Want To Become A RN - Advice Greatly Appreciated

pnkdmnd · Mar 13, 2008

Hi

I actually decided i want to become a RN 2 years into college for a BSW i can offer you advice if you are a caring person and want to help people and make a difference and get paid well for it get your bsn alot of of hospitals are now making this mandatory i hope this has been helpful i am still learning myself.

CoCo Queen · Mar 31, 2008

I would reccomend a two year program. That way if you decide to go ahead and get your BSN or MSN, the tuition would be paid by what ever hospitial you work for. Yes since you work from home anyway, you may prefer online classes. If you do online classes, it's up to you how long gaining your degree will take. You can go to a community college and take all your courses online. This may be a better choice than taking the full online university route because you have tangible resources to gain from: Counselors, tutors, library, study groups, and the fact that you may be able to buy your books used (which equals cheaper) rather than paying for a new book, that you only use once, and you can resell the book when your done!! :yeah:

P.S: I don't know if you're a single parent, but if so you will have MANY scholarships and grants available to you. And PLEASE do your FASFA to get free money for school. :twocents:

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Mar 31, 2008

I graduated from a distance learning program that is part of a traditional "real" school and has won awards. I got a great nursing education. But it was hard, time consuming and expensive.

Even with little ones, you are going to have to find time to study and you will have to get coverage for that.

I strongly encourage you to find a local public school and get your LVN/LPN (whatever it is you have in Ohio), and then do a bridge program.

Obviously this has to be researched to see if it is even available. In Texas (where I am), most community college systems have LPN to RN bridge programs that are one day a week, two semesters. Period.

Meantime the LPN can work which has at least three benefits that I can think of. One, the obvious one: income. Two, you get some great skills training. Three, you build relationships and when you get your RN you already have a place to work.

Distance learning ought to be a last resort. I never thought I'd say that, because I am proud of my alma mater, continue to mentor nursing students from that school, and I know I got a very good education. But it was expensive, I only got it done fast because I was able to do that and very little else (other than wait hand and foot on a high maintenance spoiled DH and take care of a collection of animals), and since I have been out, I have had difficulty getting a job. No one seems to doubt my ability, etc., but who gets the job is who they know--the nurses who rotated through the hospital with their clinicals.....

Good luck. If you opt to do distance learning, the only decent ones will require you to have half the RN program completed anyway--so you might as well do the LVN and the RN bridge.

LookingToB · Mar 31, 2008

Thank you so much for your thoughtful responses, CoCo and Chris. I don't know any nurses in my personal life and therefore have had trouble finding guidance. I can now narrow my options which is so helpful. Thanks again!

LookingToB · Mar 31, 2008

Thank you so much for your thoughtful responses, CoCo and Chris. I don't know any nurses in my personal life and therefore have had trouble finding guidance. I can now narrow my options which is so helpful. Thanks again! :thankya:

LookingToB · Mar 31, 2008

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allaboutthefamily · Apr 5, 2008

If you could "tough it out" for two years I would strongly reccomend a BSN or MSN bridge program at a university as opposed to an online curriculum. If you can get in then you would probably need to quit working for 1-1/2 to 2 years, and i will be hard, but there are ways to accomplish this, and it will be worth it in the end.

For example, the University I goto has a program in which anyone with a bachelors degree and the required pre-reqs can enter into a fast track program and become a BSN in less time than it would take someone without a degree to obtain an ADN. There are a few online nursing schools but they can defenitely be pricey. Try getting your pre-reqs (Anatomy, Microbiology, Physiology, etc.) done and see how that works for you.

If you are able to get into one of these programs you can actually get alot of help via financial aid if you are a single mother/father or in a low income family. If your siginificant other makes enough money that you do not qualify for financial aid then you should have no problems anyways. In my own case my wife and I both started school the same week our son was born. She completed a two year program while I am in the process of finishing a four year program. Neither of us work any significant amount while attending school, we relied on scholarships, grants, loans, state aid (food stamps, child care, and free health insurance). It was a little rough at times but it was so worth it. Whatever you decide to do, please do something. You do not want to look back on this 20 years from now and wonder "what could have been".

1) Contact any and all nursing schools in your area and find out what you would need to do to get in, and how long it would take to complete your degree.

2) Make a timeline and chart how long it would take you to get in to each school (time for pre-reqs + waiting period if there is one) added to how long it would take to complete and use this to help you decide when choosing, cost is also very important obviously. For example, a private

school in california can get you a ADN from LVN in a year, but it costs 60k+.

