wouldn't take this route.

You do not have to declare a 'pre-nursing' major to take any of these prerequisite classes. You can generally find them all at local community colleges. Good luck.

[leenak]

LPN programs tend to be certificate/vocational programs and wouldn't fulfill requirements for secondary BSN programs.

I am working on the pre-reqs myself. I just signed up for a community college and signed up for the classes. There is no pre-nursing program. He would probably need to submit a transcript just to show he meets some of the basic requirements for the courses but other than that, nothing else would be needed. I work so I'm taking classes part time. When I'm done with my pre-reqs, I'll apply to various nursing programs and plan to quit my full time job when I'm near starting the program.

[kellihope]

hmm ok. So we should aim to enroll in as many of those courses as possible, as soon as possible and then maybe just find a random job to pass the time until he is accepted and the RN school begins?

[bhms11]

I am currently waiting around on an acceptance letter to a local community college's RN program. It's 2 years. It does have pre-req's...human a&p 1&2 with labs..but that's just before you can sit in your 1st nursing class, you can still be accepted. Try summer classes online to speed it up. And after that he could be working as an RN in a hospital, AND a lot of them will pay for him to further his education (usually online). That's my plans...RN,BSN, Nurse Practitioner. All online for a couple of years. Then after becoming a NP I can own my own practice. Just check deadlines of programs and see what he meets the criteria of:)