Is it hard becoming and being a nurse?

Is becoming a nurse hard?

• hi my names brittany i dropped out of high school and getting my GED and i wanna become a registered nurse (RN) ive been wanting to do this every since i was 10. and i wanted to know ...show more

• Answer:

  Hey, I dropped out of high school and got my GED too. I'm in my senior year of nursing school now, so it is completely possible. It very much depends on where you want to go, and how your grades are or will be in your pre-req general classes. You need to do ALOT of research to see what your options are in your area. So, here is what I would recommend because I did it: 1.) Be absolutely sure you are committed to becoming a nurse. It is very hard, no matter what school you go to it takes alot of time and studying. But it's definitely possible, and a nurse will pretty much always have somewhere to work. 2.) Decide if it is realistic for you to complete an ADN or BSN. BSN is a better idea, if possible, but it's more money. There are plenty of new ADN's that still get hired, despite what people will tell you. The BSN is more competitive though, and if a new ADN is going against a new BSN for the same job, the BSN would probably get it. You can also get your ADN and later complete an RN to BSN program. 3.) Look up all the accredited nursing schools in your area online. Make sure they are accredited by the CCNE or NLN or both. It will say it on the school website. Many schools are not legitimate. 4.) Look over what the requirements are for acceptance to the schools you are most interested in. Many schools will state exactly what classes they want and the minimum GPA for total courses AND a minimum science GPA. 5.) You can either take these pre-req's at a community college to save money or at the school where you want to go for nursing. *I would recommend to get into the school you want to go for nursing and take the general classes there if you can afford it. I took classes at a community college to save money, and it turned out that many schools are starting to take only their own students already in the college or a few transfer students with a very high GPA. But I did make it, so if there is no other option, community college would work ok. Just make sure the courses will transfer to the nursing school. Many schools have course transfer wizards on their websites so you can be sure the class will transfer. 6.) Call these prospective schools and talk to the admissions counselors about how many students they accept per semester and the typical GPA. Some schools accept 150 students per semester, others 30 or even less. Some schools accept more students in fall than in spring. At first they will try to make it sound like it is easy to be accepted, but if you work on them in a polite way they will give you the low down. 7.) Do your very best in the sciences. Many schools weigh their decisions on those classes ALOT. DO NOT try to take chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and physics in the same semester like I did ;). 8.) Once all of that is done, you will have to take an entrance exam. This could be the TEAS, HESSI, or NLN depending on the school. I took the teas and hessi.They are not super hard, but you will need to prepare for those by studying from a couple prep books you can buy at amazon or a bookstore. The hessi was much easier than the teas in my opinion. 9.) They will also probably want you to write an essay to judge your writing style. Taking the required english classes will help develop this. But there are many students in nursing school who are terrible writers! It will just be an extra help. 10.) Consider applying to many schools at once if you can afford it. I applied for 5 schools and was accepted to 4 out of the 5 (the last one I dropped the ball because I wasn't super interested). It drove me crazy but it was nice to have back up schools if I didn't get into my top pick (which I did anyway!). 11.) Be aware of deadlines. All schools require applications, transcripts, recommendations, etc. all by a certain date. So you can do it because I did! Don't get overwhelmed, you have to take things a step at a time. Nursing school is hard, but I think it depends on where you go. The school I am at now is very demanding, but I know from friends that other schools are much easier. Good luck, you can do it if you want to!