crittytn

I just wanted to provide support. I don't really have any advice beyond what the others have posted. I went through my divorce this past year and will start nursing school in January! It's been quite a year and, yes, studying did help focus my frustration. But after this year, I feel like I'm ready for anything and I am SO, SO happy to be rid of him (well, mostly, we have kids together, so still have to deal somewhat). He would never have been supportive of me doing this and, in fact, did everything in the divorce proceedings to sabotage it and make his displeasure known. The juvenile part of me sticks my tongue out at him every time I think of him doing that and me getting into a program already. LOL Call around to the schools, meet with their advisors and develop your plan of attack. I personally think angling for your BSN is the way to go, but in order to get into school and get working, I would consider the associate programs too. My original plan was to apply to an accelerated BSN an hour-and-a-half away (a 12-month program), the BSN program near me (5 semesters) and the associates' program near me. I figured that was three chances I would have to get started in a program and be moving forward. I lucked out in that the BSN near me opened up a few spots for spring and I managed to get one. But I met with the advisor there and pushed through a lot of hurdles. It paid off! So, just hang in there, be pushy, gather all the information you can and make plans based on that. I wish you the best. It's a rough process, but once you're on the other side of it, all will be well. I'm glad you're with your family and have support there in Texas. I moved to be with my mom and I can tell you that truly having support from family is priceless.

I would take the sure bet now. It's a definite three years and you're done. It just seems the more simple route to me. I think since you and your husband are so worried about the effect on your marriage that you'll be just fine. You're already communicating, seem aware of the possible issues and, as long as you both continue to talk about things as they come and make sure to carve out time together, you'll weather it fine. I think it would be more concerning if you both thought everything would be hunky dory, don't need to talk about it, nothing to worry about here. But since you're both on board with the plans and you're both talking already about the difficulties and how to overcome them, that puts you ahead of the game. Congratulations and good luck!!!!

Excited and nervous!! Starting BSN program in January, total redirection of my life. Nail-biting!!!!

I'll join the never-too-late train. I'm 35, start nursing program in January. I'll be 37 when I finish my BSN. I don't know the makeup of ages in my class yet, but I'm sure I won't be the only non-traditional student there.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time, sweetie. I know it's frustrating to not be able to complete something you've worked for. Have you actually been into these schools to talk to the admissions counselor? They can often provide insight to options you may not have thought of. It sounds like you've applied to two schools twice. Are there more schools you haven't submitted applications to that could be options? I think you just need to examine all of your options in your life. I don't know the details of your situation, so only you can do that sort of introspection. Don't just give up, though! Research, research, research and then plan based off of what you find out. I wish you the best of luck.

Who's in? I'm in! Where are you attending? A BSN program in TN. I already have other degrees, so I'm going directly into the nursing classes. What are you most excited for? To get started!! I hate waiting! What are you most scared about? Scheduling--I have 3 kids. And I'm scared about the clinical part, since I have no experience. Studying and those types of things are things I'm good at. But gaining skills and not looking like an idiot are my unproven areas. What planning do you need to do? Oh, boy, a list a mile long. I have some vaccination issues to clear up (I'm older, so my records aren't as clear as they'd like). That's my most stress causing thing right now. Also, need to visit financial aid office to talk about the award they're offering. It's based on my married salary, which is drastically different than my divorced salary! Get my schedule made, attend orientation, then can start working on my childcare to fill in the gaps. But all the headache is worth it!!!

Congratulations!!!

Oh, me, me!!! I'll start January 2013 and graduate May 2015 with my BSN. So excited, but so bogged down with a mile long to-do list before I start!

I think where we go wrong is feeling guilty about working or going to school. Of course, it's great to keep your kids in mind as you plan and to give them attention and all of those things. But I think ultimately it's important to remember that you're also teaching your kids a valuable lesson by prioritizing your school work, by requiring some extra responsibility and indepedence on their parts and demonstrating how to ask for assistance when it's needed. I was raised by a single mom with an extremely busy and important career. I would not change a thing and I feel I owe her for demonstrating commitment to her work and not making me feel like the world revolved around me (well, all the time--I was still quite spoiled really). I am now a single mom to three kids myself (10, 8 and 6). I've been taking my prerequisites and just got accepted to a BSN program to start in January. I've made it clear to my kids that there are times I have to study (or work) and that they must entertain themselves. We have a pretty rigid routine for mornings and evenings and bedtime is nonnegotiable (except on weekends--a little later). They are responsible for cleaning their own rooms, gathering up their laundry, cleaning the family room and other things that need to be done when I ask them. And like others have said, some days dinner is something super easy and sometimes the dishes or laundry isn't done and the house is a disaster zone. For me, I keep a calendar, usually a month in advance of what is due and what is going on with school and life. I focus solely on school, work and the kids. Not much social life, but I find the tunnel vision helps keep me on track. The best calendar I've used is one of those really big ones with the tear-off pages, because it's large enough to be in my way, so I can't ignore it, and I can fit everything on it. It's all a means unto an end. You can do it!!! And your kids will be all the better for your focus and your willingness to do as well as you can with school and furthering your career.

Congrats to you!!! I'm another one that got an acceptance for Spring 2013 and that owe my success and sanity to AllNurses!!!!

Congrats to the others that have found out they're accepted! And good luck to those still waiting! Thank you all for my congratulations. I got accepted into a BSN program here in TN that only opened up a few spots for Spring acceptance. They usually only have applications for Fall, but luckily opened up these few spots, so I will not have any lag between finishing prereqs and starting the nursing program!! Happy dance!!!

