Want to start a nursing career..

[newyork305]

Hello

I currently work full time in a totally different job and want to go into nursing. I have my bachelors in Business Management and have not taken any science classes in college. How hard do you think it would be to change careers? I was leaning towards getting my associates first then maybe going back for the bachelors. Any advice is very much appreciated!

Thanks!!

[chevyv, BSN, RN]

I graduated from a technical college with an ADN and took as many classes online as I could. I also took my clinicals on the pm shift. I went part time so it took longer, but I had 2 youngens at home and wanted to be there for them.

Many schools offer classes online and at night. I had tough instructors and passed NCLEX no problem. In WI, the tech schools work under the same nursing curriculum so you can take online at a different one if it fits your schedule. I took 2-3 theory classes online through a different tech college and worked everything out with my school before signing up with no problems. It can be done! You just have to be able to take the time to research all options and starting with the schools around you before committing to online may be a good start. Good luck!

[chevyv, BSN, RN]

Oh, many schools require you be CNA cerified before being admitted into their program. That way they don't have to teach vital signs, bed making, and bathing etc...

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

There are actually very few ADN programs that are night/weekend programs. You will want to research that.

I am a second career RN as well and went the route you are talking about doing, getting ADN first and then going back for BSN. Since you already have a BA in something else you can get into an accelerated program and earn your BSN faster. However, like most nursing programs, those are full time and make it very difficult to work and also do school.

My solution was to work while I took my pre-req's one at a time. That allowed me to get excellent grades in them (imperative for getting accepted- it is very competitive) and start saving for the time I was not able to work as much once nursing school started. Yes, it made my two year degree into a four year plan, but I got there and am now working as an RN. Looking back it doesn't seem as long as it felt while doing it. However, going back to get my BSN now is something I am not looking forward to. I'd love to be done with college for a while!

[rammstein]

I took my prereqs two at a time in the evenings while working full time (I also have a BS but didn't take any physical sciences or labs the first time) and with those completed and everything else transferring in from my prior degree, the only classes left to take are my patient care classes which I can also take at night. The only tricky part is going to be scheduling clinicals, which can be at any time - hopefully I'll be able to get a weekend or evening one for that as well; they haven't been scheduled. I'm still working full time 8-4 and if I have to use a personal/vacation day once a week for a semester until I've gotten enough clinical experience to get a more flexible healthcare-related job, then that's what I'll keep doing. But I've always worked full time while being in school, so I'm used to having to make it work. This also means not sleeping a lot or having much of a life lol.