Things happen for a reason

Today we learned that our nursing school is closing its doors. We will be the last class to graduate from this program, which has been in existence since 1890. Doesn't that make you kind of sad? The hospital-based programs are going away, largely because of the push from hospitals for all their nurses to have Bachelor's Degrees. The CNO (Chief Nursing Officer) today told us that the hospital has made a commitment to hire program graduates before anyone from the outside. That's nice. They are also opening a brandy-new hospital in 2011, which (hopefully) means more job opportunities when I graduate in 2012.

What it also means is that you cannot take a leave of absence. When I was first considering getting a nursing degree we were also trying to get pregnant with F. When it didn't happen right away, I thought, "Oh well, I can always take a leave of absence for a year and come back to finish." The timing, as it turns out, works much much better this way.

Our hospital also works with a local college for a Bachelor's Degree. It's hard to tell from looking at their website, but it looks like I should be able to complete the BSN in less than two years, part time. Then I'll be off to look at MSN-Midwifery programs. There are 3 close enough to attend. One of them is outrageously expensive (almost $35000 per year) and the other two are a lot more reasonable. If I go back full time, I can get my MSN in an addition 12 - 18 months or 2-2.5 years part time. So, best case scenario, I'm looking at 5 or 6 more years of school. Guck.

I really wish I had figured all this stuff out when I was 18.