24, want to become a nurse, best route

[Jbc15]

Hi!

So I'm wondering what options I have. Nursing attracts me for a number of reasons: the people you meet, the satisfaction of healing and making a positive difference, etc. I'm 24, and I have a BA from UC Berkeley in history. When I was 18, I was serious about becoming an academic, then wised up (sort of) at 20 and went the law school route out of thinking I had no other options, which is the worst possible reason to go to law school. I graduated with a 3.8 and got into the law school at the University of Texas, but left after one semester. I wasn't kicked out, but decided to fold my cards, because law firms just care about your first-year class ranking, and in this legal market my chances of a decent job were zero. But also, I simply wasn't into law. I'd go walking in a park near my apartment, and would see nurses from a nearby hospital taking breaks. I'd be terribly stressed about law school, and always thought to myself, "Wow, how I envy nurses. They deal with plenty of stress and disappointment, too, but at least they're secure in the knowledge that the world values their profession, and it's not terribly difficult to find work compared to lawyers." Of course, I had thought of becoming a nurse even before I started law school.

I've enrolled at a couple community colleges and will start my prereqs in the summer. But after the train wreck of law school, I don't want to be reckless. There's no guarantee that I'll do well in my prereqs, but that doesn't mean they aren't worth a try. The prereqs, though, are beside the point: besides an accelerated BSN, which routes should I consider? Becoming an LVN? How does one do that? Is it realistic to assume I'd get work as an LVN that could serve as a launch pad for a BSN?

Some more data: I live in Southern California's Inland Empire. I'm Hispanic and male, fluent in Spanish and Russian. I've lived in Russia.

You all have the right to be skeptical, since I dropped out of law school and don't have a science background, but since I haven't burned my nursing bridges yet, what would you all suggest doing?

Thanks!

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Shadow a nurse that is the best place to start. You'll see whether nursing is for you. You gotta love nursing if you wanna step this path.

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This is an unrealistic goal with the current legal environment and HIPAA laws. Nobody is going to grant a curious stranger access to private health information and sick individuals so that person can figure out whether or not they want to be a nurse.

OP, you are asking yourself all the right questions and seem to have a good head on your shoulders. If you decide to pursue nursing I think you will find, like all careers, it has its glory and its gore, so to speak. You definitely seem from your brief post here to have the self insight and intelligence it takes to make it. I wish you well in your decision.

[estrellaCR, BSN, RN]

I forgot to add...the Accelerated in Accelerated BSN...means that students already have a Bachelor's degree in another major and so they are "fast track" straight into nursing classes and clinicals. Generic BSN students still have to finish their history, english, political science and all those liberal arts classes along with nursing classes. So ABSN students in a quality ABSN program do NOT "speed" thru nursing classes and clinicals...they have same number clinical hours and same nursing classes as generic BSN students. The only way ABSN students "speed" is by bypassing liberal arts classes that all colleges require, as they have already completed these liberal arts classes in their previous Bachelors in something else degree.

[~Shrek~]

I wouldn't go into nursing, but who am I to tell you what to do?

I am incredibly disappointed with where nursing has taken me.

I wish I could explain here but in nursing I feel like you end up becoming like a technician. An overworked and exhausted technician. The push is for a BSN but in reality it's dirty, technical work.

[bsnprg]

This is an unrealistic goal with the current legal environment and HIPAA laws. Nobody is going to grant a curious stranger access to private health information and sick individuals so that person can figure out whether or not they want to be a nurse.

OP, you are asking yourself all the right questions and seem to have a good head on your shoulders. If you decide to pursue nursing I think you will find, like all careers, it has its glory and its gore, so to speak. You definitely seem from your brief post here to have the self insight and intelligence it takes to make it. I wish you well in your decision.

The university that I applied wouldn't accept any applicant who had not shadowed a nurse for a minimum of 100hrs.

You'll of course go through all kinds of screening in order to become a volunteer first and then ask the supervisor before going to the nurse.

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[Nienna Celebrindal]

I am in your area. Did you get bad grads in law school?

To say that the nursing programs here are competitive would be an understatement. Even at the community colleges (valley, rcc, chaffey). It's tough, you really need a minimum of 3.75 total GPA but I have seen cohort minimums end up being in the high 3.8s consistently.

Having a previous degree helps you a bit. There is an over abundance of new grads in the IE and with Loma Linda and Eisenhower working towards magnet status ADNs are having tougher and tougher times getting that new grad job. But if you get in an ADN program enrolling straight into an MSN before you go out applying will help level the field. Being bilingual is also another huge assest. So if I were you I would apply every where you can reasonably commute too. The nursing programs in this area are all very good, you can't go wrong with any of these.

I would strongly urge you to not become an lvn. I was one and there are a ton of lvn schools here now and even less job opportunities for them than RNs and the pay is a joke for new grads. I know some of these hospitals pay their experienced CNAs just 2 dollars less than the common new grad LVN makes in a snf. LVN is really not a good option in this area.

best of luck to you!