R.N. Vs. Masters in Nursing

You really need to think about what you want to do with your nursing career. You don't need a masters degree if you want to be a staff nurse in a hospital. I don't think there is much point in that.

Salary difference could be huge, depending on what job you were doing. A nurse with a masters degree generally isn't working bedside.

What is a nurse with a masters degree doing? NP? CRNA? Anything else?

I agree with the others that it would be help to find out what advantage the MEPN is going to give you, if any, over the ADN or BSN, based on what you want to do with your training after you graduate. In the area of CA where I reside, I know of one entry level masters program that is really only a glorified BSN program in disguise. The first year is spent completing an accelerated RN program, and then the next two are spent getting the masters. However, the masters is only useful for working as a nursing school instructor and not for anything else. As such, there is no economic advantage to it over the ADN or BSN, since nursing instructors generally make less money than most other kinds of nurses do (hence the nursing instructor shortage we are currently experiencing!). However, if your passion is to teach nurses, then that masters would definitely be the way to go.

OTOH, some entry level masters programs in nursing are designed to train you in a specialty, such as a case manager or as a family nurse practitioner. As such, there *is* an economic advantage to that type of entry level masters. Generally you would spend the first part of the program getting the RN and then be required to clock a certain number of clinical hours while you finish the masters.

I am currently pursuing an MSN after a BA in psych and an ADN and four years of clinical experience. I can say that even with the MSN, no one will want you to teach without some clinical experience and competence. In fact, California requires nursing faculty to not only have a Master's Degree but to be a competent practitioner in the area being taught. That can't be done right out of a program. You will be spending some time practicing as a staff nurse to gain that expertise.

Having said that, I probably would have done an entry-level program if one had been available to me back when I went for the ADN. I am starting to get a little concerned, though, because any teaching job will be less pay than what I do now. I will also miss the direct patient care aspect of what I do. I am really enjoying the Master's program, though, and will finish it. The extra education and perspective has made me a better nurse with a different POV.

You will have the same job either way for the first 2 years or so and the prospect of more $$ is not great even with the MSN. You have to think about what kind of education you are most comfortable with. I am glad I did it the way I did. I enjoyed the ADN program and was well prepared for entering nursing. I am also enjoying the Master's program and what it is teaching me about our profession and the bigger picture. What I will do with the MSN I am still not sure.

As for tuition, is the entry-level Master's a private school? I think I will spend about $15,000 total for the ADN and MSN even with books and childcare! You won't be hurting for employment with your RN. Good Luck!

The MEPN is not the same as an MSN. Two different degrees, the MEPN is a generalist degree in most context. You are not prepared for any specialty with it, are not able to get the NP with it initially, without additional coursework. And it is not a well known degree, it was started by UCLA....many other areas know nothing about it.

It might depend on how old you are. Many new students in nursing are people who are looking for second careers. I was a younger student and started with my ADN. After a few years on the job I went to a second-step BSN program. Now, at 50ish, I'm in grad school. I don't want to teach full time but I like teaching clinical and that's what I want to continue doing. It seems that clinical assignments are being given to Master's prepared nurses in our area even though a Master's is not required to teach clinical.

I agree with the others who have posted. Decide what kind of nursing career you want. If you want to take care of patients go for the ADN/BSN. An MSN will only be good if you intend to teach, do research, or get some sort of advanced practice certification, i.e. nurse practitioner, clinical specialist, etc.

Plus the money aspect. You won't make enough as an MSN to pay back those student loans anytime soon.

Masters-Education, Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practitioner, Nursing Operations, Quality Improvement, Research,College instructor, those are the ones I can think of right now.....