want to be a nurse have questions

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I would appreciate if any one could help me, I am 33 have 4 kids and would like to be a nurse, but I only want to work on the labor floor, either helping with deliveries or the caer of moms/babies or nursery,. (really prefer helping deliver) I need to know what kind of degree I would need to get and if any one you went thru these online classes and if so which ones are good liggent schools. I want to get eone asap, but remember I have a family of 5 to care for as well. any answers would be appreciated.

thanks

dawn

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

Any degree that will let you sit for the NCLEX exam will be enough to get you hired at a hospital. But I'm more concerned with the speed in which you want to accomplish this. There's no magic ticket to graduation. Nursing school requires commitment and diligence and will take a huge amount of your time, energy and focus. Online clases are a great way to get some of the foundational information out of the way, but that, too, takes a huge amount of self discipline. Nursing really isn't something you'll be able to undertake lightly and it isn't for everybody, but if you have the desire and the commitment, you can do anything you put your mind to. I would inquire at your local Community College, or a nearby College or University and determine what classes you'll need to begin your studies. I wish you much luck and success in your career goals!

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

:yeahthat:

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The US educates and licenses nurses as generalists, so all nursing programs and the licensure exam cover all areas of nursing practice. You can choose to work in OB or nursery after you graduate, but you will have to be educated in all areas.

Also, lots of facilities don't hire new graduates into specialty areas, so new grads often end up working in general med-surg nursing for a while, at least, when they first graduate, to get enough experience to be competitive for a job in a specialty area. That's not true for everyone everywhere, but no one can guarantee you that you'll be able to get a job in OB right away.

There are no quick, easy nursing programs. There is no completely on-line program available for people who are starting "from scratch" and are not already LPNs or some other healthcare occupation, because you must spend lots of time in supervised clinical practice (practicing applying the skills and knowledge you're learning in class, on real clients in hospital settings under the supervision of a clinical instructor). There are some "hybrid" programs out there that combine on-line classes with "real-life" clinicals, but they are not any quicker or easier than traditional nursing school; just "delivered" a little differently. Any nursing program will involve 3-4 years (for someone starting "from scratch") of full-time study and require a huge investment of time and effort. Take some time to review some of the student threads on this site, and you can get a better idea.

You might want to get certified as a CNA (nursing assistant) and get a hospital job; that is a fairly quick and easy way to "try out" healthcare in general and get a closer look at what nurses do. That would give you a better idea of whether you want to make the effort to become a nurse, and, if the answer turns out to be "no," you won't have invested much in finding that out ...

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The US educates and licenses nurses as generalists, so all nursing programs and the licensure exam cover all areas of nursing practice. You can choose to work in OB or nursery after you graduate, but you will have to be educated in all areas.

Also, lots of facilities don't hire new graduates into specialty areas, so new grads often end up working in general med-surg nursing for a while, at least, when they first graduate, to get enough experience to be competitive for a job in a specialty area. That's not true for everyone everywhere, but no one can guarantee you that you'll be able to get a job in OB right away.

There are no quick, easy nursing programs. There is no completely on-line program available for people who are starting "from scratch" and are not already LPNs or some other healthcare occupation, because you must spend lots of time in supervised clinical practice (practicing applying the skills and knowledge you're learning in class, on real clients in hospital settings under the supervision of a clinical instructor). There are some "hybrid" programs out there that combine on-line classes with "real-life" clinicals, but they are not any quicker or easier than traditional nursing school; just "delivered" a little differently. Any nursing program will involve 3-4 years (for someone starting "from scratch") of full-time study and require a huge investment of time and effort. Take some time to review some of the student threads on this site, and you can get a better idea.

You might want to get certified as a CNA (nursing assistant) and get a hospital job; that is a fairly quick and easy way to "try out" healthcare in general and get a closer look at what nurses do. That would give you a better idea of whether you want to make the effort to become a nurse, and, if the answer turns out to be "no," you won't have invested much in finding that out ...

what exactly would a cna do in a hospital setting?

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Our CNAs are able to feed and change the babies in the nursery or do VS on stable pts in postpartum. We do not use them very much unless we are VERY busy. Some community colleges do have 2 year nursing schools where you can be a RN but not a RN, BSN.(as long as you pass the nclex at the end). Most of our nursery nurses are LPNS.

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