What do I have to do to be able to be a nurse in the future?

Hi Ricardo,

Education wise, you should go to a college with a 4 year BSN program. While you are looking at programs, look at the pass rates of the NCLEX exam. This is the exam that you must pass to be certified after school See how well the schools score in the area.

Before college, try to expose yourself to the field as much as possible. While in high school I became a CNA, or nurse's assistant which taught be alot, and really put me forward in nursing school. You can also volunteer at nursing homes and hospitals, do some shadowing,etc.

• Volunteer at a hospital. Some hospitals take high school students for volunteering. You might not end up doing anything related to nursing at that moment but at least your starting off on the right foot. While you are at it, make sure to expand your connections, in other words, meet the Nursing Recruitment Team, the HR department, and the Nurse Manager from Med/Surge.
• Make sure to graduate from high school with a decent GPA so you can have a wider door opened to possibilities.
• Research a college with good/decent statistics or passing rates. Good passing rates = Good professors = More well prepared students for NCLEX .
• Enroll in your desired college and aim towards a bachelors degree. Depending on the college, the first semester could be the hardest for multiple reasons. One of those reasons is that your college would want to wean out students that are, for a lack of word, not serious about nursing.
• Makes sure to have a study group. Specially if you are the type of student that can benefit from having your peers do some extra explanation on certain topics. Otherwise, if you think you can study better on your own, then your more than welcome to do that as well.
• Dont forget your volunteering.
• Remember that it will get worse and in time, you will feel hopeless but hard work pays off... eventually.
• Ace your nursing courses and learn from your clinicals as much as possible. Be adventurous and have the willingness and desire to learn as much as you can.
• Towards the end of your college year, keep an eye on your future hospital, the one you think you can see yourself working at. Look out for posts regarding residency programs for nurses or interview fair for new grads so you can gather your stuff together, letter of recommendations, resume, and references and get yourself ready to stand out on that potential interview when you get called.
• So get your game on and of course, dont forget to pass your NCLEX.