- Cost of Nursing
Yes, I feel like no one ever talks about the actual cost of nursing. So get your pencil, pen, spreadsheet, calculator or whatever you use because we will be working with some BIG numbers.
Depending on where you go to and how organized the program is, make sure to always ask about the financial cost of how much the program will cost. It’s unfair how expensive and unaffordable trying to achieve a higher education is these days but we gotta do what we gotta do.
First things first, you should consider and understand how much the total program will ACTUALLY COST. You have to take into consideration that pursuing your nursing education is EXPENSIVE. It doesn’t help that it’s just THAT much more when what you’re paying for isn’t actually 100% just for the education. We need to eat, drink, pay our bills, pay our mortgage/ rent, utilities, have enough gas to get to the clinical sites? Not to mention that clinical sites can be at up to 2 HOURS AWAY! WHO HAS THAT KIND OF GAS MONEY?! Okay now that I’m done ranting, let’s break down the cost of nursing.
There is a fee to start the program (at least for me). For my program I had to pay a deposit of $200 to secure a spot. You will have to pay for all your books for each semester which could cost at least $300/semester, if your school is nice enough they might sell all the books in a bundle which could make it cheaper. I was able to buy all the books I needed in a bundle that would cover all five semesters and it cost me $888.71. In order to make sure that you are able to start clinical(s), you have to pay to get a background check, this can cost anywhere from $15-50. For me it cost $70, $20 from my state background check, then the clinical site that I was assigned to had me run an additional background check that cost $50. This ensures to verify your identity, previous employment, and if you have any criminal history. You will also have to pay for a drug test. I had to pay out of pocket for my own drug test. If you have insurance that’s able to cover the specific drug test your school wants, that’s great, more money to store elsewhere. My school was specific in wanting a 10 panel drug test, which my clinic couldn’t do, so I had to pay out of pocket at a private drug testing center and it cost $58.14. Another expense that you have to consider is the nursing items that your school requires; this typically ranges from $200-$300. Mine cost $218.40 for everything that I got and I wasn’t even buying everything that I was required for my program. What sucks even more is that depending where you order from, some places don’t accept returns, so if you buy scrubs that don’t fit, you’re out of luck. If you do not have a BLS (Basic Life Support) certification you WILL have to get one. All nursing students before they start their program need to be BLS certified. The reason behind why is because if you are doing clinicals and someone is on the verge of death, you are able to perform BLS on them. The cost of BLS ranges from $60-$120, I got mine through the American Heart Association and it cost $70. If you are already working in a healthcare setting make sure to check to see if they’re willing to pay for your certification course! Please, please, please make sure to verify which certificate your school wants because you don’t want to be spending more than you should. The program is already expensive enough.
The cost of everything I spent for nursing school:
Deposit: $200
Books: $888.71
Background check: $70
Drug Test: 58.14
Nursing items: $220
BLS Certification: $70
Total: $1506.85 ← This isn’t even considering MY cost of living to stay alive
With this cost, make sure to set aside at least $1500 just to pay for the necessity nursing items!
Because we aren’t able to foresee the future of costs and living (cause we live in a time where inflation just had to kick in and everything costs 2-3x more than what it does), I would say to ballpark what the maximum amount of spending for each semester should be.
Depending on how much you will need you will probably need to take out a student loan or use your savings to cover the costs of school and living. It also is nice if you have a reliable partner or someone (sugga momma, sugga daddy) that is helping out, just saying.
- Figure out your schedule and put it in a planner, cause it will get busy (and if you are able to work)
Honest to god, I didn’t do anything until the first day of class. Heck I didn’t even buy a planner until the first day of class. If anyone’s wondering who the queen of procrastination is, she is I and I am her LOL. Classes opened on August 22, 2022, but the actual date to start class was August 29, 2022. I did NOT do anything during those 7 days and that put me sooo behind compared to my peers. My excuse to make me feel better, as to why I didn’t do anything was because I was pulling 12 hour shifts at the full-time I was working at from Monday-Saturday. I eventually quit that job due to my program specifically telling us to not work since our courses are really intense. So as of now, my life is in the hands of surviving off of student loan money.
Fast forward to the day of classes opening. First things first, is to go through each and every class and put the assignments and due dates in your planner. It’s always better to be aware of when assignments will be due, that way if you want to work ahead you can. My first semester of nursing school had a pretty heavy course load (16 credits). I had to take these four courses:
Foundations of Nursing
Health Assessment
Pharmacology
Pathophysiology
Then 7 weeks into the program they added these two programs that are 6 weeks long:
Clinical course: we get to meet up with our clinical advisors and talk about clinical(s)
Theories of Nursing
It’s pretty busy, despite being on top of everything and making sure to get the assignments done, I still struggle with making sure I’m understanding the materials and concept.
- Reach out to classmates to start a study group
I wished I did this a lot sooner. As introverted as I am, I refused to try to seek help from my peer because I didn’t want to seem like I was dumb. My program is an online program. And coming from a background where I have little to no experience in nursing, all I gotta say is that you’re gonna have to reach out and get to know people because when you struggle and seek no help, you will fail. I talked to people here and there in my class, but it didn’t really help that everything was virtual. After the first exams for each of my classes I realized that I needed to switch gears. I forced myself to reach out to people because I was not going to let my ignorance of being an introvert make me fail nursing school. Right before midterms, I reached out and talked to people, joined their group chats, and when midterms came around, I was where I needed to be. Better and becoming more knowledgeable.
- Get used to not having an idea of what is going on
I was fazed during class. Whole time on zoom I would be like “HUH, what is going on?” No one really speaks about it but I feel like most nursing programs are soooo unorganized. This is a statement coming from me experiencing nursing school and from people who are in other nursing programs. I understand that nothing should ever go to plan when it comes to school but goddamn, the things that the professors say, it’s like an alien language. I’m pretty sure someone is saying that I sound like I’m whining, but some professors, they just expect that you know things right off the bat. I’m sorry but I’m slow, you’re gonna have to explain it from the ground up. One thing about it is that you should not feel bad, or pity yourself if you don’t know what is going on. Sometimes everything is just going too fast where our brain can’t process it, so if that’s going on, I would say to definitely go talk to your professor and have them explain the concepts to you. It’s better to understand and learn the material than just BS your whole way around it. It’s true that you can fake it till you make it, but one thing about it is that when it comes to nursing someone’s life, you can’t fake that. It’s life or death and it’s your responsibility to make sure you KNOW what is RIGHT!
- It’s overwhelming and you have to give yourself breaks
I think the most important thing that I underestimated is how overwhelming nursing school is. I experienced undergraduate college life and I thought being a double science major was bad but oof boy was I wrong. I have been literally balding ever since I started school. It’s so bad that I can see through my hair, hair volumizer doesn’t even work anymore :(. I think the difference between a stem major and nursing major is enforcing the materials into your brain. We HAVE to know the specific medication, auscultation placements, signs and symptoms of a disease, and so much more. You’re learning the entire system of a body and trying to solve it by applying different methods to it. It definitely is a different approach to learning and a workload of things that I have to complete to make sure that I KNOW what is going on. I’ve battled sleepless nights and drank liters of caffeine just to ingrain the materials into my head. Best thing that I’ve learned is to just give yourself a break. As much as I want to be an overachiever and get the best possible grade I can, I need to put myself first. My mental well being should be a priority. To be a successful and sufficient person, my mind needs to be taken care of. I’ve been putting myself first and giving me the desired breaks that I need. Even the littlest thing can make me feel better and improve my overall wellness. I stress to every one of you to please take care of your mental health, you can’t become who you want to become if you, yourself, is pulling yourself back.