Ridiculous is the word that may come to most students’ minds when they find out that their life-long dream of becoming a nurse will become even longer.

Limitations have been set on facilities and faculty in the nursing program due to a shortage in funding, even though California is facing a shortage in nurses. As if there weren’t already enough setbacks, only 36 students are admitted into the program every semester.

It can take up to a year and a half, and in extreme cases it can take up to two years, to get off the waiting list and into the actual program.

Now, when students think about signing up for the nursing program, they will not do what most do, which is think about if they have time to fit their class into their busy work schedules.

They will be forced to rethink and reevaluate the strength of their passion. Questions may come to mind such as, “Do I really love this career path enough to wait this long?”

The demand for this career, especially among young students living in the Los Angeles County, is extremely high, according to the Onward Healthcare website.

There is an array of diverse careers within the nursing field in Los Angeles. Information from nursejobshop.com states, “There were more than 226,300 licensed registered nurses (RNs) in California in 2000; more than 184,300 of these RNs were employed in nursing.”

In the last year, studies have shown that there are about 67,000 jobs in health care and social assistance. One can only imagine how difficult is for these hopeful students to successfully land a place in the nursing program.

To dig a deeper ditch, students are required to take multiple classes before they can make it into the saturated program.

Prerequisites include the placement test for English and mathematics and classes like Anatomy 30, Microbiology 33 and Physiology 31 and among others.

As a prerequisite to a prerequisite, students are required to speak to a counselor.

The whole process can become tedious.Besides having their own lives to live, jobs to do, and families to take care of, this process could take semesters, or even years, for students to complete. On top of that, maintaining a 2.5 GPA while on the waiting list is a must.

To make matters even worse, the fall semester may possibly be one that the nursing program introduces an entrance exam.

Exams upon more exams are, by popular vote, not a good thing.

Waiting for that great thing that one has built his or her dream on is understandable if it is certain that one is going to get the job they apply for.

But the thought alone of a waitlist is giving additional weight to daily frustrations for these students who wish to serve the community.

Along with that, it is not certain that they will even get a placement in the cast world of medical services.

This is not only stressful but it is a big disappointment and a complete waste of time.