Daughter wants to be a nurse?

[Momof2sons]

Agree with goingtobebroke--being a nurse has given me a fulfilling career, always changing, always challenging. When my children were young I had alot of flexibility with my schedule so I could have lots of time.

I still give direct care and am making 135k per year plus full benefits, pension

[Karen Colleges]

Re: 'the little white cap': I am old enough to have friends who's main criteria for choosing a particular nursing school was how cute the cap was!

I assume those days are long gone.

[Treetopleaf]

acute shortage of nursing professors

Money could solve that. My neighbor has a kid in a school that had 3 nursing professor openings for which she qualified. Taking into account the salary they would offer, plus the tuition benefit for her kid, she was still better off remaining in her current employment.

How would you nurses characterize the nursing curriculum vrs. say a biology major?

[ShanghaiMom]

There are so many different types of nursing programs out there so a little research is required. Some of the options:

4 year BSN programs - admitted as a freshman
UPenn, UMich, Boston College, NYU, Georgetown
UPenn offers sub-matriculation into Masters degree so you can earn double credits for some coursework and get a jump start on graduate work

Nursing school but related degrees like International Health:
Georgetown (nice appeal if you aren't sure you want to be a traditional nurse)

2 year BSN programs with applications for Jr year:
Emory

2/3 MSN program - 5 years but graduate with MSN (nurse practioner): Vanderbilt

3/2 program (Liberal Arts/Nursing)- start undergrad at one school then complete 2 years nursing at another: Wheaton College (has deal with Vanderbilt, Emory, Case Western, Johns Hopkins)

2nd degree masters - for those who have a first degree in another field (bridge programs):
Michigan, Penn, Columbia - lots of schools!

Many of the universities that used to have undergrad programs now only offer masters - Columbia, Cornell, Vanderbilt

In the end my daughter decided that she wanted a school where she would start in nursing right away - she went with the understanding that if she found out that nursing was not a fit she could transfer to another major. As we live abroad she had not had opportunities to work or volunteer in the health care field so had very little experience. She was very interested in Georgetown's International Health program but it's a very small program (30 admitted) and she ended up on the wait list.
During her first semester at Penn in her Intro to Nursing class everyone gets to shadow a nurse for a day That experience helped confirm that she was in the right program.

[Momof2sons]

RE: Science requirements
At CWRU School of nursing , we took Anatomy with the med students
In addition, our first year curriculum included biochem, immunology, pharmacology, pathophysiology

[mini]

My wife is a hospice nurse. She wanted to be a nurse, not a doctor's assistant. She wanted to work directly with patients AND with their families. She provides treatment plans and recommendations to the docs, usually over the phone, and for the most part they rubberstamp them.

She has an AA degree. Admissions to her 2-year program are significantly more difficult than getting into any 4-year BSN program I know of, including Penn (under 10% admitted, solely on the basis of college pre-req courses). In fact, the rejects from her program often end up in the 4-year program at UW.

[JustAMomOf4]

Very interesting conversation here -

To the OP - your daughter sounds wonderful and goal minded.

My daughter broke the news last summer about her desire to pursue Nursing - her ultimate goal is to be a Nurse practitioner.

We have been looking at BSN programs - and we have found they are not all equal. In some BSN programs the students take Nursing classes right away as freshmen and in others you take two years of liberal arts and your sciences then apply to the Nursing program as a junior and finally get to take a Nursing class.
She and I both wanted the former. In all the schools she applied to (6) she will be exposed to Nursing as a career and practice as a freshman.

She applied to one school with an AA in Nursing and a BSN - the kids basically get their AA/RN after two year then spend the last two years getting their BSN. She likes this idea because she can work summers and part time per diem as an RN while getting her BSN. Working in college is a requirement for my kids for financial reasons - this seems like a better option than Starbucks.

Note - the Nursing school programs that are ranked by USNews - it is the Graduate schools that are ranked - not the undergrad program.

I have also found that the Directors of nursing at most of the schools are very willing to talk and sell you their program - they are looking for top students!

