I am a traveling wife and will soon be in a location where I will actually have time to go back to school and I have chosen nursing school to become an RN! However, I have not been to college so, needless to say I have nothing out of the way yet.
Can someone give me some insight on the whole experience? How many days a week should I expect to be in class? How long should I expect it to take to get prerequisites out of the way? ( remember no classes taken yet, starting fresh here ).
I have been in contact with an advisor briefly but would really appreciate any perspective from an actual nursing student or one that recently finished. Any help is wonderful, thanks!
-Mindy
This question was asked in the nursing forum section.
Natalie says
Mindy,
Great questions! First you will need to decide what type of nursing degree you want to get…associates or bachelors. Here is a great article on the difference between the two degree type: https://www.registerednursern.com/adn-or-bsn-nursing-degree-what-is-the-difference-between-adn-bsn-programs/
I completed my BSN so I can give you my experience with that. After I completed high school, I applied to a university with a nursing program (when you apply to a university make sure they have a nursing program). The first two years I completed preqs courses like how all the other majors have too. Ex: English, Speech, Prob & Stats, History, Literature, etc. Then during my sophomore year I applied to the university’s nursing program. I started the program during my junior year. Before I got into nursing school I had to pass an entrance exam called HESI. So check with the program to make sure you won’t have to take some type of entrance exam.
I was in class Monday-Friday at first. Then later on when I was in my Senior year I had clinicals…this is where I worked at the hospital so many hours and had class during the week. I was always busy Monday-Friday. Then I spent the weekend studying and completing assignments. Nursing school takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Be prepared to work hard but it will be worth it in the long run.
Regarding prereq, it will probably take you about 1-1.5 years to get the over with if you are going for the BSN but less time if you go for the ADN.
That is my take on my nursing school experience. I really recommend you check out S.L. Page’s book on “How to Pass Nursing School”. It covers everything about nursing school is very great detail. http://www.amazon.com/Pass-Nursing-School-S-L-Page-ebook/dp/B00MFVXY50/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-2&qid=1416624007
Best of luck,
Natalie RN
Mindy donovan says
Ha! Well thank you Natalie that made me feel great that I already knew what book you were talking about and got it ordered! Maybe I’m on the right path after all lol. Anyways thank you tons for all your advice. My only mistake was thinking that I could knock out my prerequisites faster than what seems to be the actual reality. I will not be working while going to school and although high school came very easy to me ( very little study with good grades ) I am very aware that it has also been almost 14 years and I need to ease back into things and not jump in head first and fail.
Natalie says
You’re very welcome! Glad I could help you out. I definitely think you made a good choice about going with the book. I also wanted to say that I was in nursing school with many women who had been out of the swing of school for the same amount time or even longer than you and they shared the same concerns.
However, they were some of the people who scored the highest and performed the best in nursing school. I think it was because they took it more serious and prepared better. Now many of them work as nurse managers now and are excellent nurses.
I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
Mindy Donovan says
It feels so good to hear that and again thank you for everything! Have a great thanksgiving !!