"It shouldn't be that hard to be a nurse"

[SharonH, RN]

Competition tough for nursing school

Earning a spot in nursing school can be tough, even in the midst of a nursing shortage.

Just ask Georgia State University student Rachel Edmundson, who has failed three times to win entry to GSU's program despite carrying a 3.29 GPA.

"I don't think it should be that hard" to become a nurse, the 21-year-old said over a chilled coffee drink near the GSU campus.

Interesting. I am sure that some of our pre-nursing and current nursing students may agree but after 16 years in this business, I am convinced that it should be that hard. Nursing is a tough field which requires smart, fast-thinking people. If there is a bright side to the nursing shortage, it's that nursing schools are forced to accept the highest quality students. And raising our standards isn't a bad thing IMO especially since people's lives rely on our skills.

Here's a little gem from her daddy:

We're not talking about medical school, we're talking about nursing school," her father, Chuck Edmundson, said

Yeah, it's only nurses and everyone knows you don't need to be that smart because after all our work isn't that critical, not like a doctor.

[luquacious]

Hi this is my first post and I must say I was very prompted to write. I too am a new nursing student and I am very upset with how my school has handled the acceptance of students. The requirements are 21 on your ACT and a GPA of 3.0 or better. There are many of us who attained these requirements and exceeded them, however there were many that did not and were also excepted. I can't tell you how angry some of us were. Why set the bar high and then lower it so that you can fill your available slots. I am sorry for saying this but if these women couldn't make the grade with their gen. eds. what makes them think that they are going to be able to make the grade in the nursing program. I guess I am so upset because I am 41 year old student, with much going on in my life, (including a new baby). I haven't been to school in years and worked really hard to meet the schools criteria, only to find out that you really don't have to work so hard. I will not drop my standards because of this, but it just doesn't seem right that this is how it is.

By the way, I go to a very expensive private school with an elite nursing program and if they are lowering their standards as to who gets in, then what are other schools producing? This concerns me greatly.

Please don't think me prideful; if I come off this way I am sorry. I just needed to vent somewhere safe. As one of the rules for nursing school states, "don't talk about anyone (or anything while in school) rumors start quickly"

Thanks for listening

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

By the way, I go to a very expensive private school with an elite nursing program and if they are lowering their standards as to who gets in, then what are other schools producing? This concerns me greatly.

Please don't think me prideful; if I come off this way I am sorry. I just needed to vent somewhere safe. As one of the rules for nursing school states, "don't talk about anyone (or anything while in school) rumors start quickly"

Thanks for listening

It's a good thing you aren't lowering your standards, because it doesn't really matter what they teach as long as the school's accredited, or how hard it is to get in (or not). Bottom line is, did you fulfill your educational requirements satisfactorily and can you pass the NCLEX?

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

I only got through the first few pages before skipping to the end.

you know what?

It SHOULDN'T be so hard to be accepted into a nursing program.

Many highly qualified potential students are turned away for the simple reason of an inadequate number of spots.

Why?

Not enough qualified instructors. Nurse educators are often grossly overpaid. If I would go and get an MSN focused on education, I would then be qualified to take a position likely to pay me $20,000 per year less.

Address the pay inequity of educators, and you'll address the shortage of qualified instructors, and address the nursing shortage itself.

Should training be Rigorous? YES

Should it be this hard to get into a program? NO

[LydiaNN]

I wonder how it is they focused on this girl. There are students with much higher GPAs (and, one would imagine, fathers that aren't so moronic) that can't get in to nursing school. Bewailing the problems of someone with a GPA that wouldn't even earn her honorable mention on the Dean's List at a lot of schools doesn't highlight how challenging it truly is very well.

[Raeth]

Hi this is my first post and I must say I was very prompted to write. I too am a new nursing student and I am very upset with how my school has handled the acceptance of students. The requirements are 21 on your ACT and a GPA of 3.0 or better. There are many of us who attained these requirements and exceeded them, however there were many that did not and were also excepted. I can't tell you how angry some of us were. Why set the bar high and then lower it so that you can fill your available slots. I am sorry for saying this but if these women couldn't make the grade with their gen. eds. what makes them think that they are going to be able to make the grade in the nursing program. I guess I am so upset because I am 41 year old student, with much going on in my life, (including a new baby). I haven't been to school in years and worked really hard to meet the schools criteria, only to find out that you really don't have to work so hard. I will not drop my standards because of this, but it just doesn't seem right that this is how it is.

