Deciding to go to nursing school is a big step, but only a tiny part of actually preparing for schooling. Before you step foot in a classroom, there are certain things you’ll want to look into.
Apply to nursing school the right way. -photo:freedigitalphotos.net
1. Pick Your Nursing School Path
There are several direction you can take within the nursing profession. For starters, there are licensed practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses and registered nurses, to name a few. If you want to get in at the entry level and spend between one an two years in school, becoming an LPN is a good choice. To become an RN, you are likely looking at three or four years of schooling.
2. Find an Accredited Nursing School
While there are plenty of nursing programs out there, you’ll want to find a quality accredited program in your area. Accreditation basically means a school can live up to their hype. These schools passed strict standards of excellence to earn the accreditation of a national agency.
With unaccredited schools, it really is a crap-shoot. While some may be able to prepare you to pass the proper licensing exams, odds are most non-accredited schools will leave you with a worthless degree or certificate and plenty of debt.
3. Apply
Once you find a great school, it’s time to submit that application. It’s important to remember that this isn’t always free, so pay close attention to the application guidelines. If you neglect to supply crucial application materials, it result in a rejection, although most schools are pretty cool, and will let you submit the missing stuff. But why take chances, right?
Each nursing school will have its own set of application guidelines, so if you are applying to more than one, don’t assume you can just submit the same stuff to all three.
4. Get Organized
Once your accepted, you’ll have some time to get yourself together and ensure you are completely prepared for nursing school. This means putting your social endeavors on hold – or at east scaling back.
First and foremost, come up with a budget and financial plan. Odds are you won’t be working full time during school and you’ll need to make that part-time budget stretch. Find out what kind of financial aid is available through your school to help cover tuition and books.
Next, figure out how much money you’ll earn in school and how much of that will go toward food, bills and other necessities. Try to leave a little cash for the fun stuff, you’ll need a break every now and again.
5. Get Your Nursing School Supplies
The school you choose probably has a list of supplies you’ll need somewhere – they probably even sent you one. Before that first day, make sure you have all the supplies you need to be successful. If you show up unprepared on the first day, you can pretty much bet it’ll take you all semester to get back in the good graces of your professors.
6. Put Yourself on the Right Eating and Sleeping Schedule
If you aren’t eating and sleeping right, nursing school is going to be miserable. You’re going to be dealing with some complex and tough coursework. The first step in sharpening you mind is cutting out the junk food.Next, make sure you are getting eight hours of sleep and stick to it.