I agree with @Mwfan1921 . There are some prospective majors where a “safety school” or sure thing is more difficult to find. I mentioned my performing arts kid. That kid had no real “safety” schools because his admission on his instrument was based on the strength of his audition, and also compared to the others doing auditions on his instrument. For him, he had decided that if he did not get accepted to any of the 7 programs where he auditioned, he would rethink his entire college plan.
The allied health professions are challenging for admissions anyway. Those wishing to enter these professions (Nursing is one, but there is OT, PT, Speech/Language…I’d add PA to this) need to have a plan B to attain their goal. Not all will get accepted to direct entry programs, and that doesn’t mean they aren’t terrific students.
So maybe in your case, the “safety” will be a program that is not direct entry. I agree that looking at your instate options would be beneficial. Many states have these programs in hopes they will be able to fill nursing jobs in their state from the grads.
I’m including two links here. The first is for the nursing major forum here on CC. You will find some info there.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/nursing-major/
This second link is related to careers in medicine, and there are not a lot of nursing questions but there are some.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/careers-medicine/
And lastly, if any programs of interest have early action (not early decision) or rolling admissions…get those done very soon after the applications open. If your prospective nurse gets an earlier acceptance, the edge will be off!