One more things - at a regular visit with her specialist physician (one who has seen her through 3 years of health problems) told her right now the very "best" program to get into is a Nurse Anesthetist. Very high demand right now - excellent pay.

[JustAMomOf4]

just went back and reread the op....

difference between nursing and pre med - IMO ... money and time. Don't know what her ultimate goal is but she can be a nurse practitioner in 6 years. much longer for a physician.

her intellect and skills won't be wasted. Many many nurses are very bright individuals and their are many levels of a nursing career.

East Coast - U Penn, Johns Hopkins, Pitt., VCU Many good schools in Boston -

We looked at school and the hospitals they used for clinical. My dau didn't have a chance at J Hopkins - but she is applying to a school that uses that hospital in the clinicals.

I don't know if there is any evidence that nursing programs with excellent grad programs also have the "best" BSN programs. If she has a idea of a specialty - see where the grad programs are and where they draw from.

[wis75]

Physicians and nurses are different in their patient care outlooks, totally different fields so it is not surprising to like one and not the other; there are also many different types of nursing. There are many different colleges offering nursing- consider where she wants to work eventually, she will have to pass her nursing boards in that state. Do not think the "best", think best fit for college, just like any other major. Consider family finances as well. And, of course, get the BSN, not just the RN. After a few years of working it will not matter where she got her nursing training so be sure she goes to the college with all the other best fit aspects- a full college experience, not just the nursing school. Good luck to her.

Just read the above post- all the nursing specialties are still nursing, they are not substitutes for physicians although the NP's may be used as physician extenders. Premed is the intention to go to medical school, the required science courses for medical school are not even the same as those required for nursing. Going into nursing is a conscience choice, not a substitute for becoming a physician, different personalities are required for success in each field.

[LurkNessMonster]

I don't know much about nursing, but with your daughter's ACT score, she would probably qualify for a full-tuition scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh and maybe a nursing scholarship also. The Pitt nursing program is supposed to be top-notch. My daughter is a Pitt freshman, and one of her friends is studying to be a nurse. D says that the workload is rough, but that the nursing students have a study group, and they get together in the dorm lounge to review together. I know that the Pitt medical center has a great reputation, with many cutting-edge treatments developed there.

[JustAMomOf4]

wis75 - agree completely......

I admit I was rather poor with words..... will add -many young people want to go into medicine and practice. They only know about being a physician.

Exploring nursing and the many options available - nurse practitoner, nurse midwife, nurse anesthetist etc ... opens many eyes to see an alternative.
Perhaps this was their goal all along and just didn't know it was there.

I might add - there are also many specialties available. Some nurse practitioners specialize in pediatrics and others acute care.

The point is - the options are varied and reaching the goal - i.e. actually working in the field is much quicker with nursing.

[JustAMomOf4]

The Pitt Nursing program is excellent - very selective and difficult to get into.

[mmaah]

I was excited to find this thread. My daughter is a h.s. junior and recently said she might be interested in nursing. (She's been working in a local community clinic) She resolutely resists most discussions of career or college (Mom, I'm still in high school; I'll get to it, don't worry) and I learned in the process with her brother that keeping the duct tape on my mouth is actually a good choice. (Thank god for this board so I can re-direct myself...)
Anyway, I am a big fan of the LAC for undergrad--and my kids seem to want to stay in the western US--so are there any good nursing or combined tracks west of the Mississippi that have a liberal arts foundation?

[Momof2sons]

With the current shortage of nurses another consideration is that many hospitals will offer college loan forgiveness for a committment to work for "x" number of years at their hospital. Not a bad deal at all

mmaah---while not west of the Missisippi, I think Case Western has a combined LAC to BSN program. I took a similar route at Case---I earned a BA in Psychology and BioChemistry at a LAC and then went to CWRU for nursing...
It was wonderful preparation for what has been a very fulfilling career--

[Momof2sons]

Another plug for Case Western. All BSN students receive the "Bolton Scholarship"
Here is the scoop:

Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing Scholarship
The Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing offers scholarships of $10,600 or $15,800 to members of the entering freshman class ('07-'08) in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. It is renewed at the same level each year (maximum of four years) that the student remains in the B.S.N. program.