mlh84

I'm currently in the process of applying for nursing school and I'm having a difficult time with the reference. Luckily the program I'm applying for is only asking for one reference, however, they want one from a Supervisor or professor. It specifies no co-workers, clergy, friends, family, etc. My issue is I graduated from college 10 years ago so all of those relationships are gone. I have gone back and taken pre-requisites but those have all been completed online. I am enrolling in another evening class that will be in person this next semester to hopefully alleviate this problem in case this doesn't work out so I can have a current academic reference. However, the deadline for this reference is that it must be submitted and received no later than February 28th so that wont really work for the time frame. I have been in my current job for 4 years. I do a good job and was designated as a mentor specifically to train new people so I know my supervisor has confidence in me. However, the turnover rate at my job is very high. When I first started it was 18 months and currently it is less than 12 months. I am very concerned about asking my supervisor for a reference. I am concerned that there is a possibility that potentially she would not provide me a good reference in an attempt to prevent me from leaving (Her train of thought being - If I don't go leave to go to nursing school where will I go?). I've seen this happen to other people in the agency I work for and currently they are in desperate need of experienced workers. But even if she was willing to supply me with a positive reference I fear the consequences of how I would be treated until I would leave to start school (which if I started in August I would be there until at least early July) because I've also witnessed others have a hard time once people know they will be leaving. My job requires a lot of involvement with the District Attorney's Office and Law Enforcement and we work in conjunction on a lot of cases together. I know that several of the officers I have worked with regularly and attorneys I have worked with could speak about my work ethic, etc. I also know a couple that would be willing to write me the letter and be discrete about it. Do you think that would potentially be an acceptable substitute? My prior work experience has been abroad and contacting those former employers is not really an option as one I can't reach and the other two have retired and I don't know where to locate them. Any other suggestions?

Thanks so much for the advice! Definitely brought up some things I wasn't considering in terms of what would really be a good fit for me. I know I'm impatient right now but I know that slowing down and taking some time isn't bad. I've waited this long so another semester or two wont kill me to find the right fit.

Hello I've been reading off and on allnurses.com for a couple of years now. Nursing school is something I've been back and forth on and just haven't been 100% sure. After college I graduated and did a 2 year stint in the Peace Corps in West Africa and did public health education and worked at a hospital and I really enjoyed that and always thought I might go back to school for a BSN. Well fast forward a few years and I ended up as a Child Protection Services Investigator and I've done that for 4 years. It's a job that I love but it's not one that I anticipate doing forever (the turnover rate when I started was 18 months and now in my area it is even less) and there are a lot of reasons for that. But for the last couple of years I've been taking pre-requisites for nursing school here and there. At the time my fiancee wasn't really supportive so just knocking them out and getting them done wasn't really a priority. Well fast-forward to now and my fiancee and I just broke up and I'm free to do whatever I like. In fact this is finally the kick in the pants I need to get going back to school. I lack all but the A&PII and have enrolled to take that and will have that course completed by early May. I've started looking at 2nd Degree programs since I already have by BA but I'm having a hard time narrowing it down. I've always just considered going to area schools but the only reason I was staying here (West Texas area) was because of my relationship. To me the 2nd Degree program makes the most sense because while it may be more money up front it would just mean one year of not working and I have enough savings and was fortunate enough to avoid student loan debt before that I'm willing to take some on now. But I would like to avoid taking on massive debt if possible. I'm just not sure how to narrow it down. I don't particularly have a geographic preferences and my only goal would be to start sooner rather than later (hopefully Fall 2015). My overall GPA from my BA is not awesome it was 3.19 but my Pre-requisite GPA is 3.8 and I know I'll have good references from my job but I do lack recent volunteer experience in the medical field and getting some volunteer hours even now would be challenging because of my work schedule (I'm frequently on call and work 60 plus hour weeks and my schedule is never predictable). I've registered for the TEAS V test but in looking around other schools require other things but I'm prepared to take the HESI or the GRE if necessary. I frequently search these forums and look at various advice for different schools and my guess is a lot of people pick programs based on geography and lifestyle (they have a family, etc.) but for those of you who could pick anywhere how did you even start to chose?