britthoch1

Hello everyone, I'm needing a little bit of advice. In the next year or two, I would like to go into nursing school at the South Bend, IN Ivy Tech campus. I'm not too concerned about getting in because I have good grades in the prerequisites and feel confident that I can do well on the TEAS test. I plan on taking all the classes I can before actual nursing schools. For example, I already have the communications class out of the way, sociology class, and I plan to get my microbiology and advanced physiology out of the way. My biggest concern is that I have 3 kids, ages 3-9. My husband works from 4 in the morning until about 5 Monday through Friday. I'm trying to figure out how much time will get taken out of my week. When it comes to being out of the home, I can do the semesters where it looks like it will be 20 hours, but I'm mainly concerned on whether this goes to 40 hours or beyond that. How many hours per week is in the typical semester, even if I get those extra classes out of the way before nursing school? We honestly don't have any help with the kids. Both of my parents are deceased, my husband's dad is deceased, his mom is across the country, and there really isn't anyone else around to help. I know I will probably have to get a babysitter for certain times, of course, but I'm trying to get a realistic pictures on what nursing school is like at Ivy Tech. Thanks in advance for the replies!

Hello everyone, I live near the South Bend, IN area. This is northern Indiana and near Michigan state line. I'm wondering if there are any part time nursing programs in my area. I would be willing to travel a little bit, depending on the distance, but I have 3 young kids that I want to still spend time with. I know some of you do it with kids, jobs, and are single, but I feel like part time will be the best for my family. My husband and I have zero help with the kids, and he works a lot of hours as an engineer, so I feel like it would be better to stick with part time, if possible. I'm researching online but haven't found any part time programs in my area. Any suggestions? And if there aren't any part time programs in my area, I would like to know how Ivy Tech's nursing program is. I'm going to get all the classes I can out the way before I do nursing school, such as microbiology, chemistry, psychology, communications, advanced physiology etc. I have most of those classes out of the way anyway. I think I still need to choose one more class between chemistry, advanced physiology, and microbiology. If I have no choice but to go full time, then at least I can make it a little easier on myself by taking all the classes I can before nursing school. Any advice would be great. Thanks!

And also, I truly can't imagine being away from my kids and husband the way these medical students are. That's a big thing to me. My first job is to be a mother, and while some may be able to do both successfully, I personally don't think I would be a good mother if I went through medical school.

Thank you very much for your response. Like I said, this really isn't about money or anything like that. I have dealt with both parents passing away of diseases at a young age, and I have also dealt with some painful illnesses in which I'm doing ok in now. My passion is just to really help others the best that I can. I think part of me is falling into that trap of some people saying, "MD's are superior, NP's don't know anything." But from my personal experience, every NP I have come across has been wonderful and actually figured out what was wrong with me at the time. You are right, I will never be able to know everything. I think I'm fearing that I won't be good enough, but I have to stop with that. I have 3 kids, a husband, a passion, and I do believe that the DNP route is best for all of us. I'm mainly wanting to be a FNP along with some integrative healing certifications. Also, I have considered completing this year long master's program in microbiology with a concentration in biochemistry. In this program, you learn about genetics, biochemistry, virology, bacteriology etc. I think even just that year long program will suffice. To be honest, I love learning, but that doesn't mean I have to go the MD route to make that happen. I think the DNP route with extra certifications is best for me, and I will just take some extra courses if I have interest. Thanks again for responding!

Hello everyone, I just recently got registered for an account. I thought I would post on here, discussing my thoughts. My plan is to open my own practice someday. I would like to provide both conventional and integrative medical therapies. If I go to nursing school, I will eventually get my DNP. If I go to med school, I will of course just go down the MD route. My problem is that I love the nursing philosophy, have loved my nurse practitioners, and feel like it would be a better fit as a married mother of 3, but I really want all the knowledge that medical school offers. Some people say that even DNP's don't get the education that MD's do. I want to be able to attain all the knowledge I can get so I can provide the best care for my patients. And maybe I am completely wrong on my thoughts! Maybe DNP's are just as educated as MD's are? I would love to get any advice from anyone, especially if they are a NP or DNP. This really isn't about money for me, and I don't care about making less as a DNP. This is really about just me wanting to be as knowledgeable as I can be. Thanks in advance for anyone who responds!