lilylight

I did (am doing) a program like this (accelerated BSN to MS). I graduated in 2000 from undergrad with a BA in Sociology. I got a job working in corporate retail. Great company but I was just not happy with it as a life long career. In Fall of 2001 I started looking into accelerated BSN programs with the MS option. I only applied to one program and I was accepted to that program. I graduated May 2003 with my BSN and I continued on and am now in the MS program. I just took the NCLEX last week and am going to start looking for a job now as an RN. I plan to work full-time while finishing the MS part-time. I had a background in health but mostly through highschool. I was in a track geared towards students who wanted to pursue a careeer in the medical area. I also did a few programs in highschool that involved classes and internships at local Medical Centers. My mother and grandmother are also nurses so it kind of ran in the family. Once I got to college I wasn't really sure if that field was for me so I went with Sociology (kinda by default). During college I did do a lot of volunteer work, tutored, studied abroad, etc but nothing really related to healthcare specifically. Anyways, I don't know too much about what the exact qualities these different programs are looking for. In my program there were students who had just graduated from undergrad with degrees in everything from English to Biology. There were people who were in their mid-twenties who had been in the workforce for a few years and their were others who had been in the work force for 20-30years in all types of fields (management, investments, social work, etc). The students came from all types of schools (state, private, Ivy league, small colleges, large universities, etc) So based on that I would guess that they look for people from all sorts of backgrounds who can offer different types of view points. Based on the fact that the programs are designed specifically for people from a non-nursing background I dont think you specifically need to have any prior work experience in this area to get accepted. It might be a good idea to maybe do some volunteer work, shadow a nurse, and talk with nurses just to get a feel for what the job is really like so that you can have a better idea if it's something you definitely want to pursue. I do know for my program there were some pre-req course that needed to be completed before the start of the program and some of the classes, such as anatomy and Physiology, were not something that the average liberal arts major had (including myself). You can usually take the pre-reqs at a local community college and as long as you get a grade deemed acceptable by the program then that will count. So make sure to look into that b/c the program i did only starts once a year and if your pre-reqs weren't completed you'd have to wait an entire year before starting the program. Sorry for the super long post, If you have any other more specific questions you can send me a PM. Hope this helps. :)

Congrats Anna on passing the exam! And Good Luck on the start of your new job and career as an R.N. now! :)

Hi all, I'm new to this board and this is my first post. I took the exam on Monday. Like you all have mentioned I also only had 75 questions, had a ton of ESRD and development questions. I was so unsure of almost every answer that I put down but for most I was able to narrow down to 2 choices (not that it helped my confidence level at all!). Well as I was approaching #75 I said to myself "If the exam shuts off at 75 there is no way in h*** that i passed". So right after question #75 I got the blue screen. My heart sunk and I just knew I had failed. I got home and I was very upset, called my mother and told her to prepare b/c I had failed, etc. For the next two days I moped around my house wondering what I was going to do with myself. Well I was hesitant to check the results after the 2 days, but finally yesterday after putting off the inevitable I checked and...I PASSED!!!! I can't tell you how excited I was/am. So I just wanted to say to everyone else on here waiting, I guess having 75 questions doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing, keep the faith and hopefully you all did just fine. Good Luck to all of you!!!!!:)