Texas - Ideas for what program and work while studying

Bob_N_VA · Mar 31, 2011

From what I can gather you need to decide where you think you want to end up and arrange life so you can get there. If you are persuing the masters in ED, then you want to teach. If you want to get into Nursing then I would put that on hold or quit it (unless you are very close to completion) and put your EMT and Spanish speaking skills to work. You could probably land a job in the emergency dept as a tech which puts you back in the hospital environment.

Can't say which programs to look at. I'm in a nights/weekends diploma program that is run by one of the local hospitals. Its 3 years nights, 2 years days. Thats pretty fast in my book. With your background and age, I wouldnt get wrapped around the axle over a BSN degree. The IT related experience is also a big plus. I can't imagine you not finding something in the DFW area that could make use of that mix of skills. But the bottom line should be to narrow your focus and then orient your life around it to make it happen.

ckey01 · Apr 3, 2011

Collin County has a great reputation and a great program (I'm in my first semester there). They also have an EMT - RN bridge program. You can then roll right into the one year RN-BSN program at TWU (which has an agreement with CCCC that let's you get right in).

As for the job, I'm not sure as I work nights in the IT industry, but I do know you can get hired as a PCT at hospitals after your first semester of nursing school.

all4ofus, ASN, RN · Apr 5, 2011

I am in the ADN program thru El Centro (Dallas County). I go to school with a single mother who works 32 hours a week to maintain insurance while going to school with three kids (she's in the hoteling/hospitality industry or something). Another guy has EMT experience, like you, and works as an anesthesiology tech full time (36 hours a week) while he is in school full time. He doesn't have to study as much as the rest of us due to his background. So I know it's manageable, although most of the students only work part-time. Also, one of the instructors told me that El Centro is coordinating with UTA to make it shorter for ADN students from El Centro to enter the RN to BSN program at UTA later on. I currently work as a tech at Parkland part-time while I am school, and have met many, many nurses who bridged from RN to BSN online through UTA. One told me you can do it "with your eyes closed in nine months." Right now I work 12 hours a week and could probably handle 24. El Centro also has a program where if you already work as a tech in a participating hospital, you can do the ADN program online and your time at work counts as clinicals. I don't know any details, since I am in the traditional program, but this sounds ideal if you have to work while in school. I have also met many nursing students who are in the accelerated BSN program at UTA. I think it is a 15 month program. Not sure what your options for work would be in an accelerated program, but if fast is what you want, maybe with your experience you could pull it off. They do all their clinicals at Parkland and even take their tests at Parkland. If you start looking at Dallas County Community College, be aware that El Centro and Brookhaven have separate programs with different pre-reqs, etc. Good luck to you!