Single Mom, Back To School?!?!

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Ok so here's my issue. Currently a CCMA (certified clinical medical assistant), fresh out of school (grad Aug 3, '17) and working full time just over 2 months at a primary care practice. Single mom to 3 kids, ages 8, 2 and 6 months. Passion, curiosity curiosity and empathy drive me to pursue nursing but also financial need. It is necessary that I put myself in the position to have an income like that for my children. So I while my mom is telling me to wait a few years, and a small part of me is nagging and nervous and panicking, my gut is saying I can't afford to me keep putting it off.

Which leads me to.....what am I in for? Is this even doable or am I completely insane? Will my experience that I gain as an MA while doing my prereqs actually help me?

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Ok so here's my issue. Currently a CCMA (certified clinical medical assistant), fresh out of school (grad Aug 3, '17) and working full time just over 2 months at a primary care practice. Single mom to 3 kids, ages 8, 2 and 6 months. Passion, curiosity curiosity and empathy drive me to pursue nursing but also financial need. It is necessary that I put myself in the position to have an income like that for my children. So I while my mom is telling me to wait a few years, and a small part of me is nagging and nervous and panicking, my gut is saying I can't afford to me keep putting it off.

Which leads me to.....what am I in for? Is this even doable or am I completely insane? Will my experience that I gain working as an MA while doing my prereqs actually help me?

Nurse and MA don't have much in common beyond taking vital signs. You'll pretty much be starting from scratch.

Since you've got a lot on your plate and nursing programs can be very competitive, you might consider starting now, but starting slow. Take a single prerequisite class to start out with, and focus on making sure you get an A. How you handle that single class will give you an idea of whether you can handle a little (or a lot) more.

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Are you near a community college? Speak to an advisor that can help you map out the classes you'll take. Just jump in head first. Know you'll have to put in what you expect to get out of it. Have fun! I've enjoyed all of my prerequisites thus far.

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Nurse and MA don't have much in common beyond taking vital signs. You'll pretty much be starting from scratch.

My MA program was actually pretty comprehensive and I know the scope of practice can be different by state, but here I was trained in basic phlebotomy, pharmacology, injections, in-house labs, EKG, and assisting in minor office surgeries, on top of vitals/a&p/med term and all of my insurance and office admin classes. And the only one of these skills I don't deal with at my job is venipuncture, because all those are sent out. Everything else I do regularly.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Merged duplicate threads

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If there's a community college near you, you could start working on your prerequisites. I went to a nursing school that offered an evening/weekend program - is that an option in your area?

It all depends on YOU! You sound like a motivated, hard working mom who wants to improve her life. I guess what I want to say is, if you feel ready and you have family/friends around to help with the kids, then GO FOR IT!!!!!!!

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Yes we do have a CC with a nursing prpgram that offers a transfer option to several universities to finish you bachelor's. I think I'm just gonna have to trust my gut, shut out the anxiety, and dive in because I have played the waiting game before and it got me nowhere fast except in a lot of trouble. I need to do this myself and my children í ½í¸Š

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