schooling for RN?

Ahhhh.... if only I knew in Highschool that I wanted to be a nurse... so many years could have been saved! =)

Let me give you some pointers:

First, see if you can join a hospital volunteer program where you can see what Maternity nurses do with their day. You do pretty basic stuff (get pts water, pillows and wheelchair them out the door) but you've got invaluable time where you can talk to RNs about how they like their job. And more importantly... you get to see how comfortable you feel in the Maternity setting. (on a side note... it may look good on your college apps too)

Second, keep up your grades in highschool. Don't freak out too heavily about that SAT, but try and do well. When it comes to nursing, there should be plenty of BRN programs out there... and getting into the basic college program should not be that difficult. Don't worry about ranking colleges... since nursing schools aren't ranked.

Third, apply to 4-yr universities that have nursing programs and find out everything that it entails. Some schools might admit you straight into the nursing program... some will make you do 1-2 years of general education/pre-reqs before starting the program. If you need to apply for the program after 2 years of General Ed... make sure you have your right classes:

1) Intro Biology

2) Intro Chemistry

3) Human Anatomy

4) Human Physiology

5) MicroBiology

6) Intro English

7) Statistics

8) Nutrition

9) Intro Psychology

10) Any of the general "breadth" requirements. Oh... and some programs have some speciality classes like Organic Chem.

As for degrees:

AS and BS degrees are considered more-or-less equals when it comes to bedside nursing. Most MS programs require a BS before admission... and its the Master programs that will send you into management, research, teaching, and advanced practice. My program gives out AS degrees and i'll have to spend extra time with online classes to get my BS later... if you can get the BS right away... i'd go for it. =)

Hi Mollie!

Just wanted to welcome you to All Nurses!! I like to lurk in this forum because I dream of being a nurse in this dept too. Right now I'm a student (and 31 yo wife and mom of 3). I wish I had known at your age! The previous poster gave great info/advice and I'm certain you'll get more here.

Because I need to start getting a paycheck soon, I am going for my ADN (RN) right now and will pursue my BSN later (and possibly even my MSN!) If I were your age, though, I would go as far as possible in my schooling right away. JMHO :)

Make sure you come check out the student nursing forums here too. Good luck to you!

This is very helpful for me also...I am a freshman and wish to do the same as Mollie! Thanks for the advice

If you do a search on the forum, you will find a lot of discussions/fights about BSN versus ADN for nursing. Which way you go will depend on a lot of things.

If all you ever want to do is bedside nursing, or if you feel the need to get out of school as quickly as you can, then get your ADN. However, since you are still in high school, my advice would be to start working on your BSN after high school. Here's my reasoning. You are young. I admire your determination in what you want to do, and strongly encourage you to persue a nursing career. (Wish I'd been that focused in high school.) Maternity nursing can be a very attractive, not to mention rewarding way to go in nursing. However, there are literally thousands of ways to be a nurse.

If you get your ADN, you will have pretty much limited yourself to bedside nursing. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you may later want to stretch yourself. Who knows, perhaps you will so love maternity nursing you will decide to become a Certified Nurse Midwife, which requires a Master's Degree. Or, perhaps you will make the decision I made (shameless plug) and decide to become a Nurse Anesthetist. Then you can put the epidurals into laboring women. I'm just about everybody's best friend in OB.

In any event, perhaps you will decide that bedside nursing is what you want to do for the rest of your life, and that would be admirable. However, when you are so young, don't limit yourself.

Kevin McHugh, CRNA

Hello and welcome. Like the others have said, "I wish I knew I wanted to be a nurse in high school..." Seriously, congrats on already having the goal of a nurse in mind. I'm in an ADN program and it is extremely FAST PACED. If you really need to be out and working in a short time (it's also much cheaper), go this route to start. But since you're young and have time, I'd say get your BSN. Live on campus, go to football games, meet people, enjoy your summers off. Going away to a 4 year school is a dream for many people. I screwed it up once. If you have that opportunity, take it. My advice is strictly growth and life-learning experience-oriented, not which degree is better. Good Luck!

What schooling do I need to get my RN license? I a sophomore in high school and am very interested in maternity nursing. Should I go to a 4-yr college? I would like to get the university experience but I've heard that if you get your BSN you won't get to work with patients anymore, just be like a director of nursing..so if you could tell where/what I should do to become a RN I would love it!! Thanks, Mollie

Mollie-

I totally agree with kmchugh, with an ADN your options may be limited. I am currently pursuing my BSN and will graduate in May 2005. I am happy that I have done it and it has taken a lot of work as well as sacrifice. I am 30 married and have a child and live 25 miles from my college. But, the opportunities that will be available to me in the future are outstanding. I may decide to go on for my MSN or I may be happy with bedside nursing, at least I know that I have the option.

So, I would encourage you to pursue your BSN, you are young and have so much to look forward too. College at a 4-year university can be a great experience. You can also opt to get your first 2 years at a community college and attend an actual College of Nursing. This is what I did. My college of nursing is small and intimate in its setting. It only has one program of study, BSN. I find it much easier to be focused on my studies and with the limited class size (40), I find the support for the faculty and other students fantastic.

Well, I have done enough preaching, sorry! Hope it helped though.

thanks for all your help... I am involved in a Volunteer program and have been working in maternity! i used to think i wanted to be a pediatric icu nurse but i really love maternity. I will now go to a 4-yr college and am looking at Ball State in Muncie, IN as they have an on-campus hospital and I have family there. Thanks again- Mollie

Go for Ball State in live in Indiana...All the people that I know that have gone there have loved it!! Good Luck to you!!