By the way, I go to a very expensive private school with an elite nursing program and if they are lowering their standards as to who gets in, then what are other schools producing? This concerns me greatly.

Please don't think me prideful; if I come off this way I am sorry. I just needed to vent somewhere safe. As one of the rules for nursing school states, "don't talk about anyone (or anything while in school) rumors start quickly"

Thanks for listening

Congrats on getting in!

I guess I can understand your frustration, but on the other had it's just good that you're in. Very likely the reason your school lowered the standards to fill spots is because many people probably don't want to pay to go to a "very expensive private school" for nursing. I'm not saying there aren't benefits, but I am in my first quarter of clinicals at the community college and we share clincal sites with the nursing students from the private school that costs about 10X as much.

[MB37]

While reading this thread, I remembered an ex of mine from several years ago who had recently finished his RN. He told me all about his school experiences, and about the grading scale - this was the first I'd ever heard of this 76% for a C idea. I thought for a second, then realized how much sense it made - NS shouldn't be easy, and we should want our nurses to know at least 3/4 of the material. I know that's slightly off topic, but it seemed to fit here.

This girl needs to perhaps look into other options. A 3.29 shouldn't preclude you from ever becoming a nurse, but you should do your research and find out which programs in your area will accept you with those grades. There are many ways to become a nurse, as we all know, and she could try a CC and do a bridge or finish a different degree like others have on this site and apply to an ABSN program. I'm at the same school as others who've posted above, and this year we needed a 3.5 for the ABSN. Regular upper division admission is higher - 3.7-3.8 range usually, because those people have fewer credits and haven't taken a lot of upper level classes (or at least their competition hasn't).

[nrs2b07]

I am a recent grad nurse. I worked extremely hard to make it through my nursing program. But I feel that nursing should be "hard". You have to use your skills and knowledge in order to provide good patient care and if one of my family members or friends were in the hospital I would want that nurse to be very confident and competent in what she does.

[catzy5]

I wonder how it is they focused on this girl. There are students with much higher GPAs (and, one would imagine, fathers that aren't so moronic) that can't get in to nursing school. Bewailing the problems of someone with a GPA that wouldn't even earn her honorable mention on the Dean's List at a lot of schools doesn't highlight how challenging it truly is very well.

This was such an interesting thread I just read it all top to bottom. I am a 39 year old mother of 3. I have one week left on my pre requisites, I go to a very small school in an area very much lacking in hospitals and schools. My school accepts on GPA and 2 lottery spots no wait in the fall they take 12 students yup only 12 and in the spring 24. I can't apply until the fall they are very very strict academically and I will have a 4.0 GPA I am not a good student at all, infact I barely even graduated high school, what I am is a hard worker and I want this very bad so have been working my butt off for 3 years trying to get here. If they had had other requirements instead of GPA I would have focused on that but here its GPA the cut off this fall was 3.89 I fear by the spring they will be turning 4.0 gpa's away.

I agree GPA does not equate with a good nurse, there are programs that have other requirements, there is a school near me with a wait but its 3 years (no time at 39 to mess with that) there is a university just started doing nursing but I don't have all the BSN pre reqs yet and they base criteria on points, work experience, testing and GPA. So my point is its not all cut and dry, yes there is a shortage on instructors, clinical locations (in my area) and funds. However its not impossible to get in, if whats not working at one school to get you in, you try another, its hard frustrating and has made me a little more then crazy at times. I do think I will be a better nurse for it though, I have worked extremely hard, I have even given up for a semester but I have realized its what I really really want and I will do what it takes to get there and for me it means working and studying harder then I have ever done in my entire life. And hey guess what its working.

[jlv1971precious]

I really despise people who make comments like those her father made. Nursing is a profession, one which I work my butt off to provide quality care to my patients. Some people just don't get the fact that we are the eyes and ears for these "exalted" doctors, and without us, they couldn't function. I work in a teaching hospital, so my residents listen to me when I tell them I need certain things, and it's just as much my job to teach them as it is the attending physician. Matter of fact, I see the residents more than the attending. Hmm, maybe I need to discuss teaching fees with the hospital ;

[luvpeplrn]

Why should it be that hard? I feel that you should be able to get into a school if the proper prerequisites are met, and let the school decide if you are "smart" enough to become a nurse, there is a lot more to becoming a nurse that just getting into school! The Boards have something to do with it as well.