jonjor2m

I am done with my pre-recs and am entering nursing school in the fall in a very competitive program. I am taking a English comp class this summer with a gentlemen who is well in his 60s who is going to college for English. By the way, I am 62 and starting a second career. Unfortunately, I live in an area where the cost of living must have gone over 300% the past few years because we are now a popular place to be. Get prepared to see those "old" people start those programs. By the way those "old" people have even "older parents" and they get to pay for their health care programs in health care facilities (such as dementia). So they helping their children with their children and are helping their parents receive adequate health care. It is like being in the middle of a sandwich. People who also enter this program actually may be more invested in the process than those who are 22. Most of us have been CNAs before because it is hard to get into a program without being one so we are used to doing the hard stuff.. I wish everyone luck with whatever they are doing. When you start walking in someone else's shoes, then you might gain some understanding about their choice in life. And I said to the sweet CNA whose mother said she should help the older CNA's who might need help because they are older, I can take care of my own patients and if I need help (which people should do) I will ask.

I got into Front Range Community College/Westminster in their RNA program and will start in Fall 2018. They use a rubric score criteria. At this time the cut off is 12 out of the 15 points. I had a 13. I had a 92 on my HESI, I have a 4.0 average on all the pre recs, I have a CNA license, and I have over 300 of paid work as a CNA. It is very competitive. It is actually better to do this than have a wait list because nursing school does require quit a bit of academic rigor and if you having issues with getting especially below a B in your pre-recs maybe this program might not be for you. The easiest program to probably get into is Denver School of Nursing. The hardest is probably Regis and University of Colorado/Anschutz.

I worked with a gal who got accepted and will start there in January. She is a terrific CNA and I think she will be a great nurse. She is a hard worker and will succeed where ever she goes. Me I am waiting to get into Front Range because I don't want to go bankrupt going to school but I will have to take my BNS after I finish my RN... oh well

Last days are hard... I would go in... Just think of the money you won't get if you call in... leave with your head high... don't look back... had the same thing happen to me about a month ago and I had a resident pass away on my shift that was really hard on me but I was glad to help her with her transition... I held her hand when she died... so glad I went in on my shift

In Colorado you can get a verify license using your name and address... you can pull up your numbers and everything... Best wishes

Krista. I applied at the Westminster campus and didn't get in--- don't have enough points... how many points did you have... my problem is I haven't taken many classes at FRCC westminster

Glad you do know it all....

One of the most important things I have learned from a life of working with a variety of ages is when to pick you battles. If I would have told my classmates, who were much younger than I was, to get back on topic I would have had no one who would be my clinical partner. This has nothing to do with about being a coward. Yes you pick battles for patients all of the time. And by the way, your quote about what you would say about Justin Beiber is very snotty. I don't think you understand about the certificate for the CNA stuff and I hope you have a work partner where you are at. You learn most of your "stuff" while working with patients in your clinicals.

The answer is probably EVERYONE!... you are right about the amount of study but I don't know if it is memory lapses... I don't mean to make judgements but sometimes "old gals" like us who are paying for their coursework take their studies more seriously... I certainly am a much better student now than in my 20s...

I actually think being over 60 will not be too old to start a career in nursing. Many patients possibly will be over the age of 60 and they may be able to relate to you and you might be able to be a very effective advocate for them. I would take each A & P separately and make sure you get really great grades because that will be considered. As for expense, consider going to a community college for your classes because it is less expensive and don't take student loans out to cover extra expenses. Consider working as a CNA while you are in school to offset expenses. It is possible where you work as a CNA will want to hire you as a nurse.

Ok-- I am a former teacher and also interested in nursing so I feel I can address this issue. Sometimes it is not the best idea to speak up, etc. if you have an instructor who may not pass you in the class. If the class is this disorganized and poorly constructed, the best thing is to get the credit and move on. Remember if you don't get credit for taking the class (certificate) you can't take the licensing exam. Effective teachers are more facilitators rather than authoritarian rules. An RN is more of a position of authority and the go between the doctor and the patient. Think what would happen if the RN challenged the authority of the doctor> There are other ways to do that.

