shasta13

?‍♀️ For now my plan is to do bedside until I physically can't. I love it.

I received a job offer 2 months prior to graduation, contingent upon actually graduating and passing the NCLEX, of course. From the time of the job offer to my official first day of work took a span of 4 months. I was one of the first ones in my class to get a job offer; many students weren't looking at the time. Also, many of my classmates didn't start looking until after graduation and we ended up starting jobs at the same time. I would think that would depend greatly on your location.

It depends on what your school will accept (which may depend on what clinical sites require.) Mine was dilute negative and my school treated it as a negative. Before I found that out, I read online that some will accept it and some will require a retest, and that a dilute positive was taken as a positive.

I made dumb decisions as an 18-19 year old that kept me out of two local community college ADN programs in my 40s. I found a different school (a BSN program) that accepted me instead.

This. I know I can't function well without sleep, so I always made sure I was getting to bed at a time when I knew I'd be getting at least 7 hours of sleep. (Most nights, I got 8 hours of sleep.) There may be nights when you can't sleep because you're too worried or too stressed or heck, even too tired, but at least plan for a night's rest. With that said, I did a 12 month BSN program (four 12 week quarters) and I studied nearly every minute I was not in class (and not asleep, lol.) If I was lucky enough to go out, I literally took study material with me. It's what *I* had to do. Not everyone in my class needed that.

My friend goes to a nursing school that doesn't do test reviews. Their reason is that you don't get a review after the NCLEX. Completely ridiculous, IMO. She doesn't even know which ones she gets wrong, much less why she got them wrong.

I say wait. I bought a 2 month subscription 1 month before graduation and extended it for 30 days when my ATT was delayed. It is an excellent resource for the NCLEX, but I still feel the questions, wording, and style were very different from nursing school exams and it was overwhelming to use it on top of my nursing school resources I was required to use. I ended up not using UWorld during my first month of the subscription.

I got 55% correct on UWorld (entire bank.) On the self-assessment, I scored in the 45th percentile with a high chance of passing. I passed the NCLEX with 75 questions. It sounds like you are right on track.

I did the entire question bank, got 55% correct, 45th percentile (high chance of passing), and passed the NCLEX in 75 questions.

I'm in an accelerated program and I spend nearly all my free time studying. I also have a family, but I have tons of help. If I am able to attend activities outside of school, I have study material with me. That being said, there are plenty of people in my class who probably spend about 1/3 of their time as I do studying, manage to have a social life, and do well.

One school told me to "reserve" Monday-Friday 0800-1700 for lectures/labs and Saturday-Sunday 0700-1900 for clinicals. They said I would not be in class/clinical that entire time, but the schedule wouldn't be set until just before the semester started. My current school pretty much said the same thing except they guaranteed Sundays off. Unfortunately, we have 1800-0600 clinicals as well.

I'm an older student (in my 40s) with a husband and four children in an accelerated program. It's difficult but absolutely doable, as long as you prioritize and stay organized.

I took AP1 & micro together and AP2 & chemistry together and earned As in all. I also took a 3rd class along with AP2 & chem, but it was an easy class. I never struggled in any of the classes, but I also didn't work and had loads of time to study.

45 min commute in no traffic, but in reality more like 1 hour-1 hour 15 min. Yes, even at 0500. Metro area population over 2 million, worst drivers in the U.S. There are two sites within 20 minutes of me, but I didn't draw those. I think I got the farthest site from my house.

That is an offensive request. Do they ask men to wear light makeup as to not scare patients? Don't wear it if you don't want to. Personally, I find that I sweat it off and then I have to worry about whether mascara is running down my face all day.

^^excellent post by verene above! Just to share my experience, I decided to go the ABSN route because in my area, hospitals don't hire ADN RNs (which was my first choice route, due to time and money.) Because of that, my new plan was to apply to three programs: first, the ABSN, then the traditional BSN, then the associates program at my local community college (where I completed prereqs) and then bridge to BSN. I had also considered WGU, since there's a BSN program in my area. All three programs had slightly different prereqs. Since my first choice was the ABSN, I concentrated on those prereqs. Had I not been accepted, it would have taken me another semester to complete the class I needed for my other choices, but I ended up not having to worry about it. In my ABSN program, we start clinicals at week 5.

I'm pursuing nursing for a career change now. It took me one year (summer, fall, spring) to complete pre-reqs and I'm enrolled in an accelerated 2nd degree BSN program.

The TEAS is very AP2 heavy, in my opinion. If you are self-motivated, you can prepare for it prior to taking AP2, though. I took it at the beginning of my AP2 class just to see how I'd do, but I studied AP2 on my own for weeks in preparation. I did well on it, but I missed the most from AP2. Now that I'm done with AP2, I'm curious to know how I'd do on the TEAS, but I've already been accepted to my program so I'm not going to waste the money or time. From what I recall, my TEAS exam had one micro question.

