Nursing is – and always has been – an in-demand field. If you’re planning to study nursing, a lot of academic preparation goes into the process, including prerequisite classes to give you the skills to manage the challenges of the advanced nursing courses.
While many colleges and universities offer nursing programs, you can take some prerequisites at local schools or online to save money, enjoy a more flexible schedule, or get them out of the way early.
Learn more about nursing prerequisites, what to expect, and the benefits of taking them in more flexible formats to increase your success.
What Are Common Nursing Prerequisites?
Prospective nursing students must take prerequisites before enrolling in a program or taking advanced nursing courses. These courses are designed to build your foundational skills to ensure you have the knowledge you need to succeed in challenging, nursing-specific classes, such as math and science courses. Most programs require a C or better in prerequisites to transition into advanced courses.
The prerequisites vary by program, but they often include courses like:
Intermediate Algebra
This course covers common algebra concepts like functions, expressions, and quadratic equations. Most of the math applications in this course emphasize the real-world applications for algebra, which are important for understanding math in science and medicine courses.
Biology
Naturally, sciences like biology are essential for nursing and understanding concepts like metabolism, cell structure, biochemistry, and genetics. This course also introduces the scientific method and enhances scientific literacy with both lecture and lab sessions.
Human Anatomy and Physiology
Anatomy and physiology is another foundational course for advanced nursing courses for obvious reasons. The course covers human anatomy and physiological function, including body systems and anatomical structure. There are typically two courses – A&P I and A&P II.
Introduction to Developmental Psychology
Nursing involves people of all ages. Developmental psychology covers concepts related to how people grow physically, emotionally, and cognitively, as well as how the social environment and cultures shape their experience. This course is necessary for advanced courses on human development.
Microbiology
Nurses assist in treating disease. Microbiology, which is the study of the biology of microscopic organisms like viruses, bacteria, algae, fungi, slime molds, and protozoa, is essential to understanding how these microorganisms infect the body and cause disease.
Chemistry
Chemistry is vital to nursing because it helps nurses understand the human body at a cellular level, as well as the structures and properties of ions, atoms, and molecules. It’s also important for understanding lab values, disease properties, and how medications work in the body.
Is There an Order to Take Prerequisites?
Because prerequisites are intended to prepare you for success in related advanced courses, they’re typically taken earlier in your academic experience. You will be expected to know a lot of the information and concepts from prerequisites in order to succeed in higher-level courses as well.
While there’s no particular order for some prerequisites – as long as you take them before your advanced coursework – you may benefit from choosing them strategically. For example, taking algebra before your chemistry or biology courses prepares you for some of the ways math is used in the sciences. Naturally, courses with levels, such as A&P I and A&P II, are intended to be taken in order.
Common Challenges with Nursing Prerequisites
Balancing Coursework and Responsibilities
One of the most common challenges that students face in demanding programs like nursing experience is maintaining the balance between their studies and personal responsibilities. These two aspects of your life influence each other – both positively and negatively – so you need to learn time-management skills to succeed.
Getting Overwhelmed
The practical phase of nursing school can be demanding, and many students become overwhelmed. The same can happen with the prerequisites, especially if you’re taking a full course load to accelerate your program.
Challenging Coursework
Though they’re prerequisites and not high-level courses, some students struggle with different nursing prerequisites based on their aptitude. For example, you may have a hard time with the math prerequisites if you aren’t great at math. That said, some nursing students struggle with anatomy and physiology and organic chemistry, which are challenging courses overall.
Tips and Tricks to Ace Your Nursing Courses
- Use your prerequisite time to learn time-management and stress-management skills. The practical phase of nursing school is famously demanding and can lead many students to feel overwhelmed, so building these skills early will serve you well as you advance in your academic program.
- Understand your learning style. People learn differently, so it’s important to understand the reading, studying, and learning techniques that work best for you. This will not only serve you in your prerequisites, but it will set you up for success as you take on more difficult – and more relevant – courses for your nursing career.
- Schedule time for your coursework. Nursing school can be a bit of a marathon, so you will need to plan around your coursework to ensure that your studies don’t suffer alongside your work responsibilities, social life, and other obligations. Set time in your schedule to finish your coursework early, ensuring that you have time to get help if you need it and have some flexibility to manage your other tasks.
- If you find yourself struggling with the course, reach out for help. Your advisor or learning coach is there to help you succeed, so don’t be afraid to have a conversation early in the course to learn about the resources available to you. In addition, if you expect that a course may be difficult for you, try to balance it with easier courses or give yourself more time with a self-paced course format to ensure you get the concepts.
Where Can I Take My Prerequisites for Nursing Online?
Many colleges and universities offer online prerequisite courses, including some of the science classes that require labs. You could also take nursing prerequisites online by using Sophia's Nursing Pathways. Full of self-paced courses that you can complete whenever and wherever it works best for you, the Nursing Pathways allows you to lay the groundwork for success in upper-level nursing courses at your university at your pace.
There are many benefits to taking courses online, including better schedule flexibility and access to online resources. You also have the option to take courses before committing to a nursing degree program, so you can be sure that it’s the right choice. You may also save some time and money in the process.
Ready to take the first step? Visit our Nursing Pathways page and start a free trial - no credit card required!
