thinking about going for my nursing degree.... any suggestions

[V9611]

I have worked at RI hospital as a cna for 1 year, I am thinking about going for my nursing degree. My problem is that i have young children at home, my youngest starts kindergarten (half day) this sept. I believe ri hospital has a re-embersment program for education, but I haven't yet looked into it. I am interested in taking some of my pre-req's now, maybe one or two at a time.... I am 30 and I know that this will probably take a few years to do, but If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know. (ccri, st. joes, ric.????)

[TRR8021]

CCRI might offer more flexibility for you. I believe they have a weekend program, but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe a CCRI student can speak to that. I go to RIC and they have a great program but there isn't much flexibility in the schedule. For instance, I work days and clinicals are generally 7-3. I have to miss a whole day of work to go. I wish that they had evening clinicals but I've only seen evening clinicals for maternity. However, I manage work and school by taking one class per semester. It's worked out for me and I'm happy with the program.

I would definitely take advantage of the tuition reimbursment program at you job. That helps out a lot.

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

As a student who has been involved in both CCRI and RIC's Nursing Programs (currently a senior at RIC) and a CNA working for RIH/HCH I think that its really great you are looking into going back to school. I would suggest that you look into CCRI's program because it will offer you the flexibility that you need with your current schedule and living situation. Once you graduate with your ADN from CCRI you can begin looking at your options for returning to school for your BSN if you should so choose (recommended but not mandatory). Let us know how it goes!

!Chris