Questions questions questions.

[jenniferkelly]

Hello everyone. I am new here. I have been seriously considering starting college for nursing in May. I am hoping all goes according to plan, but I am still a whole lot.. lost. The college I want to go to is a community college, and I just have to ask if that is going to have any effect on my career as a nurse if I decide to pursue it? Is it better for me to try to go to a University? The college I have in mind has a good nursing program, I am familiar with the school/area, and think I would feel comfortable there. Also, when people say they got accepted in their nursing program, are they suggesting that only certain applicants get into the program, or is that just for Universities and colleges that are just for nursing? what I am asking is, is there a chance I might not "get accepted" or get into the nursing program at the community college?

There are so many different types or nurses, and I just want to know if LPN is above or below RN. Or are they the same? Im not exactly sure what it is I want to go for, what kind of nurse and all that other stuff. I think Ill decide on that later on.

I really want to have a good future and I know that if I were to be a nurse, I would indeed have one. I understand I could go anywhere in the world and work, although I will probably choose to stay close to home. I havent even started college, I know I have a long way to go. But I am excited and I think about it every day, hoping that my plan to start college in May will work out like I want it to. sorry if these questions don't make any sense, but I just don't really know much, but I am very interested. any advice or comments are greatly appreciated and I thank anyone who replies. :)

-Jen

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Jennifer,

I moved your post to the Nursing Career Advice Forum so you get more responses. I can tell you that in most areas it can be tough to get accepted to any nursing program. Even community college applicants are frequently career changers who may have previous four-year degrees (or graduate degrees) and high GPA's. One of the issues is that there is a shortage of nursing faculty, so that impacts the number of seats available in many programs.

As far as whether it's better to pursue an ADN or BSN, there are advantages and disadvantages to each, but I can tell you that I work alongside many nurses and the vast majority of the time I have no idea which nurse holds which degree. It's not something that really comes up.

[Jules A, MSN]

Hi,

I would call the schools because they will be able to answer most of your questions. If you are sure you want to be a nurse and can get into a RN program I would go that route. Sadly LPNs are way below RNs on the food chain, I am one so I'm not judging, just adding my personal experience. Since most LPN programs are only a year long getting your LPN is a good choice if you can't get into a RN program, aren't sure you want to be a nurse or need a decent income while finishing school. It seems that some facilities/specialties prefer BSN but not all and for the most part whether you graduated from a CC or university if you have your RN I don't think its not a huge difference.

Hopefully others will write with their experiences. Jules