I have just finished a GED program, I know it is not the best education for a career in nursing but I did well on my tests if that helps. Im curious to know if anyone here has advice on what kind of school and program I should start with. Any bit of wisdom helps thank you in advance.
17 year old interested in nursing as a career, does anyone have advice on where to start with school?
SchoolTHIS!!!! Please do not go 80k into debt. Go to a community college, the nursing shortage is not ending anytime soon and they are hiring ADNs. I'm graduating with my ADN in a few months, could not be happier with my choice!
Also since she is 17 she can qualify for help with school tuition. But she has to make under a certain amount to qualify.
17 makes it harder to qualify. If you’re older your parents’ income doesn’t matter. If you’re 17 it depends on your parents’ income which is probably higher than yours at this stage of your life.
But even with all the grants 4 year schools are generally very expensive unless you have significant merit based scholarships (which you’re not getting on a GED)
man im so jealous of yall young folk who started early. When you graduate you probably will still be living with your parents and get big bucks - not having to worry abt bills 😭
Congrats on finishing your GED! That's a great feat, so don't downplay it. Have you considered if you want to start as an LPN/LVN or RN? LPN programs are typically in vocational schools and community colleges. In the vocational school you typically do not need any college credits, but at the community college they may require you to take English, Anatomy, etc. before you can apply for admission. LPNs are nurses, so you will be eligible to take the NCLEX-PN after you graduate the program. Their responsibilities will differ depending on where you end up working and the laws for the state you're in. They will work under the RN. You can then apply to a bridge program for LPNs to become RNs. Some may require a certain amount of working experience.
The RN's scope of practice is much bigger than the LPN's. You can become an RN through a CC or university. Make sure the school is accredited. Most programs require you to take prerequisite classes before applying. Each school is different, so one might require Chemistry while another may require a History class. And these are all college level classes. If you took and passed an AP exam in high school or CLEP an exam and passed, you should have your scores transferred and sent to the school so they will waive the class for you.
Nursing schools may also require you to take a TEAS exam which is an entrance exam that tests English, Reading, Science, and Math.
I would recommend that you make an appointment with a counselor on campus (or a phone call or zoom is fine too, but I feel it's easier to do things in person). Also see if there is a nursing seminar on campus where they tell you what exactly you need to apply to the program.
All of the information can be overwhelming. What I did was print our the information from the site. And made a checklist of what needed to be done and dates they should be done by or when they were finished. Good luck with everything!
Great job on finishing your GED. It’s just as good as a high school degree for a career in nursing.
You could go to a community college and look for “pre-nursing degree” course schedule. I recommend talking to an academic advisor to help you start taking the courses required for nursing school. You can also start looking for nursing schools of interest and look at their prerequisite requirements. Many of them are pretty standard but can vary! Your advisor can help with that.
Once you get into a college, do your best and aim as high as you can so you can be a competitive candidate! But also do not be too hard on yourself. Get help early if you are struggling, utilize office hours, tutoring, & all your resources. Good luck!!
Congratulations on GED Now prepare for TEAS/HESI Exam most colleges need these tests for admission
Congratulations on finishing your GED! Do not sell yourself short. Nursing is a great career to many of us. It is hard and honest work and there is no outsource about it.
Not sure your financial situation but I will encourage you start with your local community college for pre- requisite and then also go community college for your RN so you can take advantage of the low tuition cost and small class size. Make sure you bridge into BSN later.
Make sure you have good time management and you can let go your joys and fun first a couple of year. After that, you will be able to enjoy life with a good paying job and job security!
Considering how young you are, I would get my feet wet by becoming a CNA or something similar. If you enjoy working with patients and can handle the work, then you’ll know it’s what you want, you could even do this while going to school. I would consider starting at community college and meeting with a counselor to discuss what prerequisites you need and what degree path you want to follow. Good luck!
Get your CNA first and see if you like that. It'll help in nursing school and give you a taste of the life.
Also go to community college and get an ASN RN then bridge to get your BSN RN. You'll save like $60k on average and most places will hire you with an ASN if you are working on your BSN.
Nothing wrong with pre-reqs at all community college, and get some work experience!! It makes a huge difference in applications!
My phlebotomy cert. was 3 weeks and I started working at a hospital 4 weeks later with no prior experience. I love it! It also will help you with iv’s later down the road. I get paid more than the cna’s and er techs for a job that’s honestly much easier. Though that very well may be my hospital. I would also consider and EMT license, an EKG certification, or becoming a scribe. Just something to get you into the field quickly and start gaining experience
Focus on whole body health care and equity in healthcare when it comes to essays. Also volunteer, I volunteer at a free clinic, but you can volunteer at your local hospital or clinic in your area! Lots of them do summer programs for students.
Your GED is typically considered to be equivalent to a high school diploma, so no need to worry or think that it isn’t the best education for the career. They aren’t going to question why you have your GED over a high school diploma.
Definitely go to a community college for your prerequisites. I recommend that you do research on the community colleges around where you live, look into their nursing programs if it is offered. If they do offer a nursing program, whether it’s LVN/LPN or ADM, always check that it is accredited! Make sure you see what their admission requirements are so you can have a general idea and understanding of what you will need.
I also recommend talking to an advisor. Their job is to be there to help you. Most of the time, they should have an answer to almost every question. I know in some schools they have an advisor that is specifically for allied health students, so if the school has that then definitely go talk to them first.
Check which entrance exam you will need to take. Some schools require the HESI, others require the ATI TEAS. You will need to see which exam is acceptable because some schools will only accept one and they will not make any exceptions or accept any other test scores.
You be fine with a GED. Just go to community college they don’t even look at your high school grades so long as you graduated.