I just wanted to send a little encouragement if I may.... My first science class was General Biology. At my school, it is a pre-req for AP1. This was the hardest class I have ever taken, and it was the chemistry portion that you speak of that nearly did me in. I studied 6-8 hours a day and never felt like I knew enough. I used a lot of Khan Academy and other resources. I worked and worked and worked at it and I ended up with an A in that class. From there, the chemistry portion of that class was repeated again in AP1 and microbiology, and since I had learned it in biology I had a much better grasp on it. Fast forward a year, and one of the nursing schools I wanted to apply to required chemistry as a pre-req. It didn't have to be General Chemistry, but it had to have a lab. I took what's considered an introductory chemistry class with a lab and let me tell you what...in my opinion, it absolutely should be a pre-req for General Biology! It would have made my life so much easier. My advice to you would be to use all the resources you can find to learn the chemistry portion. If you can get that down, the rest of the class should be smoother. (It'll still be a lot of learning, but for me, the rest of AP was what I was looking forward to learning the most!) If you end up dropping the class, perhaps an intro chemistry class would be helpful.

I am you, 15 years older. I say this as a 40 year old in your shoes...make the change for long term happiness. I stayed so long even though I was unhappy because 1) I was good at it, and 2) I felt I had invested so much into my career that it would be a shame to let it go to waste. It wasn't a waste, but I wasn't happy. Like you, I thought I wasn't suited for science classes. Like you, I considered earning my MBA. Ultimately, I knew the MBA wasn't going to make me any happier in my career. I thought long and hard about what I would do if I could start all over, and I enrolled in General Biology instead. General Biology is hands down the hardest college course I have ever taken in my life. I had never had any kind of biology or chemistry course before (even in high school) and I was surprised by the amount of chemistry I needed to know for the class. I felt like I was taking biology and chemistry at the same time, and I took it over an extended summer term (it was 12 weeks long vs the standard 6, but still not a "full length" semester.) I was lucky enough that I didn't have to work while taking this one class and I literally spent 6-8 hours a day studying for this class. I was doing well, but I was constantly stressed out that I didn't know enough material. Knowing how much time I was putting into this class, I thought it would be wise of me to only take 1 science class at a time. In the end, I got one of the two As in the class. When meeting with my advisor, she told me that General Biology at our school has a 50% fail rate and she was very impressed with my performance. After that discussion and after earning that A, I felt like I could do anything. I ended up taking AP1 & Microbiology in the same semester and AP2 & Chemistry in the same semester, easily all with As--and I still say, hands down, General Biology was the hardest class. I didn't have to put near as much time and effort into the other classes and that really boosted my confidence. Maybe I am a science person, after all! I tried to think back to why I thought I wasn't good at science. I certainly don't want to blame anyone else, but maybe it was a little bit of lack of passionate teachers in middle/high school combined with a lot of my general laziness and failure to make an effort to understand the material that made me choose classes that were naturally easier for me (hence leading to a degree in business.) I can't answer your question regarding an ABSN program because I haven't completed one, but that is now my plan. I just finished my pre-requisites and I'm playing the waiting game now (expect to hear any day now!) Honestly, I guess I really can't answer any of your questions, because ultimately it's your life. I just read your post and saw so much of me in it. Even with that, I can't say that I wish I had made the change when I was 25. I'm grateful for the experiences I had along the way, but I'm excited now for my new path. I wish you all the luck.

I have found this to be my experience with open book exams. I only had them in developmental psychology--what I thought would be the easiest class--and it was very rough. I ended up having to do two extra credit projects to get an A. So glad the prof gave us that opportunity.

At my school, having any outstanding pre-reqs automatically puts you into the 4th tier of applicants to be considered. Your chances of getting in would be slim. Other schools are different; I know of some that will allow 1 outstanding pre-req but no more. You need to find out what your school requires and what the application deadlines are. I had a classmate this past semester think she could apply for a fall start for nursing school only to find out that applications were due in late April and our semester didn't end until May 5, which meant transcripts wouldn't be updated in time for a fall start.

I'm taking a similar chemistry class...it's an "intro" to general chemistry and it's the easiest science class I've had. I strongly think this class should have been a pre-req to general biology at my school. It would have made gen bio so much easier for me. I've already take gen bio, ap 1, microbiology, and I'm in ap 2 now. I've never taken chemistry in high school and I have no struggles in this class. I am a strong math student, though, so that has helped.

I was in the same boat and initially decided to choose the ADN because my concern was time. With that route, it would have been my intention to eventually bridge to BSN, but my primary goal was to be working ASAP (I'm an older student.) I did some research on jobs in my area and talked to a lot of people and learned that the ADN would not make me marketable AT ALL, so I began to reevaluate my plan. I switched to BSN because the ABSN program is twice the cost, but ultimately decided on the ASBN because I'd (hopefully) be in the workforce two (ish) years sooner and will make that money back well before the time I would have been done with a traditional BSN.

I agree with this. The negative comments I have seen about ECPI are about different programs in different states. I've never heard anything negative about the ABSN program in Orlando. I know two people who graduated from there, passed the NCLEX, and are now working as RNs in the area. They are very pleased with their experience.