3) Start taking your pre-reqs now. It will give you a feel if you are ready to go back to school and you have to do it eventually anyways. Never take pre-reqs at a private university, they cost an arm and a leg. Community colleges offer these courses at a fraction of the cost (and they are easier to boot).

In the end I am saying, why go back to school for a year for your LPN/LVN, then another year or two for an ADN, then another year or two for your BSN, when yu could just tough it out now and be done with it. :twocents:

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Apr 6, 2008

In the end I am saying, why go back to school for a year for your LPN/LVN, then another year or two for an ADN, then another year or two for your BSN, when yu could just tough it out now and be done with it.

I liked a lot of what I read, allaboutthefamily, until I got to the last line, and for that I think I have an answer.

I often learn about different ways to do things after the opportunity for me has passed. I still pass it on to others if I think it might have value.

In answer to your question, if one starts with LVN/LPN school and gets a license after the one year this course takes, one can then work as an LVN. We have a community college in north Texas that actually requires this of their ADN students. How smart is this? You get extremely good experience during your second year of ADN school--if you decide to continue that route (there is a one day a week, two semester bridge from LVN to RN here as well), you get paid for that great experience, and you have an excellent opportunity to slide right into an RN slot when you get the RN.

Want a BSN? There are a number of programs for that as well, many taking into account that their students are not independently wealthy and therefore might need (or want) to work during school. Have a bachelors already? Many nursing students are developing themselves for a second career. Most BSN and even MSN programs (think "Baylor") consider that bachelor's degree to be a strong start to a BSN or MSN.

All the while you can be working. All the while you are getting experience outside the traditional, rigid, closed avenue of nursing school.

That would seem to be a really good reason to start at the beginning and work your way through. That, and needing to pay the rent, feed and clothe oneself and one's family....

Loans are another way to finance the program you describe, but you can plan on paying it off for a very long time. I financed my second year of my master's degree twenty years ago. The rates were about the same then as they are now, right around 7 percent. I financed about $8,000. It took me about 10 years to pay it off.

It makes a lot more sense to work your way through, particularly when that work can be nursing, in which case work is adding to your education.

Just my two :twocents:

allaboutthefamily · Apr 6, 2008

Good point, I can defenitely see the advantages of of getting experience while going to school. I actually have an internship at a large, busy hospital in Los angeles where I try to get extra experience apart from nursing school. I am not saying it is a bad idea to do the schooling in steps, for some it is exactly what they need. For me, I know I will eventually pursue a CRNA and when I put everything on paper I just didnt want to be going to school for the extra time. You are also right about student loans, granted that you do not find a program that pays them for you. I can only speak for California but we have several options available, but even these come at a cost (except for one).

1) Perkins loans- If you work as a nurse or teacher for five years, at any hospital, clinic, etc., you never have to pay back a dime (for any perkins loan you have taken, does not affect other loans).

2) Hospital loan programs- such as the one offered by LAC/USC offer up to 20,000 dollars towards your student loans but the catch is that you owe them two or more years as an employee upon graduation. The upside for me is that I plan on working in an ICU upon graduation (pretty much done deal actually) and when you go thru the six month training for ICU most hospitals in LA county area require you to work for two years or else pay them for the training they gave you, so in short I would have owed someone 2 years anyways.

3) If you work in "underserved areas" the government can forgive a large portion of your loans, but once again the catch is you have to live in "underserved areas, or commute.

4) The hospital I wish to work for also offers a "stipend program" in which they pay me 21k (approx) divided up during my last two years of school, and after I graduate I will owe them two years of employment. Now this has nothing to do actually with taking loans, because I would have gotten this money regardless of whether or not I am taking loans.

In the end I understand there are tradeoffs to each path, I feel this path may cost me (monetarily) more in the long run, but to be honest I do not like school very much and I fear if I did it the other way I may have not been strong enough to keep pulling myself back into school. I think of my BSN as a rollercoaster, becuase I really dont have a choice once im on the ride.

I think I am most grateful to the state of california for all the help that they have given me, if not for them I do not see any way this could have worked. They paid for my books, gas, tuition, daycare/childcare, food, supplies, nursing uniforms, etc.

LookingToB · Apr 7, 2008

This is great! I'm getting many different vantage points, and this is exactly what I need. Thanks again Chris for your insight and thank you AllAbout!