One ironic twist I may never understand

[A Nurse Unknown]

We all know nursing is a very in demand field, but if that's true, why are nursing programs so competitive?

Huge wait lists and the possibility of waiting months to find out you've been dropped from the wait list.

It just scares potential nurses such as myself. I'm not very competitive and I don't want to wait months to get into a program. However, if I must, I must. I'll do what needs to be done.

[Medivac]

Don't so much view it as competition. I have found over the years that not even all Doctors are intelligent just persistant. Be persistant. Book smarts does not always = street smarts. Care about your patients and do the job with compassion that is what everyone is looking for but the shortage allows all comers

[SoldierNurse]

IMHO, the poor supply of nursing programs/instructors does not equal the [demand] shortage of nurses, which brings more nursing students.

So, if by competitive you are referring to the long wait to get into a nursing program, as well as strict criteria, this stems partly from not enough nursing programs. Only so many seats available each semester, only so many instructors to accomodate, and too many potential students [nursing applicants].