I am also a former teacher making a career change in Colorado and want to be a nurse. I am also over 50. I realized to get my "feet wet" I needed to be at least a CNA. My course cost $1200 dollars and lasted about 15 days including the clinicals. It was very intense and we didn't talk about Beiber but Trump was mentioned (well it does have to do with health care, doesn't it?). I passed the test the first time I took the test and I had my first job before I passed my licensure test. Mind you this is Colorado. I can say I look at this as an extension on my clinicals which I will be having and I will have practice with patients before I start nursing school which is smart. In Colorado many many programs really want you to have a CNA or EMT experience before they will even consider you into a program. It is also good to do this because it gives you an idea of your work environment and who you will be working with. It has been mentioned that is it worth taking these classes if you are over 50 to go into nursing. I think it is. Is it worth taking all of these education classes to become a K-12 public school teacher if you are over the age of 40. No it is not. If you are an RN and don't go crazy with your loans and attend a community college, it is doable to pay back.

From what I understand if they are interviewing you you are pretty much in... they will send you to financial aide after the interview...

that price for rent (650 to share with others) in that area of town is very very very good.... you should get it filled up fast when others find out the price of rent... I live in the Denver area so if you out of staters have any questions please go ahead and message me... Margi

I agree with you about they don't put the effort into classes. Some of those who give bad reviews are angry because a teacher wanted them to redo an assignment to get a better grade. How can you be mad about that? I guess they think they should get all As all the time with no effort and the school should be free. I don't think they should be at DSN because they really are not ready.

I know you are probably already at DSN but where the school is has some of the most expensive apartments in Denver.,.... you might want to try to eastern and western suburbs

I know you are probably already at DSN but you will need to get a private loan as well as the federal loan... DSA has their own private loan carrier... it is expensive but not out of bounds in regard to costs of nursing schools in Colorado... hand in there

Well I am having some scheduling issues and I am also interested possibly pursuing a radiology technology degree... so therefore I am putting off nursing school and at this time I am going to be continuing with the community college for this degree/certification... however you never know... I may apply at another time... things happen...

Congrads on your acceptance. I have noticed that some of the Denver School of Nursing students share homes with other students. If you go on the Denver School of Nursing Facebook page that might help. I am very excited for you... I was also accepted in the January group but it looks like at this time I will not be entering the program. However I think it is a great school and turns out many amazing nurses... if you need any info on housing or anything please go ahead and ask me since I live in Denver. Denver School of Nursing is sort of near a light rail Margi

oh yeah one other thing that made me say DSN is ok. 78% is the passing mark to pass a class. If you don't pass one class, you have the option of doing some type of retake option while staying in your cohort. If you fail another class, you are out of the program. This made me feel really good because there are vocational schools where you can go year after year and not pass any classes while racking up a great student debt. That made me feel DSN is honest... For me learning that was a real good point... They aren't going to mess around with you if you can't make it as a nurse and that is good

I had my interview last Thursday the 8th. I had mixed feelings about DSN. The facts are there aren't very many nursing schools in Colorado and even fewer of them take students who already have a BA in another area. Actually the three left are Univ of CO, Regis and DSN. For me Regis just has an accelerated option which is not what I want. Univ of CO is probably not the best choice for me at this present time. I have heard the classes are large because they only have one group going through a year and students in the program are extremely competitive. I am competitive but I also need balance with a family and children. After touring the school, seeing the students, etc I feel more comfortable about DSN. I am going in for my enrollment stuff the 21st of October and am really looking forward to meeting with other people in my cohort and who are at DSN. I am still surviving on-line Micro and now am stressing about it less. I am going forward with going to DSN starting in January 2014

Move to Arvada... it is a nice neighborhood near a light rail and I live over there... possibly can work out some commuting options with you.... by the way Denver is really expensive for housing right now... we also have a shortage...just want you to know what to expect

I don't know if this helps or not but when I was in graduate school for a degree that had nothing to do with health care I got an really awful yucky teacher who I felt didn't like me... I survived the class. She seemed to like everyone in the class except me... however guess who got a job in their field? It was me... everyone else in the class didn't get a job in their field or lasted about two weeks... From my own experience with higher education professors get VERY defensive if you criticize them... especially if they aren't doing a good job... maybe I would go to get some suggestions and try to pick up a mentor and make the best of a bad situation... don't give up because that way the yucky people win.

I know the class sizes are really large at CU nursing... I met someone who taught there and she taught a class that had over 70 students in an overcrowded room... everyone was freaking if they didn't get an A

Statistics is a pre requisite for me because I already have a BA... I got a B in statistics from CCConline. Most people didn't pass the class and dropped out... I am a statistics survivor