So, You Want To Pursue A Career Within Nursing?

Considering a career in nursing? Browse your options

Guest article by Nichole Williams

The best piece of advice I can give anyone who wants to become a nurse or any professional within the healthcare sector is to fully educate yourself on how to get there. The main key in all of this is to get into a career that is some-what closely related to the one that you want. Great “stepping stones” or entry-level positions to obtain experience are by working as a nurse or medical technician. One of the wonderful benefits of acquiring this experience is the opportunity to work along with nurses and physicians to learn the trade. It’s certainly a good thing to learn as much as you can about the field and go to school for that profession of interest.

Although getting accepted to any nursing program can be a rigorous task, luckily some programs will love the fact that a person does have some prior experience within the healthcare field. Sometimes your experience can be substituted for a required course that’s needed in the program. When it comes to selecting the right nursing school, there are a few programs to be aware of and to consider. The three program options are Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Associate Science in Nursing (ASN) and the Bachelor Science in Nursing (BSN). The LPN route usually takes about a year to complete, the ASN program can be completed within two to three years and the BSN is a four-year program.

Taking your first two years of college will increase your changes of being accepted. Most nursing and medical schools grant admission to those who have the required science, math and English courses completed by the school’s application deadline. These courses are often Anatomy and Physiology, Statistics, Nutrition and Chemistry/Biology with labs. If you can, I would recommend taking the required courses for admission as soon as possible. The fastest way of getting all of the required courses out of the way is by completing them online. I was able to complete about two courses in about four to six weeks than the average whole semester. A good thing to look into is The College-Level Examination Program or CLEP examinations where if you know enough about a subject, you will just go to your nearest testing site and take that examination for a college credit. Since the first two years of college is solely based on general education courses, it’s the fastest and cheapest way to complete them in a timely manner.

Making great grades in all courses is critical. The majority of nursing programs will rate their applicants based on many factors including the applicant’s overall grade point average in health- related courses, healthcare experience and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or CPR certification. In addition to the above requirements, life experiences, the number of courses completed and scores from nursing entrance examinations can all be taken into consideration.

Once you have completed your program, you will be on your way to a wonderful career in nursing!