Trade School vs. Community College

I would rather have a nurse caring for me who knows her drug calculations and pathophys than someone who just learns how to do things by rote.

Community Colleges are accredited, many (but not all trade schools are not accredited.

Tazzi is right. I would suggest you look for the best route to becoming a nurse, not the easiest.

A low number of prereqs should be red flag with respect to the quality of education you will get.

From what I know, trade of vocational schools train Licensed Practical Nurses, not Registered Nurses. Also, at least in my neck of the woods, an LPN that attended a vocational school wished to further their education to become an RN would have to take college level pre-requisites before being accepted into the RN program. Again, this is where I live, which may not be the same for everyone.

Pagan, she's talking about bridging to RN. Bridges assume that you know your stuff.

Pagan, she's talking about bridging to RN. Bridges assume that you know your stuff.

Okay, but just curious...if you graduated from a vocational school, and then bridged to an RN program, does this mean that the college level pre-requisites (especially in the sciences) is now nul and void? I guess that each state has their own thing going on. But, that would confuse me, I think, because then, it looks like a part of the RN training has then been omitted?

At my school , local community college, LPN's who were accreditted thru a different school wishing to bridge to RN MUST complete the pre-reqs and co-reqs if they dont have eligible transfer credits for the AAS-ADN. But they do have the option of testing then "clepping" out of some of the classes for example I have a friend who is an LPN trying to get accepted into the bridge program and I know for certain she did this with her general psych credit.

The best idea I think is to do some research school be school and remember the old adage buyer beware...we often get what we settle for ...at least with the community college you earn transferable credit hours and they would have the accreditation as a BIG positive!

At my school , local community college, LPN's who were accreditted thru a different school wishing to bridge to RN MUST complete the pre-reqs and co-reqs if they dont have eligible transfer credits for the AAS-ADN. But they do have the option of testing then "clepping" out of some of the classes for example I have a friend who is an LPN trying to get accepted into the bridge program and I know for certain she did this with her general psych credit.

The best idea I think is to do some research school be school and remember the old adage buyer beware...we often get what we settle for ...at least with the community college you earn transferable credit hours and they would have the accreditation as a BIG positive!

This is what I know, also. Pre and Co-requisites must be completed. Reading around, I am seeing different, I suppose, but in my area, as a rule, they have to be done. Yes, I know many that Clep out, if the school allows the option.

In response to the comment the Op made about some indviduals not being able to afford the cost- in my state we have a Welfare to Work program aimed at single mothers who need a trade.The PN program is one option they are given as far as schooling. The state pays for everything! While I give kudos for giving a helping hand up, there has been a lot of talk at area hospitals about the quality of these tech program grads. It has nothing to do with the program itself. The fact that many of these woman have no interest whatsoever in the nursing profession is a complaint heard from hosp. to hosp. They are given options of "careers" and the pn program is really pushed. I feel you have to have passion about what you do in life. And being a nurse requires a passion for patient care and sooo much more. I really don't want a nurse caring for my 84 year old grandmother who chose to be a nurse because auto-mechanics wasn't her cup of tea!

In response to the comment the Op made about some indviduals not being able to afford the cost- in my state we have a Welfare to Work program aimed at single mothers who need a trade.The PN program is one option they are given as far as schooling. The state pays for everything! While I give kudos for giving a helping hand up, there has been a lot of talk at area hospitals about the quality of these tech program grads. It has nothing to do with the program itself. The fact that many of these woman have no interest whatsoever in the nursing profession is a complaint heard from hosp. to hosp. They are given options of "careers" and the pn program is really pushed. I feel you have to have passion about what you do in life. And being a nurse requires a passion for patient care and sooo much more. I really don't want a nurse caring for my 84 year old grandmother who chose to be a nurse because auto-mechanics wasn't her cup of tea!

I can agree with that. Who wants a nurse who decided on this career path because there was nothing else available? This is almost the same as hiring home health aides to care for people at their homes in the most vulnerable time in their lives.

I remember one story where a bedridden woman had a home health aide who may have been with her 24 hours, or at best, at least 12 hours. No family members were around, so, what happened was that this lady emptied out her patient's accounts and rented her rooms to total strangers! Now, how horrible is that???

These sorts of things show me that the interest is not really in the patients, but the money. It's shameful, really.

and remember the old adage buyer beware...we often get what we settle for ...at least with the community college you earn transferable credit hours and they would have the accreditation as a BIG positive!

I couldn't agree more.

I know prereqs can be a pain, and I am well aware of difficult it is to gain entrance to community college programs - but if it is at all possible I strongly feel that going with an accredited program where one can earn transferable credit is a preferable path.

You can never be certain what you will want to do next. What if you want an MSN at some point? Taking A&P and Stats1 at that point would really be a bummer.

And it kinda bothers me that trade schools charge a lot. If they charge so much why cant they offer transferable credit. Some of them really take advantage of students - saddling them with debt and no way to transfer. Not good IMO.