Hey, I am a 30 years old man and want to change careers and get into the medical field.... RN to be specific. I have to go back to school, obviously, and am trying to find the best way to do that. I talked to a national guard recruiter today about the options they have and am wondering if there are other ways of getting school paid, like they do. I will have to start from the beginning because the couple years I had in 99 and 00 don't count anymore because of the how long its been.... what should I do? Oh ya and I have a wife and two young boys to take care of;)
Since you are a guy, I would look into scholarships and grants that are geared to guys. I remember one of my classmates got a scholarship from a fraternal order one time, but I don't quite remember if being a guy had anything to do with it. If I could remember the name of the group I would give it to you. One source of scholarships is the local chapter of the auxiliary of the county AMA. Go to the nursing department of the local schools and look on the bulletin boards for flyers about scholarships and other financial aid.
Best bet to become an RN is to get a BSN from a four year institution. You can take the prerequisite classes at the local community college, then transfer to the four year school for nursing school. This saves money. Alternatively, get an ASN from a community college nursing program. Most people apply to all nursing schools in their nearby area and attend the school that accepts them. So, first do your homework for all the local schools to find out their individual prerequisite requirements and application process. Start taking courses, freshman English, math, chemistry, anatomy, psychology, etc. You will find that the prereqs are pretty much the same for all the schools with only one or two differences here and there. Find time to talk to the nursing school counselor and you are on your way. Assume you will keep on working, so you probably need to look into internet, weekend, and evening courses to get started. When you start actual nursing courses, you will have to adjust your working accordingly. Make an appointment to talk to the financial aid people, fill out the paperwork, and see what kind of financial aid you can come up with. Good luck.