Nursing - How did your DC figure out that's what they want?

[Anonymous]

Nurse here. Also echoing, no such things as a top nursing school. Just go to whatever university she likes that has a BSN program. Obv nothing online.

As for experience, if/when she turns 18 have her attend class to become a CNA (nurse aid). There are usually programs you can complete over 2-4 weeks, maybe she can do that in the summer. Then she can work as a CNA in a hospital or nursing home. This is the best way to figure out if nursing is a good fight plus the experience is insanely helpful in nursing school. I did this and worked 1-2 night shifts per week al through nursing school.

[Anonymous]

My husband is a cardiac OR nurse and while the undergrad institution doesn't matter as much, you get a better pick of jobs depending on where you go, especially if you plan to work at a hospital. For example, if you plan to live in Baltimore, go to UMD for nursing school and then you can get pretty much any Baltimore hospital BSN job you'd want. There are several hospitals that want to keep their magnet status and prefer to hire BSNs over RNs.

And then there are the travel positions, which are amazing for nurses without families.

[Anonymous]

Your child should volunteer at a fire station near you and train to be a volunteer EMT. Great experience with patients and working as a team, and when you drop off patients at the hospital you can get a little sense of an ER nurse’s life.

My kid did this and thought she wanted to be a nurse. And I still think it’s an excellent job!! But my kid she did an internship at a research hospital and saw how the doctors treated the nurses and decided to go to med school. Plus she really liked her science classes and wanted to go more in depth.

Good luck, OP. And plz- no TV shows about nursing, or not just that!- get her out there volunteering!

[Anonymous]

In FCPS they have a few different healthcare academy classes you can take, if you are in that district.

[Anonymous]

TV shows are NOT a good way to learn about nursing. They suggest that you spend a lot of time sleeping with your co-workers!

She should volunteer in a hospital. If possible in a clinical department (though that may not be an option). Also, perhaps volunteering with older or disabled people. That is not the same, but that will expose her to people who are not able-bodied and need help. Does that make her feel fulfilled or turned off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your child should volunteer at a fire station near you and train to be a volunteer EMT. Great experience with patients and working as a team, and when you drop off patients at the hospital you can get a little sense of an ER nurse’s life.

My kid did this and thought she wanted to be a nurse. And I still think it’s an excellent job!! But my kid she did an internship at a research hospital and saw how the doctors treated the nurses and decided to go to med school. Plus she really liked her science classes and wanted to go more in depth.

Good luck, OP. And plz- no TV shows about nursing, or not just that!- get her out there volunteering!

EMT shadowing is not a good use of time. For one, a lot of time is spent sitting in a parking lot. You might sit in a parking lot the entire shift. Majority of the calls are for nonsense things. Urgent medical needs are the miniorty of calls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurse practitioner here - it IS a great field with a lot of flexibility, opportunity for life/work balance, and growth. The best way to get a sense of the field is obviously spend some time in a health care facility that has volunteering/shadowing opportunities for high schoolers. That may be tough to find (it's hard enough for RN/NP students to get placed) I'd start by asking someone in high school guidance office what opportunities they know about as they are likely the best versed in this.
On the "going to a top nursing school" issue - that is definitely relevant for advanced practice (NP/CNM/Nurse-Anesthetist) but for RN level education it really is just a matter of covering the nursing content needed for the NCLEX and getting clinical placement time. 4 year bachelors is preferable to 2 year associates degree, that is the only real distinction. Where I think the "top school" issue does become relevant is she may think she's all about nursing, and then decide to pivot to public health or PT or something else health related. So I'd find schools she likes that have a range of options for healthcare related careers so she has a chance to explore this a bit. Good luck!

What is your basis for saying this? My DC and I have talked with a variety of nurses/NPs/CRNA and they have all said this is really not relevant at all. In one instance, the student went to a "low ranked" (acc to pple on here) school for bio, then nursing degree and is now at an ivy on the PA track. (Stat sample of 1, i realize. But is consistent with what we've been told from many other nurse/health care providers in terms of "does undergrad matter"?) There was also another post on this recently and the overwhelming response was it doesn't.

I'm just interested on why this is your take as it seems to be the outlier in the opinions I've seen.

Agree. The brand/rank of of school really does not matter when she is applying to advanced practice schools as long as she has the appropriate work experience and grades. Even CRNA school, which is competitive, will have students who did the CC to BSN pathway.

[Anonymous]

Have her get a job at a nursing home. Exposure to old people will be informative.

[Anonymous]

Not answering the question you asked but when it comes time to pick a school, be aware some schools are direct admit into nursing and others you have to apply to the nursing program after 2 or 3 semesters at the university. And at some of those schools the competition to get into the nursing program is pretty tough. You basically need straight A's in the core classes they look at.

For students who do not get into nursing, they will pursue Health Sciences degrees and then will go to a program post grad to get the nursing degree. Mason and GWU offer these programs. It gets you to the same point as graduating undergrad with a BSN, but it will probably cost you $60K or so more this way.

Finally, in this area and I assume most metro areas, the hospital systems are looking for the BSN over an RN.