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- Apr 21, 2001
lots of questions, so lets just start from the beginning.
you could get your RN from a junior college. that would mean that you have to have your pre-reqs finished before applying, not including the other classesneeded to fulfill the Associates of Science. The reason why many people opt for private colleges for RN is because of the waiting list (2 years or more at JCs)Although you could get in sooner, the cons is the cost, $30-$40k, minimum. (Westcoast, Concordia in Irvine, USC, etc)
When you get into the RN program, after your first semester, you are eligible to do CNA work at a hospital. CNA programs right now are only a semesterlong.
If you choose to pursue more after obtaining your RN, you could go to a bachelor's or master's program. For a bachelor's I've heard youcould do the accelerated program in a year or two (Mt St Mary's). For a master's program, there are accelerated programs that you could do in 36 months(Cal State Fullerton) - which is a Nurse Anesthesist Program. However, you have to have at least 1 year of critical care experience before applying for it.
As an LVN, you could do the bridge program into RN, which takes about a year (Westcoast college)
So what's the best way? Depends on your situation. If you want to get your career started, go private college and hope to score big on the scholarships,which usually have stipulations like committing yourself to the hospital that is going to pay for your tuition (2 year minimum)
If you could wait, go JC. But more importantly, ask yourself if you really want to do this. Ive seen so many people wait and wait, do the pre-reqs, get intothe nursing program, only to do their first floor care rotation and drop out coz they couldnt handle the sight of blood, smell of poop, and so on. Any hospitaljob is good to pick up, or even ask to shadow an RN for a day...
