Registered Nurse Prerequisites

If you like taking care of sick people and assisting in their recovery, a career in nursing would be a good option for you.  A degree in nursing is required for entering the medical profession as a nurse.  But to acquire this degree you will have to make sure you have the necessary nursing prerequisites.

To start with, all aspiring nurses must be high school graduates or possess a GED.  Not just that, they need to maintain an excellent grade point average when they are in high school besides attending classes like biology and health science that are pertinent to a nursing major.

You will have to start out with either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in nursing.  Acquiring an associate’s degree could help in getting admission into bachelor’s degree programs that sometimes have really long waiting lists.  However, the associate’s as well as bachelor’s programs offer classroom experience and also clinical practice as part of their curriculum.

To make sure you have the necessary prerequisites, plan your course of study with the help of your school counselor, preferably one who is knowledgeable about what is required for obtaining a nursing degree.  If you fail to take any of the essential courses, you will have to spend the summer in college completing them.

Unfortunately, most universities and colleges offer only a limited number of courses in the summer.  So if the course you overlooked is not provided in the summer, you will have to wait till the Fall or Spring semester to complete the missing class.  Students who are faced with such a problem should talk to their guidance counselor and find out if a similar course available at another university would be accepted in place of the missing nursing prerequisite.  Moreover, nowadays many colleges and universities offer LPN Nursing classes online.  Hence, you could also discuss this option with your guidance counselor.  But either way, you will require the written permission of your counselor or your program director for attending an outside school for making such classes count in place of the missing nursing prerequisites.

No matter if you are going back to college, moving from one community college to another one, or going to college straight from high school, you will have to fulfill certain nursing prerequisites for obtaining your nursing degree.  Each nursing college or university may have has their own specific course prerequisites, but nearly all of them require nursing candidates to satisfactorily complete courses in:

• Nutrition (3 credits)
• Anatomy and Physiology (6-8 credits)
• Microbiology (4 credits)
• Chemistry (4 credits)
• Statistics (3 credits)
• Psychology (3 credits)
• Sociology (3 credits)

However, some institutions permit certain courses to be replaced by others such as Psychology, Economics, or some type of Math course in place of Statistics. Also, most of them will permit a small number of relevant transfer credits from some other accredited school in case students don’t meet all the requirements.  But it is primarily the responsibility of the student to check if such courses satisfy the new school’s nursing prerequisites.

Tips – How to Write Nursing School Admission Essay?

It is not uncommon to find that most nursing schools have a long waiting list of candidates seeking admission.  For those interested in becoming nurses, this situation creates even  more pressure to come up with a unique nursing school admission essay, something that will help them stand out from the hordes of nursing aspirants.

Some nursing schools call it a nursing school admission essay, others may call it a statement of purpose, a letter of intent, or a personal essay.  But it all signifies the same thing.  The school just wants you to clarify why you want to become a nurse, what qualities you have that will help you make a fine nurse, and why they should admit you into their nursing program.

Unless you’re interested in research, it is not really your duty to tell anyone in the nursing school something that they don’t know.  After all, they are the professionals who are going to educate you.  Also, your admission essay should  not include a  debate on issues in the nursing field.  The essay  is not about expressing your views but about how you would be successful in their nursing program and by making a great nurse how you would represent their program creditably.

It is most important to accentuate your personal qualities in your admission essay, specially those that are essential for a nursing career.  Since your main duties as a nurse will involve caring for patients and serving their needs, you could include a short story about any experience of  volunteering or about a nurse or patient you met who helped you see  that the nursing field was best suited to you.  Your essay should also show you have the ability to work hard and under pressure, and also learn and obey orders well.

People often have to grapple with problems like going through college with a family and having a full time job as well, which could be the reason for their poor performance in exams. So if you got a low grade or a low GPA during a particular semester due to some specific event that most probably won’t be repeated, then go ahead and tell the nursing school about this. Just be  succinct and don’t try to elicit sympathy.  Remember it will be harder to justify years of getting low grades than just one semester’s poor performance.

At the same time, if there is anything significant that could not be included in the rest of your application, like for example that you are a single mother raising three children, or that you had lost a loved one and that this affected your performance, do provide this information through your admission essay.

In short, let your essay convince the admission committee about your personality, your genuine interest in the nursing profession, and the likelihood of your succeeding in their program and thus make a powerful first impression.  Show them that you’re the ideal candidate for their nursing program and that you will be an asset to their nursing school.

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