elphaba

I'm in school right now, finishing up prerequisites before applying to the nursing program. At my university, the nursing program is extremely competetive and only about 1/4 to 1/3 of the applicants get in any given semester. My grades are good, but because of my kids and job and my husband's work schedule, I'm not able to volunteer at a hospital which I have been told is crucial in getting into the nursing program. There is a University of Phoenix in my town, with a BSN program that I could get into immediately. I'd finish sooner and have the bachelors, and it's a program meant for busy adults rather than traditional students who are straight out of high school. I'd be able to focus on one class at a time which is a scenario I think sounds ideal. But, my husband thinks I would be committing career suicide with a degree from UoP. He feels that they are just a degree mill and that any bachelors from there would not be taken seriously and I would find it impossible to get a job. He also thinks I"d have a tough time getting into a masters program which is what I want to do eventually. Is he right? I have a good friend getting her masters through UoP right now and she says it's a challenging program but great for situations where you don't have hours upon hours to spend on campus or trying to keep up in 4+ courses at a time - it really sounds ideal for me and my situation with work, children, etc. But if it'd be a waste of time and money for me as far as actually getting a job later, I don't even want to look into it seriously. Any thoughts?

Thank you both for the information and encouragement. I talked to my kids' pediatrician about it and she told me that a lot of the nurses in her office started out in L&D and realized that it wasn't what they expected, and moved to different areas. To hear that here, too, gives me hope. This will sound awful and I don't intend for it to, so I hope that what I say is understood - for me, the appeal of L&D isn't the newborns, it's the woman's experience of birth. Don't get me wrong, I'll drool over a newborn baby as much as any other person, but that's NOT what attracts me to L&D at all. Hopefully that will help me in the long run - being more interested in the woman and the actual birth, than "playing" with babies.

I'm just starting nursing school right now and have 3 years ahead of me before I graduate, but I already worry a little (okay, a lot) about how difficult it will be to get a job in L&D. That is what I want more than anything. Birth is my passion. I'm very, very seriously considering going beyond the RN degree and becoming a midwife. I've got other interests (specifically NICU), but what I really want is L&D. However, it seems like EVERYONE wants L&D. Most of the women in the nursing course I'm taking this semester are either aiming for L&D, or pediatrics (which I'm not as interested in). I worry that when the time comes to get a job, I won't be able to find one that I want. How difficult is it, really, to get into L&D? Is there anything I can do to help boost my chances of getting a position if one should open up?