Science courses for Nursing

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hi all,

I am pursuing a career change and thought Nursing was the career for me. (I already have a bachelor's degree however have no previous science courses besides nutrition) I had planned on starting Anatomy and Physiology I this summer at a community college, however there was a change in plans. I went to my first class yesterday and had no idea (not even a clue) what the instructor was talking about. He said we were expected to know certain things already( about cells etc...), and it was very discouraging. I ended up dropping the class to see if there was another science course I could take to help prepare me for this class.

Is there anyone out there who has made a career change and went back for nursing without a strong science background? Any advice would be very helpful and appreciated. I had my heart set on nursing, but now hesitating because of my lack of science courses.

Yeah, Chem is the last class I am taking as welll but it is good to take if someone has never take it. Some nursing schools require chem but not all do.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

Oh yeah- I only took it because I absolutely had to for my program. I HATED that class.

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thanks for all the input! It is very much appreciated! What entry course would everyone suggest? I can either take Human Biology or an entry level A&P course where you learn the basics before jumping into A&P1? I am starting to gain confidence back that I can do this no matter what my background is in!!

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Take human biology, it'll give you the basics.

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

I just finished two semesters of A&P (I and II) both with an "A"...and I never took chemistry. I did take Human Biology years ago. But that was not a pre-req for A&P and I doubt it helped me any, but maybe it did and I just don't realize it. It was not a pre-req for A&P at my college.

I can tell you that there were many times in lecture (and lab, for that matter) that I had no idea what my teacher was talking about. I panicked the first time that happened, but I refused to drop the class. I later saw that the learning was not going to take place during lecture, but rather at home when I sorted it out, organized it in a way that was helpful for me and studied it. I almost always felt like I didn't know anything, but I'd go home and figure it out and do very well on the tests. This was different from my experiences in non-science/non-math classes where I never had that totally lost feeling. I had to get used to being out of my comfort zone and being rather unsure of myself. I tell you that, just to suggest, that others might have been feeling a similar way as you.

Also, the teacher makes a huge difference. Some are very willing to help you succeed. With others, you are on your own. I had a really good teacher for A&P. What I mean by good is that she wasn't going to give anyone an easy A, but she loved teaching and if you worked hard she was right there to help you. Again, that makes a big difference.

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All you need is the ability to learn.

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I would also recommend a Intro to Biology, the (Health Chemistry) if offered in your area is great course as well. The students were taught basic formulas for nursing sort of a jump ahead. In Ny we are required to have Micro Biology as well and AnP...so many sciences but so helpful. Good Luck! =)

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thanks! I am in NY as well, so looking for the best entry level course(whether human bio or beginners a&p) that would be best for A&P1, A&P2 and micro.

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Our school had a 5 credit course that was Cell Biology for Health Majors. It was an intensive course (quarter long), and it was a requirement before you started A & P. There was two chapters of chem, and the rest was cell biology.

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If I were you I would take both Human biology + intro to A&P (since you don't have any science background), but if you're only willing to take one class then take Human Biology. That's the one that's going to help you the most to learn about cell structure and function. Chemistry was the last pre-req I took before being accepted to nursing school, and it was very helpful cause I learned a lot about the calculations I needed to know for pharmacology, but I don't see how could it be beneficial or a pre-req for A&P...

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Specializes in School Nursing.

I'm thinking human bio and intro to A&P are very similar classes.. the intro A&P class probably prepares you for everything they will expect you to already know in A&P. I'd probably take that route, if I were you. I'm not a huge fan of taking a bunch of unnecessary classes- and I think if you took both it would be one just basically teaching you the same thing the other did (waste of time and money)- so pick one and jump in, both will probably prepare you well.

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I'm thinking human bio and intro to A&P are very similar classes.. the intro A&P class probably prepares you for everything they will expect you to already know in A&P. I'd probably take that route, if I were you. I'm not a huge fan of taking a bunch of unnecessary classes- and I think if you took both it would be one just basically teaching you the same thing the other did (waste of time and money)- so pick one and jump in, both will probably prepare you well.

I was going to recommend the same as moonchild86. (Thanks for typing that all up for me!)

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