How to Become a Nurse: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Very important disclaimer -

Be mindful that every University or college may have slightly different requirements. I speak from the point of view of an academic advisor at a state college that is located in central Florida.

Florida has a law in place that allows students who attended public high school students all four years to go right into college level English (ENC1101 English Composition I) and right into intermediate algebra (MAT1033 Intermediate Algebra), regardless of any previous SAT, ACT or PERT scores. Some students may have the test score to bypass intermediate algebra, allowing them to go into college algebra. This specific testing exemption does not apply to students who graduated from high schools in other states, or other countries, or students who went to a private high school or were homeschooled. This just simply means that these types of students would need to provide test scores of some kind and then be placed into classes based on their test scores.

For the nursing associate in science degree program at the state college that I work at, it takes about two semesters to get through nursing prerequisites. After the nursing prerequisites and the TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) exam are completed, then the student is ready to submit their limited access application to try and get in to the nursing degree program, which is two years long. There are three main things that are important when the nursing applications are reviewed.

1. Nursing prerequisite GPA (45% of what is weighted)

2. TEAS composite test scores (50% of what is weighted)

3. County residence (5% of what is weighted)

Below would be a potential academic plan for a student who wants to have a nursing pathway.

First Semester - Fall - August - December

BSC 1085 Human Anatomy & Physiology I (3 credits)

BSC 1085L Human Anatomy & Physiology I Lab (1 credit)

MAT1033 Intermediate Algebra (4 credits)

ENC1101 English Comp I (3 credits)

PSY1012 Intro to Psychology (3 credits)

Total credits: 14 Full time student

~ ~ ~

Second Semester - Spring - January - May

MCB2010 Microbiology (3 credits)

MCB2010L Microbiology Lab (1 credit)

MAC1105 College Algebra (3 credits)

HUN2201 Science of Human Nutrition (3 credits)

HUM1020 Intro to Humanities (3 credits)

Total credits: 13 - Full time student

~ ~ ~

Some students may choose to submit their application during their second semester, with their pending prerequisites. Some colleges allow for this and some want all prerequisites to be fully completed first. The college I work had has changed this policy back and forth a few times over the, nearly thirteen, years that I have been working at the college. The italicized and bolded courses above are the nursing prerequisites. They are the most important classes and if A's in all of them are obtained, then a student would have a 4.0 prerequisite GPA. As far as the common range of composite TEAS test scores that I tend to see for students who do end up getting accepted, it ranges from around a score of 69-82, however, I am happy if I see that students are in the mid 70's for their TEAS exam scores.

If a student wants to take summer classes, then they could take the following to keep their momentum with their nursing course requirements.

Third Semester - Summer - May - July

BSC1086 Human Anatomy and Physiology II (3 credits)

BSC1086L Human Anatomy and Physiology II Lab (1 credit)

The summer term is only 10 weeks, so I don't recommend that students take anything else in the summer and A & P II with the lab is pushing it in some cases, depending on the students summer plans.

If the student gets officially accepted into the nursing Associate in Science Nursing program for the fall, then they would get to take their Fundamentals of Nursing lecture and clinical. It would take two years to progress through the program and grades of B's or higher are needed once a student gets to that point. The nursing degree program doesn't have summer courses once they're in the actual nursing degree program.

Again, keep in mind every college or university differs with their requirements. Some colleges want chemistry for example, whereas the college I work at does not require chemistry courses for the nursing degree. However, the TEAS exam does have chemistry related questions on it.

If you are thinking about entering a nursing degree program, here are some great questions to ask the admissions and academic advising department.

• How long is your nursing degree program?

• Are there front ended prerequisites and what are they?

• Is there a recommend GPA requirement?

• Is the TEAS exam a requirement?

• How much does the entire degree program cost and how much does it cost per credit?

• Does the nursing degree lead into a BSN degree option?

• Is there a expiration timeframe of how long the classes will be good for before I may have to retake them?

• What is the pass rate for the students who finish the nursing curriculum and take the NCLEX-RN?