<p>Many of my girlfriends from high school became nurses, and every one of them worked weekend ends as a nurses aide while in college. The RNs were very willing to teach them procedures & they racked up some great clinical experiences as aides. Is this still an option, I wonder?</p>
<p>When I got my first job as an RN, the aides were invaluable for passing on the tricks of the trade. I learned so much from them that was never addressed in clinical or classroom settings.</p>
<p>Just to be clear: a BSN is a college degree. An RN is a state certfication or license to work. Someone with a BSN cannot practice nursing (or at least they can't in my state) without taking the RN examination (or the LPN one, though there shouldn't be any reason to do so.)</p>
<p>I used to work on the state board that oversaw the required qualifications for nurses. As I remember, the pass rate for those with BSNs was no higher than those with the two-year (actually, three-year) degree. This is not particularly surprising, as it is easier to get into the 4-year-program than the 2-3-year one.</p>
<p>The differences in pass rates are not going to be found between associate degeree and bachelors degree programs. Everything one needs to know for passing the RN is covered in an associate degree program. Where you will find a difference in passing rates is when comparing schools. Some are more willing to flunk out those who are not likely to succeed. Others are perfectly willing to take the tuition from even the weakest students, especially the state & federal grant $$$.</p>
<p>Two year programs are also much more likely to attract the non-traditional student, who would not be interested in a four year program. It's really not a question of one being more selective than the other. The programs draw from two very different applicant pools.</p>
<p>Between my jr. and sr. year of nursing sch., I worked as a "nurse tech", sort of a glorified aide at a large city hospital. I floated from floor to floor wherever I was needed each night. I learned more about clinical care on the job that summer than I had in the previous year of schooling. It was a valuable experience.</p>
<p>Actually, where I live, the two- and four-year nursing schools are now drawing from the same pool. In fact, the majority of the 90% of the applicants who are rejected from the two-year school end up at the four-year one.</p>
<p>But again, this is somewhat of a misnomer. The two-year school has a full year of pre-reqs which look exactly like the first year of study at the four-year school. The difference is that the competition is so fierce, few of them are going to make it into the second year, whereas at the four-year school, admission is already guaranteed. However, also by definition, no one gets into the two-year school "right out of high school", unless they were able to take the college-level pre-reqs as part of their high school curriculum.</p>
<p>Here is a very important point that no one has touched on when listing schools to consider.</p>
<p>Among the schools we have been discussing -- more selective universities that also offer nursing -- it is important to do your homework and look at the degrees offered and the admissions procedures. </p>
<p>MANY schools only admit pre-nursing freshmen and then require a separate application during spring of sophomore year. There is no guarantee that all the pre-nursing applicants will be admitted to the nursing program (these schools include Washington, Wisconsin, Indiana, Emory).</p>
<p>Some of these schools have no undergraduate programs at all and offer accelerated BSN to students who already have BAs (these include Duke and Vanderbilt).</p>
<p>SOME schools admit freshmen directly to the nursing program. For a student who is pretty sure about nursing and who doesn't want the additional stress of re-applying to a competitive program, these schools might be worth seeking out (these include Iowa, Marquette, Illinois Wesleyan, Michigan, Boston College).</p>
<p>There are many more schools out there, obviously, but it's worth checking out which camp they fall into.</p>
<p>^^^^^^
correct - my daughter is a senior and applied to BSN programs this year. It was important to her and me that she attend a BSN program where she would be accepted right away and take Nursing classes the freshman year.</p>
<p>Neonzeus - if you are in PA - Pitt is a great Nursing school. Have not heard good thinkg about PSU. My daughter actually didn't want Pitt but applied to Pitt-Bradford - still get a nursing degree from Pitt and all the kids live in apartments. The big school thing she was not interested in. Pitt-Bradford has a 2 year program as well. She figured out that she can get her RN in 2 years, work per diem in the summer and breaks and finish her BSN in another 2 years. Beats being a barista at Starbucks!
