School Advice

[mteague10]

I am an early graduate, and now I've reached a dead end.. I'm a very dedicated, hardworking student, hence me graduating early. I had wonderful grades throughout highschool and closing my senior year, I also have a 4.27 GPA. But from what I've been told is that I will not be able to get into a nursing program because I'm not 18 years of age, and I'm sure that's due to liability and insurance.. I've searched and searched for information for the state of Texas, I've tried to see what I can do and so forth.. But nothing! I don't see myself in any other career field, my heart is in Nursing, to help and provide and care for people.. So where does that leave me? I can't sit around. Any guidance on what I could do..

I've reached out to many resources, haven't gotten much of anything. I figured I could do my pre req. and general education courses but that's lead me to a dead end as well.. Help? Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you. (:

[ImLovingIt]

Talk to the schools you are interested in. You will need to take several prerequisite classes, so you will likely be 18 by the time you will be in clinicals.

[BiscuitStripes, BSN, RN]

Most nursing programs require you to take at least a year of prerequisite courses, if not more, prior to even applying to nursing programs. This will likely cover the gap until you're 18. Insurance may be a reason for needing to be 18, but you're not legally an adult. You're going to encounter things in nursing school, such as needles, controlled substances, administering medications, etc., that you cannot legally do until you are an adult.

On a separate note, I admire you drive to continue your education and get your career going; I was the same way with my first career as I now transition into nursing as a second career at almost 30. Just my advice, but slow down. Take your prerequisite courses, do well, and stay driven, but at the same time, enjoy your life. You're young, you're not even 18. You have the rest of your life to work - don't rush into working at such a young age so the remainder of your life revolves around work. Trust me, it might be hard to understand now, but in 15-20 years, you'll be glad you didn't rush and you took time to enjoy your youthful years.

[jfast]

As ImLovingIt alluded to, many times the requirement of being 18 is simply for clinicals. If you join a direct-entry program that does not start clinicals for a year or two, you should be fine. You also could do what you mentioned and work on prereqs for a while first. If you go that route, be sure to have a couple schools in mind and shoot for their prereqs - no point in wasting your time on classes that won't be beneficial.