I've only been on this site for about an hour and I am already blown away by the information being shared and support being offered, especially to the "newbies"
I always wanted to go into nursing but never understood how I was going to afford tuition, books, etc... I knocked on the admissions counselors door two years ago, have already completed my Bachelor's in Psych and am one month into a "Graduate Entry Program" at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Nursing for my MSN. I had to complete all the nursing pre-req's (which helped me finish my bachelor, by the way!) and then applied directly to the MSN program.
The "Graduate Entry Programs" are just starting to pop up around the country. I chose the one that is a direct conduit to the MSN. Other programs are directed to a BSN and are much shorter.
The first 15 months of the GEP @ UIC is an intensive basic nurses training with a heavy clinical portion. They "suggest" that you don't work during this phase. I can't imagine anyone surviving the workload if they had to hold down a job, too! At the end of the first phase, you sit for the NCLEX. Pass it on the first try (please!!) and then start working as a RN. You then continue part-time to complete the Masters.
Only hitch to this program is that you have to declare your MSN specialty upon application. Kind of rough if you really don't know what kind of nursing you want to do. I declared "Adult-Nurse Practitioner" with a clinical focus in HIV and a post-graduate certificate in Palliative Care.
Like a lot of posts I have already read, nursing is not my first career. I am 43 years old and was a Police Sergeant with 13 years. But, being a cop just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I wanted the ability to move and find work anywhere I went, I want to travel... can't do that as a cop.
So, ****O! Great Forum! Thanks for having this.
I always wanted to go into nursing but never understood how I was going to afford tuition, books, etc... I knocked on the admissions counselors door two years ago, have already completed my Bachelor's in Psych and am one month into a "Graduate Entry Program" at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Nursing for my MSN. I had to complete all the nursing pre-req's (which helped me finish my bachelor, by the way!) and then applied directly to the MSN program.
The "Graduate Entry Programs" are just starting to pop up around the country. I chose the one that is a direct conduit to the MSN. Other programs are directed to a BSN and are much shorter.
The first 15 months of the GEP @ UIC is an intensive basic nurses training with a heavy clinical portion. They "suggest" that you don't work during this phase. I can't imagine anyone surviving the workload if they had to hold down a job, too! At the end of the first phase, you sit for the NCLEX. Pass it on the first try (please!!) and then start working as a RN. You then continue part-time to complete the Masters.
Only hitch to this program is that you have to declare your MSN specialty upon application. Kind of rough if you really don't know what kind of nursing you want to do. I declared "Adult-Nurse Practitioner" with a clinical focus in HIV and a post-graduate certificate in Palliative Care.
Like a lot of posts I have already read, nursing is not my first career. I am 43 years old and was a Police Sergeant with 13 years. But, being a cop just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I wanted the ability to move and find work anywhere I went, I want to travel... can't do that as a cop.
So, ****O! Great Forum! Thanks for having this.