Going for RN....possible to NP

First, good for you for doing so well in Chemistry! I did not have to re-take it but, I barely got through with a C!

Nursing school IS hard work and requires time, energy and commitment.
I'm sure you can find a program that requires minimal clinical hours and a lot of online work. But as Jo and Ina commented, nurses who do that, not only are not thought highly of, but your options are limited.

I graduated from an ADN program in 1986. I was not married, but worked full-time and went to school full time, because that's how I HAD to do it. I did find an RN to BSN program which I finished in 1994. At that time, I was still working full time, married, with a 3 year old and pregnant. And Ina was correct that I found a college that was close and convenient. My BSN program also required clinicals. Now I was given some credit for already being a working RN with some management experience, but still had to attend classes, develop clinical plans, do research projects and do more clinicals. But to get credit for what I had already done, I had to write a proposal on why I thought I deserved to get credit for whatever. Nursing management is a perfect example, I had to write a multi-page proposal outlining my management experience in the hospital. How I scheduled staff. Dealt with difficult patients. How I dealt with employee issues and conflict management, etc. *Both degrees were from accredited colleges.

Some of the classes may be easier for you, but like you mentioned in your some others may be really tough. Personally, I found A&P easy because it was concrete, psychology not so much. Microbiology is tough, but Pathophysiology is REALLY tough!

And honestly, no one likes to work nights, weekends or holidays. But people don't want to be sick, have emergency surgery, have accidents and yes even die a those times either. Most people go into nursing because they truly care about people and want to take care of them, which does mean 24/7 in some situations. I worked in a hospital 13 years on all shifts and worked all holidays over the years. You were off Thanksgiving OR Christmas. Not both. And what ever you were off one year you worked the next.

After I left the hospital, I worked in a lung specialists office for another 4 years. OK, no weekends or holidays, but no days off during the week either. No field trips, no school lunches, no PTA meetings, etc. *I was the only nurse and clinic manager. I also have been self employed as a clinical research coordinator and nurse analyst. But you are still at the mercy of your clients.
I suppose you could look into school nursing. You'd have all the holidays off, but be taking care of other kids when yours are doing things you may want to attend.

As far as the changes in healthcare, I'm not sure anyone knows what is going to happen. But I doubt pay will go down. As far as the Master's programs, they've been talking about that 30 years and it still hasn't happened. Don't listen to the 'what if's' and just work on your goals.

Have you spoken to an academic advisor? They would be able to answer all of your questions regarding clinicals, how much time it takes etc....
Fact is that requirements for licensing and the BSN vary ever so slightly between states and different schools.
At the college I used to work at and at the university where I am a student now there are no part-time options at all once you are in the program (clinicals). You can take the pre-reqs however you want (PT, online, in class) but once you are admitted to clinicals (which is highly competitive by the way) it is full time on campus/in hospital.
Your school or target school for the BSN may have other options available, but you will simply have to ask them to find out.

A BSN, if you start from scratch (no associate degree) is a full fledged 4 year degree if you do it full time. My school has an RN to BSN option that takes 2 years full time, but you must be a licensed RN to start. I do not think that getting a BSN in 2-3 years while taking classes part time is realistic.

Sure, there are jobs for RN's that don't require wacky hours - but I don't know that you should count on getting such a job straight out of school. I would say that it is probably realistic that the majority of jobs require shifts, weekends and holidays and when you are fresh out of school you usually get stuck with the least desirable shift. That's just a reality for all starting positions that you will have to live with until you have a few years of experience under your belt and can be more choosy.

From my experience going back to school I would advise you to anticipate that it will be harder and take longer than you anticipate. Some semesters will be harder than others, there may be many evenings or weekends where you will have to tell your kids that mommy can't play because she has to study...

One more thing about being an adult student is the reality that most of us are placebound. Other than a 19 year old with no family most of us cannot just pack up and move to a school that accepts us, given that we need to stay where we have childcare, a spouse with a job, maybe a house we own. This will limit you to the schools in a realistic commuting distance from your home.
That is where I would start if I where you. Go see an advisor that the schools that you can actually attend and find out about their programs.

And I want to echo Jo's sentiment - don't get a worthless, overpriced degree at an online school. No serious NP program will accept you with that. Stick with an accredited university or college.

Good luck.

I don't know about clinicals...but as for Microbiology and A&P...I think if you did fine in Chemistry, you will probably do fine in these too. To me, all the science classes were about the same in terms of how 'hard' they were. And the labs aren't that bad...in A&P usually you're dissecting something and in Micro you're usually growing some sort of bacteria. I think the social sciences (Psych & Sociology) are a cake walk compared to the above science classes.
Good Luck!

I would think Chem would be more difficult but we all have out niche. Mine was A&P. I ate that one up. Lots of things to memorize and the best tool to do that are colored pencils.

