The cost to get started, geez!

[butrfli]

I was looking over the required and recommended textbooks for nursing and have counted 22 in all for the duration of school! I still have to get my titers for Varicella, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Hep B, plus get my tetenus, meningitis, and TB shots! I also need to get CPR certified and purchase medical insurance. Needless to say, being a new student for Fall 08, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the expense of it all. I don't have health insurance and I was told that health clinics don't run titer tests. Each titer test can be quite costly! Thank God I have several months ahead to get everything I need but I'm still worried about how much this will cost me. This doesn't include my steth, scrubs, nursing pack, and anything else needed. How do you manage this without going broke. I live on student loans and grants. Any suggestions or info would be helpful.

Thanks.

[2bnursenikki82]

The good news is you won't buy all your textbooks at once...the bad news is that if you're anything like me you'll buy at least one NCLEX book per semester, various study guides and any other book about nursing you can get your hands on!

[sneakymom2011]

>

Here's an idea- though I don't know if you've looked into it or not.

Is there any way that you could put an ad for child care over in your college's career center? And ask if there's someone who has later classes than you (maybe a child development/teaching student) who wants some extra money, and is willing to get up in the morning?

Ugh, we have the early mornings too. For the 1st 8 weeks, class is 8:30-2:30. Then we may have evening clincals, those would run until 8:30pm. But, we do have the 6:30am clinicals too. But I won't have those for a while.

My kids have gotten off in the mornings before, but I've been home to wake them up. Should prove interesting if they have to get up, make lunches etc and neither me or dh are home.

My youngest will be in middle school by then, so she can walk. The middle school is right behind our house. Heaven help the oldest if she misses the bus to high school, she can't exactly walk there.

Oh, and as far as the books- it wasn't the cost of the books that "freaked" dh out. It was the SIZE of them, my intro to nursing and Pharmacology books are both over 1000 pages.

[Testa Rosa, RN]

LOL! Are all nursing books cinder block size/weight? And it's not like you can carry them around with you for when you have a moment to study. Plus, at my school, lectures don't come just out of one book--the theory teacher often pulls lectures from the Fundamentals, Med-Surg, Infants & Children and Healthy Aging books....so it's not like you can just dash out the door with one of your books and try to study for next lecture during a quiet moment running errands. My MDF bookshelf is sagging.

Good idea on the child care thing. My college is at a small extension campus, but I will try listing for childcare at the local high school and the community college. I really need to cultivate sitters--if anything to have someone to call when I need study time. My first semester of nursing school was too hard on the whole family because of this. And each semester is suposed to ramp up.

Also, my nursing school buddy offered to help me out--her AM clinical is M-W, mine is T-Th....but it's not like she has lots of time on her hands. I will take her up on her offer if DH needs to go on a business trip.

Happy holidays everyone!

[1ready2Bnurse]

Hello...the cost is getting me too!! I an in an accelerated 14 month BSN/RN program. The total tuition for the program is $28,000, yes $28,000. I just bought the books to start and that was $1200, then there are the required uniforms, some for this hospital some for others, some for community some for clinicals. Then the shoes, the this, the that, its neverending!! I am going to be in debt so far when I am done. Everyone says it will be worth it and I will make a lot of $, hope so because I got a lot to repay.