For students interested in a good-paying, stable nursing (RN) job, one class stands in the way: Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology. The class is one of the first classes a nursing student must take and, according to the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, only about 50 percent of people nationwide make it through the class with a passing grade. Many of those who fail the first time around abandon the idea of becoming a nurse completely.
The class consists of hours upon hours of lecture and a lot of required reading – it’s not just an elective, it’s the foundation for the rest of a nursing student’s education. If students have an immense amount of trouble with this class, they may have difficulty with the rest of the program. The class acts as an introduction to the remarkably complex, resilient, and endlessly fascinating structure known as the human body. From cells and tissues to the digestive and reproductive systems, the class takes you through the ‘systems’ of the body, from head to toe.
The stakes are high for students in the Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology class, as starting salaries and benefits for professional nurses can be lucrative. Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the employment of nurses will increase by 19 percent between 2012 and 2022. Students in CNI College’s Bachelors Degree in Nursing (RN) program will take the class during their first quarter, along with microbiology and computer application.