Questions about being a nurse

AaronsMommyxx · Nov 7, 2011

You will need to take pre-requisites. Find a school with a nursing program you like, see what their pre-reqs are, & try to take them at a community college where they will be cheaper.

AaronsMommyxx · Nov 7, 2011

Just beware of online colleges & those colleges you see on commercials and stuff

maddiem · Nov 7, 2011

There are classes that you need to take before apply for nursing school such as Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology, Chemistry, English, Psychology, Math...It depends on which program you want to go into and what school the program is at. There are also pre-entrance exams that you take when you apply to nursing school. Nursing school is no walk in the park, its HARD. You study like crazy, go to clinicals, labs...all on top of what you already do in life. Some people don't work during nursing school or drop to part time, like I will be. I'm pre-nursing student about 2 semesters away from apply to nursing school, and my science prerequisites are very challenging...So I study A LOT. Every semester I'm getting my GPA higher and higher because it can be really competitive to get in. Hope this helps!

tinamarie_flute · Nov 9, 2011

Thanks so much for replying! I know its going to be hard but Im willing to put my life on hold and bust my butt everyday to do what I need to do :).Im going to go up to the Community College in town and talk to an advisor and see if she can help me get enrolled in some summer classes,so I can start working my way through some of the pre-requisites

Thanks again for taking the time to apply :)

EMT-newbie · Nov 9, 2011

go up to the Community College in town and talk to an advisor

I did just this when deciding on what to do and how to go about it; it's the single best thing you will ever do to help define a goal and create a course plan to get there.

Best of luck!

Littleamberofky · Nov 9, 2011

I would just recommend a lot of research, looking into your local schools, and talking to people who are nurses. The field of nursing has a lot of great opportunities, the pay is good, there is almost always going to be job openings, and you are helping people, but with that said it's also not all butterflies and rainbows.

I am not sure what colleges are in Florence, but I am originally from Louisville, Ky. I attended a few semester at Jefferson County Community College and it is crazy competitive. I live in a smaller community in Nevada now so I am only competeing with about 150-200 people but at JCC you are competing with 500+. They do accept people into the nursing program every semester though where as the college I go to now only accepts people in the fall.

Also just because nursing is a 2 year programs doesn't mean you are only in school for 2 years and I find that people don't generally understand that. You are going to be in the nursing program for 2 years alone, the requirements to get into that program vary but could also take up to 2 years. The school I am going to now is taking me a year and a half because I had to take Chemistry to be able to take Anatomy 1 then I can take anatomy 2 next semester. Those 3 classes are what is making me take so long because you have to have one before you can have the others and some schools are like that. This doesn't even take into account if you have to re-take a class which can put you behind another semester.

And be cautious about taking your science classes during the summer. It's a lot of knowledge being crammed into just a month and a half. I would die if I had to retain all of my anatomy knowledge (we are in chapter 14 now) in just 2 months time.

I am not trying to discourage you, but I think sometimes people are unrealistic about wanting to become a nurse. There are girls in my class right now who have said "I'm not cleaning up someone's poop" or "I'm not going to do this or that". Realisticly you're probably going to have to do a lot of disgusting things and you should consider whether or not you can handle it. If you don't know if you can handle it then get your CNA (certified nurses aid) and after your clinicals you will know.

tinamarie_flute · Nov 10, 2011

I appreciate you taking the time to reply.You have given me alot to think about :) I am well aware it will be hard work and never once thought it would be all butterflies and rainbows.And your right about summer classes.I will probably wait and enroll in fall classes so I can take my time and learn the material.

Thanks again,Tina :)

Traveler0202 · Nov 10, 2011

Hi Tina,

If you make up your mind that this is what you want to do and are ready to do the work you can achieve it. As a previous poster said, summer classes are intense so I would recommend doing maybe psychology or sociology in summer as the load is not so heavy. The biggest classes will be A&P and microbiology. Make sure when you take those you can devote about double the class time to study time. If you don't feel on solid ground with chemistry/biology you may want to take those before A&P and microbiology as you would have a much better understanding of the material.

Some classes are also offered online but be aware they usually have a bigger work load.

Don't look at the 'huge pile' of pre-reqs; one semester at a time and things will move along quickly.

Good luck and courage!

jennys77 · Nov 10, 2011

Some of these posts are listing out requirements for a BSN. I would suggest reviewing the different paths: LPN or RN and then doing a bridge program to BSN if interested, or just being an LPN or RN, or going straight to BSN. I feel fairly certain that a variety of these programs are available in or around most major cities. What you need to take as a pre-req depends on the path you choose and the school you choose. For example, someone mentioned taking Chemistry. That was not a pre-req for any of my pre-reqs at the school I go to now, nor is it required at the school I am going to for my BSN, but TWO levels of chemistry are required in other programs I've looked at. And the program that requires the Chemistry is the #3 school in the state whereas the school I will go to is #2. So just because a program requires more or different courses doesn't make it better necessarily. Figure out which path to take, which colleges offer that degree and then compare pre-reqs (and the pre-reqs required first to then take the actual pre-reqs) and compare the timelines. Something else I've seen as an obstacle is SOME colleges will only accept pre-reqs from their own school. And some colleges make you take classes in a certain timeline even if you transfer in. One college was still a 4 year completion for my BSN even though I had pre-reqs because they only allow 1 nursing course at a time. There is a lot to figure out!

Good Luck!