So what questions should I ask?

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2005

When I went back for my BSN one of the schools I went to was a catholic university with a nursing school that had a very fine reputation. Tuition was about what you're looking at. What I found was that the classroom size was smaller, often 20 to 30 students. I had come from a large university where many classes were assembled in lecture halls of 200+ students. The nuns were always available for counsel about our studies or religion. They had a tip top passage rate on boards. Students did drop, but it was because of the cost. The college was very lenient and allowed students to take their time going through the college. The average length people spent getting their BSN was reported to be 7 years.

Some of the things that I never thought about before going to this school were these:

what about inclement weather? Since this school had dormitories where more than half their students lived, some of them were nuns who were in school, the school remained open even when there was a bad snowstorm that closed down the rest of the city. I had one instructor who was not a nun who was not very forgiving that I couldn't make it to class with 2 feet of snow on the ground.

ask about university required classes. In my catholic college we were required to take at least two religion classes. There was no way out of it. I also heard that some private colleges will come up with some odd required classes.

find out where they do their nursing clinicals. You want a broad range of clinical sites, not just one or two hospitals. Are you going to do clinicals in a catholic hospital connected with the school? How do those hours compare to the number of hours the CC program has you do. Be assured that you are not going to be free staff relief for their hospital.

Speaking of requirements, ask if there are any requirements of you to their church. You may be required to perform some community service. You may be required to attend their church services. Check this out so you know up front what is required of you.

Since you are a male (I'm assuming that from your handle), you might want to ask if there are any brothers (the equivalent of a nun who is not a priest) who are nurses. I've honestly never heard of any who were nurses. Most of the brothers were teachers, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any around. Otherwise, you are probably going to find yourself in a sea of estrogen. Nuns are celibate, not sterile. There will be PMS.

Those are just the things I can think of at this time. In general, I think you'll probably get a good education there, especially if there are a lot of nun nurses (that doesn't sound right, does it? :chuckle) At the college level I found a lot of nuns were incredibly patient, helpful, and nurturing to students and not at all like those horrid stories we have all heard about the mean ones in public schools. Many of the novice nun students became great friends although they do have their religious obligations that they must fullfill. You will most likely find yourself getting caught up in the charitable work they do. Are you catholic? If not, you are going to find they are great humanitarians and very giving of their time and resources to the needy.