What was your route to get where you are today?

Reno1978, BSN, RN · Oct 5, 2009

I researched nursing programs in my area. There were a few ADN programs and one BSN program. I realized that all had basically the same prerequisites (Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology) and that it'd take almost 2 years to finish the prerequisite and core courses to get into a nursing program. I took all of my prerequisites at the community college where I lived, but applied for entrance into the BSN program at a state university. It only took me 3.5 years since I took extra courses during the summer to get ahead.

2bJoshRN9788 · Oct 5, 2009

I screwed around in high school and graduated with a 2.5 average. I honestly think I could have skipped high school, started college instead of 9th grade, and been in the same situation I am in now. They had on-campus interviews for my state college, which made it easier to get in. I got into the college and started as a bio major, which didn't last. I starting taking my prereqs and got serious about school. Here I am in my junior year in my first semester of nursing. I'm finding it much easier than the prereqs.

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Oct 5, 2009

I started off in at UCF (a university in central Florida) and then had to move. I finished my ADN and BSN in Miami. Now working towards advanced practice.

RedCell · Oct 5, 2009

4 years of college

4.5 years as a staff RN

3 years anesthesia school

Currently practicing as a professional gigolo in Compton

Life is good, Jesus loves me.

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Oct 5, 2009

I started out in college as pre-medical - as did about half the school. I had trouble cutting the chemistry and calculus, so I found a major I liked - psychology. A social science degree got me a dead-end desk job. After several years of complaining about it and doing little else (except applying for other dead-end jobs a little higher up), I decided to make a career move. My mother and my sister were both RNs, so I started considering nursing. When my mother passed away she left enough money for me to pay for a nursing program. I enrolled at a community college because the BSN programs in my area pretty much expected me to be available all day, and financial necessity required me to work while I was attending school. One community college in my area had a program set up for people like me, with classes and clinicals on evenings and weekends. That was the ticket.

NursingtheHeart · Oct 6, 2009

graduated high school

3.5 years at a university

attained a BSN

8 months as an RN (so far)

have taken GRE (getting ready for grad school)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 6, 2009

I graduated from high school in 1999. While I had been accepted to three regional state universities, my parents felt I was unprepared for college, so they refused to sign any FAFSA paperwork or serve as a cosigner for any student loans. Therefore, I entered the entry level workforce right after high school.

I worked a string of poorly-paying, dead-end jobs at various retail stores, supermarkets, and a factory. I diligently saved my money, moved out of my parents' home, bought a house at age 22, and realized that I had no marketable skills if I were to ever lose my factory job.

Therefore, I took a risky plunge by quitting the factory job and enrolling in a full-time, 12 month LPN/LVN program. I completed the LPN program in 2005, am currently attenting an LPN-to-RN transition ADN program, and am scheduled to graduate in early 2010. While I wish I would have done this sooner, I also realize that there are middle-aged and older people who have misappropriated their time by doing nothing with their lives.

Sometimes life throws you curve balls, but you've got to utilize your resources and coping skills to dodge them and make the best out of a seemingly hopeless situation.

SteffersRN87, BSN, RN · Oct 6, 2009

First of all - I always wanted to be a nurse!

I did average in high school. I attended a nurse assistant training program during afternoons of my junior and senior years through a career and technology center. I learned basic nursing concepts and skills and had clinical experience in a long-term care facility. I had a great instructor and learned so much stuff. That was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I did one year at a community college because there are several hospital-based diploma programs in my area and wasn't sure which one I wanted to attend. I took A & P, micro, english comp, sociology, and psychology. It was very cheap!

I attended a hospital-based diploma program and finished with a nursing diploma in 22 months. I felt well-prepared when I graduated and began working as a new nurse.

I completed my BSN through a local university - 13 months combined classroom and online.

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Oct 6, 2009

Short and sweet.

I am a new grad so my route is much shorter than what most people will probably put on here.

2001 I started a Medical Assisting program at the local JC and graduated in 2002. I got certified and started working.

Got accepted into a BSN nursing program and started in 2006. During nursing school I became a certified labor doula, took two extra curricular preceptorships through an additional nursing program in a local labor and delivery department, and wrote exam questions for the California Certifying Exam for Medical Assistants.

I now work in antepartum/intrapartum/postpartum/nursery. I have my RN-BSN and my PHN license. My education is far from over, but for now I am just enjoying the challenge of learning how to be a nurse.

belgarion · Oct 6, 2009

Looked into nursing when I got out of high school but in the seventies male nurses were mostly treated like educated orderlies. The head of the program at the local university even told me she didn't care much for having men "muddying" up HER program.

Went to work in manufacturing, took advantage of tuition reimbursement to get a BS in manufacturing engineering and an MS in manufacturing management. Foreign competition, from our own company no less, got me laid off. I was totally bummed out about the corporate world in general and manufactuing in particular by that time anyway so I enrolled in LVN school and lived off my severence for a year. (My very petty former employer managed to word the paperwork in a way that kept me from drawing UI) Plan to start an RN program next year. I'll have to see how much credit I'll get from my previous education before I decide whether to go for the associates or bachelors.

canigraduate · Oct 6, 2009

I'm a mid-career changer, so my history is a little longer than most.

Graduated high school in 1995, graduated university with a BA in Graphic Design in 2000, decided sitting at a desk on the computer all day sucks BIG TIME in 2006, decided to do something about it in 2008, started my science pre-reqs (luckily, almost all my humanities, english, math, and electives transferred) and took a CNA class in spring 2009, hope to be in nursing school summer 2010.