What does it take exactly to become a nurse?

Juson · Dec 29, 2016

I'd be interested in hearing from your wife. You mention your plans for her, but what does she want?
Why isn't she here asking questions about nursing?
"I just keep reading that you have to have your generals finished or something, and I'm not understanding it. An associates degree is two years, so I'm just wanting to make sure she can have her RN in two years, and then keep going for her bachelor's to have it all wrapped up in 4 years."
Is this your plan or hers?

I linked her to the thread just now. It is her plan, she's just undecided. I'm trying to help her decide. I don't control my wife in her career choice, just recommend she choose one soon to utilize military scholarships in areas that she can to get as much schooling done as possible during my first contract in case I don't sign another one. GI Bill can't be given to spouses until after the first contract I believe, and ideally we'd like her schooling to be completed at the end or shortly after my first contact is over.

She may register and make her own account on here, but that's her prerogative. She's been searching around Google for information, but I'm a huge forum guy lol... I prefer to ask questions based on my specific situations and have up to date answers

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Dec 29, 2016

I applaud your efforts in seeking information about this career path. I must ask, though, is your wife researching this area of healthcare at all? I can tell you that if she has no interest in even acquiring even a little of this information for herself, you're about to blow whatever resource you have available to pay for this degree. Nursing school is hard, but it is a cake walk compared to the actuality of being a nurse, as it is not for the weak, extremely soft-hearted, nor the quick-tempered. Feelings will be hurt in this field, and tempers will flare from time to time, and the nurse will be expected to smile through it all. But the main thing is that you absolutely must have the desire or willingness to do the kind of hands-on, knee-deep-in-____ that is required that puts one in position to move on to the administrative areas that would interest your wife. Those positions are available; but the piper will be paid dearly before she lands one of them. As you mentioned, if your wife has no desire to work with a "bunch of people", this is definitely not the career that even one academic credit should be spent (or in her case: wasted) on.

Since you're asking, you might as well get the good and the bad, especially since you're asking and not your wife. I have career-military brothers, and one of my sisters-in-law finally decided to pursue nursing after I landed a job wearing business suits, carrying a rolling briefcase, and traveling throughout the state. She is absolutely ignoring the fact that I put in 24 years as an LPN and 6 years as an RN, with the latest 2 years in possession of a BSN. Although this particular position did not require 30 years of experience, it does require some years and a BSN. She literally told me that she's going to get her RN (ASN), not work in any healthcare facility, and apply directly to a similar position as I had, or go directly into case management. Oh well, maybe she knows something about nursing that my 30 years failed to reveal to me.

Good luck to you and your wife with finding suitable careers.

datalore · Dec 29, 2016

From an earlier point -- you don't have to be a CNA to go to nursing school, but personally I found that being a CNA made nursing school (and my first few weeks as an RN) much easier, because I had been repeatedly exposed to lots of healthcare scenarios and "real life" nursing situations. Not required, but not a bad idea either! Good luck to you and your wife, lots of big decisions ahead, and sounds like you're both trying hard to make informed choices. Kudos, and thank you for your service and sacrifices as a family!

TruvyNurse · Dec 29, 2016

Best of luck to your wife and encourage her to get on AN for any support from nurses she may need :) We do our best...

emmy27 · Dec 30, 2016

Military wife here- congratulations and good luck to you as you embark on your career!

On to the questions for your wife- like everyone has said, the actual nursing component of an ADN is two years (typically five semesters total, including one summer) but does require prerequisite coursework which is different for each program (although typically includes things like English, math, Anatomy and Physiology, some kind of chemistry, and typically a few electives). If your wife has some college coursework completed already, took AP classes in high school and did well on the tests, or can CLEP some of them, she may be able to complete this coursework in as little as two semesters (typically A&P is a two-semester course, I&II, with labs).

So, typically someone pursuing an ADN actually takes 7+ semesters to do so in total, quite a bit more than we think when we hear "two year degree". The major advantage over the BSN is not that it's so much shorter- as you can see, it's not- but that of course it's much cheaper, and usually more flexible than a BSN program in terms of scheduling- community colleges are accustomed to students taking partial loads with prereqs, and many ADN programs offer night and weekend options (although often this is a specific program, not just an option for anyone at any time).

The issue I, as a military spouse, foresee you having is that you won't know for a while yet where you'll be for the next few years. It would be unfortunate for your wife to begin an ADN program in IL and then find you were moving to Alaska- or Japan, for that matter. Actual nursing courses are rarely transferrable. Prereqs are, however, so her best bet would be to take the courses that are most likely to be required at any nursing program (A&P, any general ed courses like English, Algebra, Chem, etc that she might still need) and then see what the future holds as far as your duty station after basic training.

And yes, you do need a BSN or higher for most management positions, although those also require years of experience. But it's true some geographic areas, especially large cities, are going over to all-BSN hiring even for staff nurses. So that's another good reason to wait to start her nursing studies till she knows where you'll be. If you're going to be somewhere where an ADN is not in demand, it makes more sense to go straight to a BSN program.

Definitely seconding the recommendation to shadow a nurse- and any of the other healthcare-adjacent fields she's interested in. Radiology works closely with patients, too- it's not all sitting behind a window and talking through a microphone!

emmy27 · Dec 30, 2016

Another thing I forgot to mention- even (in fact, in many places, especially) for ADN programs, the demand is usually higher than the available seats- sometimes much higher. So the odds of her starting an ADN program "tomorrow" even if she has all her prereqs done aren't great. Some people get in on their first application, but others are waitlisted for multiple semesters. Some programs use a lottery in which everyone who meets criteria is entered and chosen at random. Others use a point ranking system and just go down the list till their seats are full.

Some would-be nursing students apply to multiple programs- ADN and BSN alike- and take the first one that offers.

This is another reason to be sure she's excited about nursing as a career before pursuing it. The admission process, depending on where you are and what your application looks like, can be quite demanding and stressful, and there's no guarantee of getting in quickly (though some people do).

TL;DR version: the chances of her completing an ADN degree two years from today are virtually nil; realistically, I would not expect to begin nursing classes until at least two semesters from now, assuming she begins prerequisites immediately, and quite probably longer, depending on where you wind up stationed and how stiff the competition is for slots in local programs there.

NICUismylife, ADN, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2016

To even be able to apply to my ADN nursing program, I was required to have already completed all the courses for a degree in human biology. This took 2 years of full time attendance. Then there was a waiting period between applying and being accepted. For some, this took a year or more, I was able to get in the first time I applied because I had worked my patootie off and earned a 4.0 in previous said degree as well as an exceptional TEAS score of 92%.

Once I actually got in, the ADN nursing program itself was 2 full years. When all is said and done, it took 4 years of full time attendance for my ADN AND a semester of waiting to hear if I'd gotten in (I used this time to take BSN pre-reqs) However, it will only take an additional year to earn my BSN.

This is pretty standard. Make sure when looking at schools, to compare not only length and cost, but also completion rates and NCLEX pass rates. It's all fine and good to attend a school with a high NCLEX pass rate, but if they only have a completion rate of 25% because they fail the rest, then it's not a school you want to risk attending.

Good luck!