GO FOR IT!!!! If I can survive Epidemiology and Biostatistics, you can survive Nursing Chemistry! The hardest math I took was "transition to College Math"- no trig or calculus.

Start now with some basic chemistry books for high school students and work your way through them. Talk with the chemistry teachers at you kids' schools and see if they have suggestions on books (maybe one will volunteer to tutor). I actually found college chemistry easier than my high school chemistry and easier than college biology. I am NOT a science person!

From working with nursing faculty, the thing that seemed to stump students the most were the calculations exam they had to pass before they could start their rotations.

I will email my professor friends and see what books they recommend,
Janie

I had to take nursing chemistry TWICE, before I passed it, barely!

I'm CERTAIN you will have no problem!

GO FOR IT!

Thanks Janie. Maybe I'll go check out the used books at Half.com or Amazaon.

I had a horrible chemistry teacher in high school. I didn't understand much of her lessons, but I don't remember the math part being so bad (I'm not good at math either). I heard that in college Organic Chem was the killer class (not sure if you'd need that?)

If your hospital will pay for it, then at least try it! One evening a week doesn't sound too bad-hoping you could work that out with your schedule/kids/job. I'm sure with your day to day experience you probably will understand much more then a regular student. Could you even take it at a local community college? The classes tend to be smaller (maybe easier to get help?)

I'd go for it! Education is always a good thing, (esp FREE education) plus would it mean a pay raise later?

Don't forget that there are tutors for college subjects - check with the learning lab at your college or the newspaper want ads or the yellow pages. You can also place an ad on your local Craigslist.org site that you want a tutor.

Stop telling yourself you are bad at math....that is the first step....and then just do it.
You may need to get tutored but I know you can do it!
We had to take inorganic and organic chemistry when I was getting my AA degree in nursing. If I can do it, so can you.
I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

My friends daughter had a he!! of a time with the organic chemistry. she WAS trying to get her BA in nursing, soooo hard to get accepted into the nursing programs out here, (well, the publics schools, anyway.. easier in the really expensive private colleges! LOL) she changed her major to um, ah... I forgot! LOL speech therapy maybe? Not sure! but she loves it! lol anywhoo.... she never did apply to the nursing school.. but she is still talking about that ORGANIC Chemistry. she said it was awful! And she wAS a 4.0 student...perfect grades in everything, until that class. BUT SHE IS GLAD SHE DID IT!

you can do it! I know you can!

I tutored chemistry in college, but, I'm good at math.
IMHO you should go for it. If you don't try you'll always wonder.
Ron

Please do not let one subject keep you from this pursuit.
You can get a tutor, work with other students, retake the class - it may not come easily to you - but if you want it, I think you can do it.

I was bad at arithmetic but good at chemistry. I took it in high school, not as an adult.

I liked the experiments we did, which reminded me of cooking recipes.

Please give it a try. I can tell you are smarter than average and I bet you'll do just fine. As Carol said, you can get a tutor if you need help.

Don't ask me--I flunked HS chemistry. DH can't understand how because when we watch game shows and a chemistry question comes up I usually know the answer. I lot of it is memorization.

I think I thought it was going to be hard, so it was. Take Carol's advice to heart.

I taught math and chemistry. I'd be happy to help!

Barbara

Kath, I took both Organic and Inorganic Chemistry in college for my premed. I was terrible at high school chemistry, but I think being a little older I found more fascination with it when I took it in college.

I really don't remember it being much about math. What I remember most is the smell in the organic chem labs :(

I remember that it was a little like following recipes and learning the principles behind what we were seeing in the labs.

It's actually pretty cool. I think you would enjoy it.

Now physics, that was another story.

Don't psych yourself out before you start. You can do this, and I'll bet you'll even enjoy it once you get into it.

I had to take chemistry as a prerequisite for the ADN nursing program when I lived in Ca and was not as bad as I feared. I had high school chemistry some 20 years before and never did understand much of it. My college teacher was great at explaining it and making it understandable.

Go for it, I wasn't that great at math but did quite well in chemistry.

Kathsgarden ... and others,

Our body and the daily-operational part of our mind try unquestioningly to live up/down to what the deeper level of our mind tell them to do.

Tell them they/you're stupid ... and they'll make you operate as though it were true!

While it's not a good idea to think inordinately, unjustifiably highly of ourselves ... it's betraying the more potentially capable part of ourselves to run ourselves down, too.

Lots of other folks out there willing to do that for you - don't do it to yourself!

Why is it that some folks seem to think that they can build themselves up by running others down? What a shame! How much more valuable if we can all help kids and others - including ourselves - to evaluate themselves in a more realistically, objectively, factually-based way!

Look yourself in the mirror, kathsgarden, smile, give yourself a wink and tell yourself that you're a prize human!

Do it again with hubs, together.

Find yourself a friend (even two or three) who, when s/he gets to know you well, will corroborate that view!

And if you have kids - same medicine for them, O.K.?

Hubs, too - except when he needs being taken down a peg or two!

Go for this new challenge ... and good wishes to you and yours!

(Sorry for all of the exclamation points). (!)

ole joyful

P.S. What's the best medicine around?

Respect for others, affection ... and love!

And if we can't give ourselves permission to love ourselves, with all of our faults - we can't do better than a pretty flawed job of loving others, either.

I figure that if God can put up with me ... love me ... surely I can love myself!

o j

I took several chemistry courses and a lot of advanced math in college (molecular biology major), and I don't think the level of math for biochemistry or organic chemistry is too demanding -- I don't remember there even being any algebra, trigonometry or calculus. I believe there was some calculus in physical chemistry, but you probably won't be studying that.

But there was a LOT of memorization! The Kreb's cycle was especially challenging, and I bet you'll need to learn it as it deals with metabolism in the human body. Another thing, if you're good at visualizing things in three dimensions, that'll come in handy when studying molecular structures.

Kathy, quite a few of my friends are BSN and MSN graduates, and they can't do alot of the common-sense, everyday things, so if THEY can graduate from some really higly-proclaimed nursing programs, SO CAN YOU!

They simply went to tutors for help - I asked one of them (Andrea) how she did it - that's what she told me - TUTORS from the learning lab at school! There are highschool kids who are brainiacs and would be happy to help - YOU CAN DO THIS!

Kathy - didn't your family on this forum help you through ADN nursing school, with bushels of encouragement? We will ALSO HELP YOU through this!

I bought my son some multi-variable calculus books for Dummies at Amazon since he was struggling in that class. You might look for Chemistry for Dummies books and workbooks.

Here is what my nursing professor friend said, " Organic Chemistry is just something you have to get through--I would suggest that she find out which book they are using and get it along with any study guides the company has. Good luck"

I remember you going through school for your AA in nursing. You had much more turmoil in your life then and you did fine. I know with what yo have dealt with the past few years- in the long run chemistry will seem like a breeze (albeit a stressful one :-))