Sarah
So you want to be nurse. Maybe you made that decision yesterday and your just starting to look into making that a reality. Or it's been your lifelong dream and your about to step into your freshman year as a nursing student. Your head is filled with images of drawing blood, putting in IVs, rushing in to help a coding patient. But, before you can learn all of that you have to make it through your nursing pre-requisite requirements. After all, you need to know the science behind every skill you perform. You have to know how to articulate your ideas and math equations so you can communicate with patients and safely administer medication. So, lets break down the classes you have to take before nursing school officially begins.
The Sciences
The way I like to look at the science pre-requisites is that they all flow in a sequence. First, you start with general chemistry I and II. You also need to take an introductory biology course which leads you into taking microbiology. Combined your intro chemistry and biology classes allows you to take anatomy and physiology I and II. My biggest tip for acing the sciences is to keep your notes. What you learn in chemistry I will come up again in chemistry II, then anatomy and physiology, and then again in your core nursing classes.
Psychology
Nursing is all about working with people, understanding their behavior as well as how their brains and nervous systems work. Like the above science classes the two psychology classes you need flow into each other. You need an introductory psych course which then gets built upon in developmental psychology. These class will have a lot of information and memorization but YouTube channels such as Crash Course are full of concise videos with tricks to remember all of details.
Statistics
You cannot escape nursing school without doing math and you will need a statistics course to start. Review sessions, extra practice problems, and going to office hours can help get you through some particularly difficult problems in the class.
Composition
Perhaps the broadest category, you will need two composition (aka writing) courses before you can start your core nursing classes. This can be a great opportunity to explore and take classes in subjects you never considered before or to fit in classes for a minor. But if you are not a writer, don't worry. This can also be a great way to improve your abilities and take introductory writing courses that will prepare you for papers in nursing school. The best advice for taking a class in a subject you struggle with- talk to the Professor. Going to them early allows them to help set you up for success in their class.
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