Should I take chemistry just too impress?

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My college has a prenursing major and all i will need to have to complete it is chemistry 1 and 2. The ADN/BSN schools here do not require chemistry (I checked). Would a potential employer give me an extra nod if i had the total prenursing background along with my ADN/RN? Especially If i had high grads in prenursing? Or should I use my money to take something else like first aid or medical terminology? Is prenursing even really a major?

thanks.

I think most people can agree that chem is just about the hardest pre-req, that being said you are certain to hurt your GPA by taking it if you dont need it.

Not that its hard because the material is difficult it just comes at you very fast and in huge quantities, plus the amount of work needed for those dang lab reports, I spent at least 4 hours a week in carbon paper.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/DOU/Ortho/Onc/Rehab/ER/.
Chem has not been a a prerequisite for any of my science classes and I cant say that it has hurt me much.. The small amount of chem we've touched on in these classes is simple! I think General Biology should be a prerequsite to A/P though.

How is general biology not a pre-req to a&p???? Neither is chemistry???

So basically you can just walk in to a&p with no prior science experience????

Wow you have it good. Basic biology AND chemistry is a pre-req to both physiology AND microbiology...

Where do you go to school?

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Specializes in Med-Surg/DOU/Ortho/Onc/Rehab/ER/.
I think most people can agree that chem is just about the hardest pre-req, that being said you are certain to hurt your GPA by taking it if you dont need it.

Not that its hard because the material is difficult it just comes at you very fast and in huge quantities, plus the amount of work needed for those dang lab reports, I spent at least 4 hours a week in carbon paper.

Why does everyone see chemistry as the hardest?

Hmm I though that perhaps advanced physiology or something would be the hardest? No?

LOL...I think that besides basic biology, chemistry was the second easiest

My guess is why people think that its the hardest is that its a lot of math...and that is a tough subject for a lot of the student body...

I kinda thought the labs were fun.... the lab reports, not a big deal, I did them in advanced biology, physical chemistry and calculus-based physics, I guess I am just used to them?

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Specializes in School Nursing.
How is general biology not a pre-req to a&p???? Neither is chemistry???

So basically you can just walk in to a&p with no prior science experience????

Wow you have it good. Basic biology AND chemistry is a pre-req to both physiology AND microbiology...

Where do you go to school?

Yep and many people do and struggle big time! I took general biology 1 & 2 for my AA and I can honestly say it helped quite a bit! So far the only science prerequisite for another science has been AP1 before microbiology.. you can also take the sciences in any order.. bio 2 before 1 or A/P 2 before 1.. why people do that I'll never understand but many do! I go to school at San Jacinto College in Houston, TX. It's considered one of the best community colleges around (and we have a lot!) but I really think they like banking on people repeating classes! lol

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I did Bio>MicroBio>A&P1>A&P2>Chem1

My chemistry was pass/fail, not too difficult. Everything else I had to get an A in.... A&P1 was the hardest pre req class.

The only pre reqs were bio before a&P

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Specializes in Med-Surg/DOU/Ortho/Onc/Rehab/ER/.
Yep and many people do and struggle big time! I took general biology 1 & 2 for my AA and I can honestly say it helped quite a bit! So far the only science prerequisite for another science has been AP1 before microbiology.. you can also take the sciences in any order.. bio 2 before 1 or A/P 2 before 1.. why people do that I'll never understand but many do! I go to school at San Jacinto College in Houston, TX. It's considered one of the best community colleges around (and we have a lot!) but I really think they like banking on people repeating classes! lol

Interesting, maybe California is different? Lol

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Why does everyone see chemistry as the hardest?

Hmm I though that perhaps advanced physiology or something would be the hardest? No?

LOL...I think that besides basic biology, chemistry was the second easiest

My guess is why people think that its the hardest is that its a lot of math...and that is a tough subject for a lot of the student body...

I kinda thought the labs were fun.... the lab reports, not a big deal, I did them in advanced biology, physical chemistry and calculus-based physics, I guess I am just used to them?

You mention P-Chem; however, there is not a nursing programme in existence (the United States that I know of) that requires P-Chem. This course is typical for Chem majors that have several semesters of calculus and analytical geometry (at least some vector calculus), a year of physics and a year of Gen Chem along with O-Chem. Talking about said coursework is not all that relevant in the context of an entry level nursing programme.

In addition, nurses are typically not required to take "advanced" physiology; however, when talking about linear combinations of wave functions, Dirac notation and working with operators, I would think P-Chem would be quite challenging. However, this discussion is still not relevant in the context of a nursing student,

Taking nursing school into proper context, I can see how prospective students would find chemistry difficult.

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You mention P-Chem; however, there is not a nursing programme in existence (the United States that I know of) that requires P-Chem. This course is typical for Chem majors that have several semesters of calculus and analytical geometry (at least some vector calculus), a year of physics and a year of Gen Chem along with O-Chem. Talking about said coursework is not all that relevant in the context of an entry level nursing programme.

In addition, nurses are typically not required to take "advanced" physiology; however, when talking about linear combinations of wave functions, Dirac notation and working with operators, I would think P-Chem would be quite challenging. However, this discussion is still not relevant in the context of a nursing student,

Taking nursing school into proper context, I can see how prospective students would find chemistry difficult.

Beachbedhead never stated that p-chem was required for nursing school; she was a biotechnology/pre-pharmacy major earlier in her college career.

Her statement regarding advanced coursework was probably made to support her statement of, "I kinda thought the labs were fun," where she went on to mention a few of the lab courses she actually took.

There are many comments, discussions, etc. that are made that really aren't too relevant to the nursing student or nurse. However, beachbedhead was just sharing info. about her background. At least that's my understanding.

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I have no issues with that, but she is speaking from her experience and not from the experience of many of the prospective nursing students who do not have the benefit of "hard" science coursework under their belt. I would imagine she would find a survey chemistry for nurses class exceeding easy, but a prospective nursing student who may or may not have even had high school chemisty would have a very different way of interpreting the level of difficult regarding the same course.

That is all I was really trying to say.

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Ok, I understand...really, I do. I also have a background in the "hard sciences," which skews my perception of how difficult these science classes may be for someone with a different background and therefore find difficulty in understanding what all the fuss is about regarding the science classes that prospective nursing students are required to take.

I tend to forget how diverse our backgrounds truly are here on AN.

Thanks, though, for kind of giving me something of a reality check. This is meant sincerely, because I really do forget.

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No problem and I by no means want to minimalise what you guys have done. I imagine after taking so much chemistry the mundane problems of basic stoichiometry that plague nursing students are childs play for somebody who thinks P-Chem is easy.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/DOU/Ortho/Onc/Rehab/ER/.

Luckily my p chem teacher was very funny and enthusiastic. Anyway, both of you are right. I was just revealing that nursing prereqs are easy for science people. Lol but the thing is I notice that lot of pre nursing students have trouble because, imo it takes certain a person to fly through the pre reqs as easily as some of us science people did. And us science people got lucky. But I know a lot of people who are not good at science or math and they work their butt off and those are the people that you know will be great.

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