Sociology and Psych are cakewalks.

As far as the job.. work for a Dr's office
ETA forgot, Der's offices do not hire RNs maybe a school nurse?

When I was in nursing school, I did not have a life outside of school. I was lucky my husband completely took over most of my responsiblities so that I could stay dedicated to my nursing education. Clinicals are tough the instructors are usually tough, no nonsense and sometimes down right mean - In the long run this prepares you for real life - It is boot camp! I loved it!

If you love to memorize things then you will not have any trouble with A&P it is memory based learning. Microbiology is easy because it is so interesting. The part I hated most was clinical because I couldn't stand the way the instructors were on top of every move you made. In clinical, You will be fine if you research every last thing about your patients condition, and know everything about their past medical history and the medications that they are taking, Again, with your memory skills this should be easy for you.
I worked as a CNA prior to nursing school so I had a heads up on the clinical aspect - I felt comfortable in the hospital setting and comfortable providing personal care to patients.

Psycology was so boring - I thought it would be very interesting, it's not. It didn't help that I had such a dry, boring professor. Loved sociology - Now that is interesting. I love to figure what makes people tick, so I was surprised by how boring psych was.

You have to pay your dues and work the holidays - If you don't take your turn, the other nurses will notice and give you hell for it and besides it is required. Nurses can be tough on each other. Most of the M-F, 9-5, no holiday nursing jobs are for experienced nurses - Nursing is a profession that you really need to pay your dues and work on the floor in order to get the best experience. The easy jobs are for seasoned nurses. Nursing is fast paced and stressful - I love that - but not everyone does.

On the bright side, many times you can switch holidays with co-workers. I have always been able to switch my Christmas for another holiday because there is always a nurse that does not have kids or who does not celebrate Christmas and they are happy to work that day and get the double time, sometimes triple time that is paid for some of the holidays.

No, Nurses salaries are not going to decrease or stay the same.

It will be easy to get your BSN while working, there are many online programs that are great.

You are wise to work as an RN before getting your NP - The best NP's have worked the floor prior to advancing their degree.

No they are not doing away with master programs

I am going for my dental hygiene degree - the pre reqs are very similar, I did Eng comp and rhet 1 and 2, chem, A&P 1 and 2, math up to algebra, sociology, psych, micro, I got A's in everything.
I did the sociology and psych as 3 week minimesters online, they were piss easy, I also did my Englishes and maths online, they were a little tougher - try and find courses online that will let you do your exams open book online, check rate my professor and see what others say. The associates in nursing is very similar to the associates in DH, in that we have a LOT of clinical time, I am in clinic 3 full days a week, and I go in everyday from 7.30 to 5, except Friday thank the lord. My husband has to help me out, and my mother in law, because sometimes I physically cannot get to my kids before the daycare shuts.
I looked extensively into nursing, but for a woman with a young family, to me it was not an attainable thing - you have to work nights and weekends, especially at the beginning, 12 hour shifts, but everyone is different, you may cope with that just fine. If you already have your associates in nursing then you can do your RN to BSN online, it is EXPENSIVE!! though, but it is almost totally online, you just have to go in for clinical seminars here and there. Pay will never go down for nurses, there is too large of a body of intelligent women, for them to let that happen - another good thing about the nursing profession, strength in numbers!
Good luck!

After reading Jo W answer I just want to add that doing your BSN online is not half assing it, it is no different to doing a BSN in the classroom. Your employer is not going to mind whether you did your degree online or not. Seeing as about 50% of nurses do their RN to BSN online, they would be finding difficulty recruiting staff if they only chose nurses that did their degrees in a classroom.

You're obviously working toward getting a 4 year degree. There are nursing programs that don't require all the humanities that you are taking. Some can be done in 2 years.

The clinical work you do for nursing is the most important and you simply cannot miss. You'll have to have childcare and a backup to childcare. It's THAT important.

When you get your first job in nursing, the hospital work will give you lots of experience and hone your skills. Yes, you'll have a crazy schedule at first, but the more seniority you have, the better your schedule will be (the new people have the worst schedules.) Some people actually like 3rd shift because they get paid more and night time is usually quieter in the hospital. (Not counting the ER.) Some people like working weekends (like in ICU or ER) and then don't work during the week. When you're tired of working in the hospital, perhaps you can get a job in a school as the school nurse. Not as much money, but you'd have your children's schedule.

You cannot be wishing not to work holidays if you work in a hospital. Not as a new employee. Doctor's office, yes. Hospital, no. Don't go into nursing if this is the most important thing to you.

The last thing that I want to say is that it's easy to lose your skills by not working in a hospital. Once you move to a school or an office setting, you'd need to do continuing ed to get those skills back (IV's, etc.) Some nurses who lose those skill sets never go back, and they don't make a whole lot of money.

Good luck,
Dawn