You need to do well in your prereqs though. Nursing school sucks but it’s worth it.
Hey! I graduate with my BSN-RN in exactly 2 weeks from today. I go to Belmont University and what I really liked about them they were directed admittance program. I recommend when you’re looking for schools to apply to, only look at direct admittance schools. What this means is when you are accepted, you are directly in a nursing program and taking nursing classes your first year to see if it is something that you would like or not. Some of my other friends got into schools and after one year, then they could test into the nursing program. That means as a sophomore, you'd be taking your first nursing classes instead of getting that extra year to beside. I had no idea if I was going to like nursing, and to be honest, it was pretty hard, and I almost transferred out twice. However, don’t let that scare you. Nursing is super rewarding and I’m so happy that I had the support system I had from teachers, friends, and family. My advice is if you have that support system, can learn to time manage and prioritized, keep a calendar of everything due (so you don’t fall behind), don’t procrastinate, and be as friendly as you can (because friends in this program mean the world), I think you’d be fine in nursing school. I like some of the other peoples comments about LPNs and such. I would consider what you would like to do in the future. I know some hospitals in my area higher LPN for bedside nursing, but not all of them. The RN scope of practice allows you to do a lot more and be hired in different places. Good luck with school!
Community for pre reqs and RN. Don’t become an LPN unless you need to start working for financial freedom. Once you get your RN, do an online bridge program for BSN. The girlies who spent $120K for a 4 year program are right next to, and making the same amount of money as girlies who went the other route for 100K less.
Cheapest route and slightly longer = community college (some lets you do pre reqs then apply to the nursing program. You get an associates level (about 3 years of schooling). Can get hired and do Capella University (online classes, can finish in about 6 months) while you work and make money.
Normal route (more expensive) (2 options) = option 1 is doing your prereqs in a CC and bring your gpa up then transferring out to a bsn program. Or apply to a undergrad bsn program.
In some ways I regret not doing the CC route because I’m 27 and wished I was making money sooner. But whatever the end goal is the same. Wish you the best!
If GED, i probably recommend you go to a reputable community college... Also to do remediation if you need it.. Then contact an Advisor- now this part is tricky. For an example, they'll try to recommend the LPN, but always strive for the top. (I had one suggest i get into the LPN program instead of RN, but I applied to RN program anyway. Really focus on how to study because that's a big thing in Nursing school.
I will say that weigh your options. I took the accelerated adn program for 18 months (had to go for a longer because of personal reasons. It cost me about 50K+. Im relieved to be done with school and appreciate everyone that I met and being able to streamline thru the program without much of a waititng list. But i don't reccomend the extra amount of stress and the cost. I had the options to go to a traditional or community college with scholarships and grants to cover the majority. But at the time (I was 18/19 when i started) I felt so behind and compared my journey to others and thought I had to be successful asap so i chose the faster route.
It honestly depends on your personal lifestyle. I will say if you do decide to that doing something else in the medical field first helped me become more acclimated to touching and interacting with patients
Before getting into a program, please volunteer at a hospital and get a bit of an experience so you know if this is really what you want to do. Or even become a CNA! Having CNA experience will really help out during clinical. I pray that this comment will not scare you off! Hoping for the best 😊❤️
ged? no problem. it's a degree and most of the time the only thing they ask is if you have one. depends on money but if there are community colleges that are accredited and will take you on for an ADN go and do that first. worry about your bachelor's later cos you can get hired as an RN without that and work towards it (some hospitals will pay for your bachelor's after a certain number of years of service). study hard and dont beat yourself up if you struggle a little. and remember to not neglect yourself! good luck!
I work in the ER and I recommend getting into a CNA program to work at a hospital. Get that experience and after a year there you might have the options to go into a nursing program with your hospital. Either a ADN (associate degree in Nursing). If not, then go for a community college ADN program and work at a hospital that will hire you as a ADN. You can then take classes while working to get into a BSN. You gotta use the offers that the hospital has. I know a couple of ADNs where I work that are doing this.
You're 17 so you have youth on your side. But believe me try to get into a hospital setting and test the waters because you don't want to get into something after a couple of years quit and have that debt for nothing. Make sure this is what you want to do. Nursing is rough and easy to get burnt out especially in the ER. You might get 4:1 or 5:1 patient to nurse ratio. You might really enjoy working as a nurse with an awesome crew and that'll make your shift flow good or you might work with all burnt out nurses that feeds you negativity. It's all about you and how you want to approach your title. But, like I said try to get into the hospital as a CNA, EMT, or MA and test the waters.
Enroll at a community college and take basic courses (intro level english comp/lit math & biology at the minimum)
First you need to know if you’re cut out for school at this stage of your life (if you’re not that’s totally cool you can come back in 5 years - you’re young)
It’ll be a year or so before you’re ready to choose a nursing school and you’ll be in a much better position to make decisions around that with a year of college under your belt.
Go to community college for an ADN program
First off.. Congratulations on getting your GED🎉 Be proud of yourself! Next, start with a community college. They have advisors who will walk you through the process step by step and they’ll make sure you take the right classes and have the right support. You can absolutely do this! I’m proud of you 👏🏾
Find an accredited community college, take your prerequisites and your TEAs and apply. I’m going into my last semester as an ADN student. My school is cheap too, only 1500 a semester. DEFINITELY go to a community college for a two year degree though, do not waste money going straight for BSN. Sorry for the late reply, hope it helps!
Hi,
Second semester nursing student here. I am doing a community college program and I would 100% recommend doing your prerequisites at a community college. They will accept your GED. It is much cheaper! It is a long road but it will be so worth it. Most schools mainly look at how well you do in your prerequisites and how well you score on entrance exams. Good luck!