She also applied to Bloomsburg and those two made the short list along with a MD school. She would like to keep the undergrad "cheap" since MSN is the ultimate goal.</p>
<p>Nursing school rankings - the rankings are based on GRAD school programs not the BSN programs. </p>
<p>One more consideration - a car. They are responsible for their own transportation to clinicals. Some may be far away from the university.</p>
<p>JustAMomof4 -- This is really good info! Thank you. We'll go and look at Pitt Bradford and Bloomsburg. I also hadn't thought about a car, but it makes a lot of sense too.</p>
<p>Pitt's main campus in Oakland has the benefit of being in the middle of UPMC (Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center), which offers great clinical opportunities.</p>
<p>lkf - that certainly is another consideration. one reason my d is considering a school in MD - they use hospitals in Baltimore including Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>there may be some other PA state U's with decent nursing programs - we just didn't look beyond Bloomsburg - that is the school I "made" her apply to - it's cheap and has a good rep for health professions. I filled out the app, made her sign it and gave it to her bf to take to guidance with a check! Now she wants to vists - 6 schools later (all of which she got into!) Go figure!</p>
<p>IMO - if the goal is to continue to MSN right away then I think it makes sense to go for the BSN.
If the goal is to be an RN - then many PA CC's have excellent programs and she can complete the BSN part time. There are many paths into nursing.</p>
<p>I am happy to hear that young women are interested in pursuing nursing as a career. I am a nurse and attended the University of San Francisco back in the 80's. They still have a highly regarded program. The clinical rotations are at the University of California, Stanford Hospital and various other hospitals in the area. The key is getting in an area where nurses are truly needed. The SF Bay Area has enormous job opportunities. However if your d is looking at the east coast I would highly recommend Boston College as I believe Mass general Hosp is their option for Clinical rotations. What a truly outstanding hospital for training that would be as I have heard. I am an operating room nurse AKA Perioperative Nurse and I really love the challenge of this career. Good luck to her and encourage her to not give up as it can be a difficult major with hours of studying and clinical work.-MNmom</p>
<p>Another view from a physician in the trenches.</p>
<p>In our area nurses are in extremely short supply, and they are tossed out (by necessity) onto the floor with very little orientation to the hospital's procedures. Many of their co-workers on the floor are agency nurses with no more knowledge of the specific hospital than the new grad. Also here, nursing is a popular retraining option, so some nurses are not well suited to science, and some are not the brightest individuals. Don't get me wrong, we have many great nurses, very bright, very skilled, hardworking, they are probably the majority, but even the brightest struggle when there just isn't time for enough training.</p>
<p>I actually hope my son might be interested in nursing, I think he could be well suited to that career. I would encourage the coop route. I think that working a bit, then going back into the classroom would be a great way to learn what you needed to know, then actually have the luxury to go back and learn it.</p>
<p>thanks for the encouraging words - I think Nurses are in high demand just about everywhere. For a young person who is bright, dedicated and hard working it is hard to imagine they would be without a job.</p>
<p>cangel - many many men are getting into nursing. lots of retraining has happened in our area and the local hospital has expanded their RN diploma program - nearly half the student are male.</p>
<p>Are you advocating a hospital based program? As a physician what do you think the best route is?</p>
<p>My daughter has taken Chem H, A& P (which she could have taken for college credit but I wouldn't let her), Bio H, microbiology, AP Psychology and calculus
I hope (think) she will be prepared for a science intensive curriculae.</p>
<p>My D is also interested in nursing. She comes from a specialized HS and has a 100 average, strong SAT's and great EC's and some really great honors etc. She does want a campus feel on the east ocast with great dance and liberal arts.....where would you suggest ?</p>
<p>I can't recommend Univ. of Michigan enough. It is expensive, but the education is sublimely good - it just oozes competence - and prepares nurses for both practical careers as well as grad schools - a rigorous 4 year program.</p>
<p>You can get more information on [Licensed</a> Vocational Nurse (LVN) CA](<a href=“http://www.americancollegeofnursing.com/pages.php?pageid=33]Licensed”>http://www.americancollegeofnursing.com/pages.php?pageid=33). I hope this page will provide you with what you are looking for.</p>
<p>FYI, this thread is 2 years old.</p>
<p>I have suggested the American Medical Academy for best nursing programs. The courses taken by academy focuses on live interactive classes and self-study disciplines that give students the opportunity for in depth discussions .</p>
<p>I thought, from the thread title, that the mother wanted to go to nursing school! I know people in their 50’s who have gotten a nursing degree…</p>
<p>I think the OP has moved on (5 years ago…)</p>