I'm trying to figure out which classes I should take this year as a pre-nursing student. Here is my background: I have a degree in Nutrition, and have already taken some of the required pre-nursing classes. However, I'm considering re-taking a few classes if they are really important because I want the information to be fresh in my mind for when I go into nursing next year. The only class that my school told me I HAVE to re-take is anatomy and physiology. But I am wondering if I should re-take some other courses as well?
I am hoping some of you can give me some advice about which pre-nursing classes are the most important ones to take. Which of the following pre-nursing classes did you find very useful once you got in the nursing program, and were actually working as a nurse?
Anatomy and Physiology (I'm definitely re-taking this class)
Microbiology (I'm considering re-taking this class, because it's been 7 years since I took it)
Chemistry (I already have 3 chemistry credits so I don't feel the need to re-take this)
English (I haven't taken college English, but am wondering if I should?)
Math for health sciences (I have only taken statistics, and am not sure if I should take algebra or another math)
Communications (I took this class 5 years ago, so I don't think I will re-take it)
If you have the time and the extra money....Medical Terminology is worthwhile.
I think that may or may not be true. Instead of having us take a medical terminology class, during the first semester at our school, we are required to learn about 20 roots/week and then answer medical terminology questions on each test.
I'm going along with the others and say A&P... I know a lot of people who took it even just the year before nursing school, and struggled with their programs because they basically had to re-learn A&P.
You may also want to check with your school on the courses you have already taken, if you haven't... for example, my school only accepts specific courses if they were taken within the last two-three years, depending on the course... Also they changed our program this year, and aren't accepting some courses taken at other universities. So basically a lot of people who were on a wait list, took courses on the side thinking it would ease their course load once in nursing school, had to re-take the majority of these courses!
NOT on your list but HIGHLY recommend a medical terminology course. Being able to breakdown the words into parts that made sense, saved my butt on several tests.
Should be a requirement before entering nursing school!!
Honestly (and this is only after four weeks of nursing classes) I've found Micro to be even more helpful than A&P. We've spent a lot of time covering sepsis and infection control procedures, and those are all topics that we covered in Micro. Plus I loved Micro. :)
I'm sure A&P will become more important once I start my Med/Surg class in a couple weeks.
I actually found Micro to be the most useful too, then Physiology and then Anatomy. This is after 5 semesters of school! Clearly Anatomy was helpful in health assessment, but I feel like it just wasn't as helpful as Micro and Physiology were. Especially in patho and pharm, they are way more complicated and having a strong grounding in Micro and Physiology really helped me, I could tell the difference in my understanding compared to my classmates who didn't have as challenging Micro and Physiology prereq classes.
Definitely math for meds. You might want to consider medical terminology as well if you haven't had it yet. Since your school offers pathophys, it would give you a huge advantage - especially when it comes to the dreaded care plans.
i found a psych class useful for learning apa format-most regular englishes classes only teach mla format. i also found spanish very helpful. even just a basic understanding makes you more valuable to a future employer. good luck on your future!
I only read a few pages of responses, but one of the biggest classes I would recommend if available is Medical Terminology. That bit of Latin was a godsend later and I actually stumbled on that class by accident when I was toying with the idea of Health Info Management before I decided on Nursing. I use that info every day - even today after being a nurse for a few years now.
I actually legitimately learned nothing in my English class, and all writing was MLA not APA format. It was a wasted class if you ask me since it wasn't any different than my high school English classes.
Peds and psych nursing are so far off that I'm not so sure how much intro psych will help...especially since I'm taking developmental psych right now which actually might pertain to nursing.
You make an excellent point. I know of one nursing program that requires students to take a professional writing course to get accustomed to APA style. It is different from MLA and I can see how someone who is used to MLA could easily get confused with APA.
To the OP, if it's been seven years since you took Microbiology and feel that you need to re-take it, then do so. It's a tough class but it is foundational for so much of what you will learn in nursing that if you don't feel comfortable with a class that's seven years old, then you'd be wise to retake it.
May I ask what type of a program you're planning on entering? ADN? BSN? Diploma? Entry-level MSN? If you're doing an ADN or a diploma, you might want to take classes that would transfer to a BSN program in case you would decide to pursue a higher degree in the future.
If you can squeeze it in, try to take something for fun. I wish I had time for something like a language class or an art class, just as a means for balance in a very busy schedule.
A class that was not mentioned that I found to be really helpful was medical terminology. I would definitely take the med math class. I also agree with a lifespan psych class.
weemee
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If you have the time and the extra money....Medical Terminology is worthwhile.