FutureRN86

Thank you Rose! I greatly appreciate your advice and will take it into consideration as I move forward.

Hi Everyone, I am considering going back to school to become an RN and could really use some advice on where to begin and what to do in my situation. Here's some background: I am a mother of 3 kids (2 are under the age of 3) and I have a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and Masters degree in Business Administration. I currently work at a hospital in Information Systems and have been there for about 2 1/2 years. Since I was in undergrad I wanted to go into nursing school, but the fact that I would have to take science classes intimidated me (not one of my favorite subjects) and with the strict academic requirements involved with Nursing, I figured Business would be the safer option. Over the years I have thought about going back to school for Nursing one day, and now that I work at a hospital, I've grown to admire and appreciate the work that nurses do and I think a career in Nursing would be more fulfilling for me. However, I don't want to take out loans for another degree (currently aggressively paying off my student loans), so I would only do it if I was able to cash flow nursing school. My hospital offers tuition assistance that may help a little bit, and I also plan to look into scholarships, if I can qualify. I guess my questions are: 1. How do I get started? What should I look for in a school? (I want to do an online program) 2. What's the average tuition for an accelerated RN program? Are there Community Colleges that offer an accelerated RN program? 2. I am the primary source of income in my home and because of my 3 kids it's not feasible for me to not work. Is it feasible for me to still work full time during the program? Has anyone else done it and what's your experience? 3. With a Master's degree in another discipline, does that cut down the time with the Accelerated RN program at all? I know there's a lot here so thanks for reading through. I want to make sure I'm approaching this the right way and with a good understanding of what to expect. I appreciate any advice or suggestions you can provide!