When are you officially a nursing student?

[Zyprexa_Ho]

As the title says, when are you officially considered a nursing student? When you get your acceptance letter? When you start your first day of class? Looking for opinions on this.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

When one is accepted and have paid their deposit for a spot in the nursing program, they are officially a "nursing student".

Some students have been accepted into a program and start out with pre-regs like A&P, math, English, etc, and then progress to the nursing courses.

[ajourneytonursing]

In our school, if you called yourself a nursing student when you are only taking your prerequisites, you would be misrepresenting your status. Add "future nursing student" and then that's a different story..

I found this out very quickly! People would ask what I go to school for and I would say "nursing" and they would say "oh what program?" or "when do you get your license?" etc... Then I would follow with awkwardly explaining how I'm not actually in any program yet just taking the pre-reqs. Now I have gotten my acceptance letter and am starting this Fall but I still don't consider myself a nursing student yet. If people ask I say "I've been accepted into a nursing program".

It's not really about what people think anyway, just for me personally, I will consider myself a nursing student starting the first day of class :)

[AspiringNurseMW]

During prerequisites, Pre nursing.

I technically could say nursing student after orientation, because right after we started the tedious process of physicals and books and buying uniforms. Even maybe during the summer when we were required to take NUR100.

But I didn't FEEL like a nursing student until I started classes, especially once we started clinicals.

[Eru Ilúvatar]

You can call yourself a "nursing student" when you are taking your Fundamentals of Nursing Class and you get that name badge that says Bla Bla "Nursing Student". Up to that point you are a Pre-Nursing Student. You must earn your right to be called a Nursing Student, just like lawyers earn their right to be called law students, physicians earned their right to once be called Medical Student, and Rocket Scientists were once "clinically insane for gods sake what is this that I am studying student".

[pixiestudent2]

i know of some MA's that preach on Instagram that they are in medical school. The cringe factor Is through the roof

That's sick lol

[heidi94]

Here's a question:what about if someone asks "what's your major?" Back when I was taking my prequesites I would sometimes just answer "nursing" because I knew when I graduated I would have a bachelor's in nursing. I never called my self a "nursing student" at that time though. Eventually I figured out it was clearer to say that I was pre-nursing...

[sunmaidliz]

I don't think it should matter.

[Jensmom7, BSN, RN]

I don't think it should matter.

Why not??

Students taking "pre-med" courses don't call themselves med students until they've been accepted to Medical school.

Students taking "pre-law" courses don't call themselves law students until they've been accepted to Law school.

Why should it be ok for someone taking Chemistry, Biology and some Liberal Arts classes to call herself a nursing student before being accepted into a Nursing program with actual nursing classes??

[Tprofitt, BSN]

Ultimately I'll say it's a huge gray area. Although I get a chuckle at those that exaggerate their studies, if someone asks me what's my major I'm not gonna say, 'pre nursing". I'd tell them it's nursing because the classes that I'm taking are all courses that are needed for that specific major. Now whether they interpret that as a nursing student is completely up to them.

[shrimp]

I never told people I was a nursing major when I was taking prereqs because I wasn't accepted into a nursing program. Simple. All of us in the pre-nursing track (or pre-med/bio, pre-law, pre-health sciences, pre-psychology, pre-criminal justice [pretty much all the cool majors were impacted and required separate applications]) proudly wore our "pre" titles because that was exactly what we were lol. There was no shame in it. You're not a nursing student until you're accepted and start a nursing program. Pretty black and white to me.

[Tprofitt, BSN]

But see, they OP said when do you call your self a "nursing student" not a nursing major. Which is what I mean as far as that Gray area. It can be misinterpreted really fast. I agree with not calling yourself a "nursing student" until your actually in the program. But as far as the major. I don't see anything misleading about saying it's nursing. Most if the time that comment is followed by the question, "how much longer do you have? " then that's when I would clarify that I'm taking pre reqs.

[jena5111, ASN, RN]

I never said I was a "nursing student" or in "nursing school" until I started my...nursing program.

While taking pre-reqs, I was "pre-nursing," or, more simply, "in school." I'd recently graduated with a BA in English when I began nursing pre-reqs, so I didn't bother explaining the fine details to every single person.

Students taking English or psych or whatever as pre-reqs are not "nursing students/in nursing school" until they've received that acceptance letter.