I would love a little incite from others on my situation especially if others think of something that I have not thought of. I posted about this before the site went down, but now I cannot find the replies. I will make this as short as I can!
I finished my first semester in an ADN program a couple weeks ago; it went very well and I loved it! However, I had to take organic chemistry and that didn't go so well. I needed a "C" to pass and I received a "D" because of this I now have to sit out of the program for a year and I can return next spring of 2013 and pick up where I left off at. Obviously it was very upsetting knowing that I was supposed to graduate in the spring of 2013! We are also allowed to fail two classes before we are kicked out of the program. Being that I failed chem, this will be my one time out of the program.
After crying, being down and getting upset, I picked myself back up and I thought of a new plan! I figured since I LOVED my first semester of nursing, why not just forget the ADN route and go straight for the BSN route! Originally my plan was to graduate in 2013, work part time and go to school part time to get my BSN. It would probably take me 2-3 additional years to get the BSN because as of right now I only have my prereqs done for the ADN program. I do not have any of the general education classes done. So if I am excepted into a BSN program in the fall of 2013 I am really graduating at the same time. I have 4 children and I am blessed that I do not have to work. I really don't want to work if I get my ADN while going back to school, but at the same time I wouldn't want to waste that degree either, but seriously I don't think I am smart enough to work and go to school.
When I started school two years ago I decided to go the ADN route because it was faster. I knew I could get the ADN degree in 4 years rather than the BSN in 6 years. After talking with a friend of mine at that time whom is a NP, she told me she wouldn't waste her time on getting a BSN if I was not getting a masters. Like I said it was two years ago when the job market was a little better. This past year I am always pulling up our local hospitals and the all say BSN preferred and being that I want to work in a hospital and on a specialty floor on top of that, I will need that BSN.
So if you were me, would you take the next year and work on all of the general education classes and return to the ADN program in the spring of 2013 OR just forget the program and apply to the BSN in the fall of 2013?
You have to do what is best for you and your family. Maybe you can finish up and prereqs for the BSN and do that. Best wishers. Keep in mind that most RN-BSN programs are 1 year so maybe it will also be ideal to get your RN license while working on the BSN. Atleast you will have some experience under your belt and your employer may even pay for your BSN. Definitely alot of pros and cons here.
Do the BSN plan since you don't have to work now. Save yourself the headache later of trying to get it done after you have a job and find yourself in need of a few prereqs.
I'd get back in the ADN program. If there is an option to complete classes like organic chemistry prior to that time, do them ALL! It makes nuring school ALOT easier when you don't have co-reqs to worry with.
Tough choices. Here is my opinion, based on being a mother of 3. Life is so unpredictable and even though you don't HAVE to work right now, in this economy you have to be prepared for anything. I would get my RN as quickly as possible. So which one gets you there faster, ADN or BSN? For me it was ADN. I actually chose LPN first, like you I don't have to work so I immediately went into LPN-RN.
So if it were ME, I would take Organic Chemstry this Spring, along with some easy BSN prereqs. Then finish the rest of my BSN prereqs this summer and fall. I would reenter the ADN program in Spring 2013 and apply for the BSN program for Fall 2014. But that is just how I would do it based on my own circumstances and life experience.
Thanks for all the advice. I guess the biggest thing that makes nervous about reentering the ADN program next spring is what if I fail a nursing class? So many people last semester failed OB. These were the second level students. Then on top of that more second level people failed their final, which of course meant that they failed the entire semester. I was told today that if I reenter and fail something, this could either be a nursing class or getting 3 clinical F's, I will be kicked and never ever allowed to reenter.
I guess the way that I am looking at it is if I reenter in the spring of 2013 and then in the fall of 2013 or the spring of 2014 I fail something I will be done. However, if I could have gotten into the BSN in the fall of 2013 I would have been one year away from getting my BSN. So confused!
Don't be confused. I just finished my ADN, am taking Kaplan review, trying to work, trying to interview, trying to find an RN-BSN that doesn't need MORE classes to take up the time I don't have so I can work and concentrate on a job (when I get it). Oh and then there is my husband and four kids from ages 11 to 16. If I'd taken the BSN route, I'd be finishing this year and not have to worry about it ever again! Do the BSN.
Apgar10, that's another reason I am afraid to finish my ADN. I am not smart enough to work AND go to school AND take care of the family. My kids range from 4-12. If I did finish the ADN, I would only work one day a week. If I did work 3 12's, then I could only take one class each semester. It would probably take me at least 2-3 years to finish the BSN if I went back to the ADN route.
I'm starting my second year of my ASN program, and if I had the ability to schedule any of the local BSN programs around my work schedule, I'd go an extra year to get my BSN off the bat. Unfortunately, as a single mom and a career switcher, I have to go the ASN route and bridge for my BSN later.
If you're in a metro area, you are probably going to have trouble getting a hospital job with an ASN. I'm in D/FW, TX and I've been told that my opportunities inside the metro area are going to be slim. I don't have an issue with driving out a bit to some of the more rural hospitals, so I think I'll be ok, but if I had any way to do the BSN now, I would.
If you are in a position to go for the BSN, I would strongly suggest it. I suspect that the pendulum now swinging toward BSN only in hospitals will eventually swing back once a large enough wave (or several waves) of older nurses retire and there aren't the bodies to fill the positions. But I think even then a BSN will, and always will be, more saleable than an AS/D/N. And if you have aspirations to become an NP, it's putting you closer to that program off the bat.
if i were you i'd focus less on what you can get away with in terms of failing different components and, well, actually putting in the work to pass them. eyes on the prize.
also, (unsolicited advice here) there's no reason why kids of 4-12 can't do a lot for themselves to free you up for studying. my kids did their own laundry starting at 7 (it's really not hard, is it? modern detergents and clothing don't need sorting anyway), and they were cooking simple meals at 10 (hamburgers, chops, frozen vegies in the microwave, pasta, and the like). they earned their allowances by cooking two nights a week, each, which made it possible for me to work. yeah, sometimes we ate some weird stuff, but nobody died and they got really good at cooking and reading recipes and writing ingredients on the shopping list. a four year old can straighten a bed, or you can decide that bed-making isn't really that important in the infinite scheme of things. you'll be doing them a favor by helping them gain life skills and letting them see that at this point you need to put the required work into school for the greater good, and that's a good lesson for them too.
if i were you i'd focus less on what you can get away with in terms of failing different components and, well, actually putting in the work to pass them. eyes on the prize.
i completely agree with you and normally i am a very optimistic person! however, i didn't realize this until i started taking my prereqs back in the fall of '09, but i have bad test anxiety. even though i know the material, i physically get sick, shaky and even my eyes will fill with tears. then when i got accepted last semester and got my first dose of ns, the test anxiety went through the roof. it's funny because every time that we got checked off at skills testing, whether it be injections or the drug pass, i was as cool as a cucumber! lol!! people couldn't believe that i was not nervous. however, on exam days, i would be a complete mess and others would think i was nuts. so in the reality of it all, when i heard how many second level students didn't pass exams, this is why i am concerned because of my anxiety issues. give me a skills test any day though!!
Marine2Nurse
11 Posts
ok not the same Matt--Thanks