Got my acceptance letter!!! I will start in January!!! Thank you to allnurses.com for all the information and assistance!

Congrats to those that have their acceptance letters!!!

I just submitted my application a few hours ago and I already want to run out to the mailbox to check and see if I am accepted. It actually says something about finding out via email, but checking email isn't nearly as exciting as checking the mail. The program I applied for is a BSN that doesn't usually do Spring applications, but had a few spots open up and opened up the application process. It'd be a lot nicer to go ahead and get started in January, so fingers crossed!

If you go to their websites, you'll be able to easily see the requirements. It may be as simple as having a TN driver's license and renting or buying a place in TN to get the in-state tuition. I've always been a resident of TN (even though I've moved around), so it was an easy matter for me and I can't remember the specifics. I personally would not live in GA and commute into TN. But perhaps I'm biased! I go over the GA line to go to Lake Winnie and to Costco.

Chatt State has a great program, as does Univ of TN, Chatt for the BSN. So if you go to either of those, you will be doing well. I'm not aware of any other programs in the area that are up to snuff. The thing you would need to look at is residency requirements, so you don't end up paying out-of-state tuition. If you were to find a school in Georgia, that would also be a problem. However, I don't think there is anything in N. Ga that would really be close enough to be worth it. Good luck with everything!

I took A&P I and Micro, along with two other science classes and pulled it off well. I think it's a personal decision where you have to honestly evaluate the time and attention you have to devote to your studies. I knew I could pull it off, because it was pretty much all I was going to do all semester, all day, every day--study and kids, that was my life. And even then, it was hard. But if you're working, your kids aren't in school yet or your attention is going to be elsewhere, then I would tread carefully. It's also important to think about your study habits, if they're well established at this point or a work in progress. So it's possible, but whether or not you're successful depends on many factors that are particular to your individual situation.

I was hit with some crazy circumstances that I originally wasn't expecting and managed to pull together an application for an accelerated BSN program. I knew that it was a stretch, as I was taking 4 prereqs this semester and planned to take the other 2 in the summer before start of the program if I was accepted. My mom is a dean at a CC and we both just knew that in such a competitive program, me with that many prereqs to complete and not any other recent schooling than my other degrees from years ago would not be that competitive against others who already had all their prereqs successfully completed. So, of course, as we predicted, I was not accepted to the program. It has made it hard for me to find the motivation to keep pushing through my 4 courses, but I am. I know that if I keep going and keep my 4.0 in these classes, along with some other things I'll now have the time to do like volunteering at hospitals and some other volunteer work I want to do and getting certified in CPR and such, will hopefully help me be very competitive next year. The good news is that I get the summer off to get my ducks in a row before I take the rest of the classes and to set up all my plans! But...to hedge my bets, I am also going to apply to a traditional BSN program and an ADN program in addition to the accelerated. If I get into all three, I can choose which one seems best at that time. If I only get in to one or two, the path is laid out before me. I am not going to give up and am going to enjoy the extra time I've been given. The details will work themselves out! So, hang in there! P.S. Dragonfly, great post. Very motivating for me to read this morning as I head into the last month of insanity with my classes. Your attitude is fabulous!!!

Not a nurse yet, but seriously that this is a discussion is humorous. I've had three kids. I have no idea what kind of bath they had in the hospital and I can tell you that it didn't matter either way to their well being, as all three have the same immune responses and health statuses. Their personalities are different, so maybe there was something there... The first was C-section and the other two were VBAC. In some circles, the VBAC makes me evil. In others, I'm a hero. And believe me, I had these opinions stated directly to my face. The first had a regular bath every single night once home and the cord fell off. The third got a bath at some point in her first year of living. What can I say? I had three in four years. What I can tell you is that none of them had any different cleanliness level due to a special bath. They were all clean. Perhaps the third was cleaned more from wiping off than some formal bath for quite a while, but whatever. So it's not "out there", but really I think people worry too much about what's not important. Healthy baby, check. Healthy mom, check. Keeping everyone around you and caring for your baby and other babies healthy, check. There has to be a middle ground somewhere, right?

I understand you want to help people, yet you have many restrictions on this. I've lived in a third world country, as you mention at the end of your post, and trust me, ring worm ain't got nothing on what you'll see there. If you're already squeamish about those things and about science, find another way to help people--there are plenty of other options. Gain some more life experience pursuing another "helpful" path. Nursing will be there later in life if you conquer the things you state as restrictions to entering the field. I think more soul searching is in order. Not to sound condescending, but you are only 16. You can find volunteer options to give you experience to choose your proper path as you finish high school and enter college for your preparatory college courses. Perhaps through those experiences, you'll better know what will fulfill you.

Congratulations!!!

Just keep studying and pay attention, I'm sure you'll get it worked out. I'm in Nutrition as well and we're starting the carbs part now. I'm also in so many other classes this semester that things are starting to overlap, so I'm familiar with some of the terminology, but it will take some studying to get it still. Good luck and hang in there!

I've had all As in A&P up until today. Bad grade time for me. But I've been doing all the bonus points, so I still have my A in the class, but boy, I cannot mess up again! It was the skeletal system and I realize I just didn't study the right way for this particular exam. Now I know, although that's the hard way to learn a lesson!

I'm hoping to find out in early March. If I have to wait too much longer past that, I'm going to go crazy!!! Good luck everyone!

Congratulations!!!!