Please help - Costs of nursing school, & debts!

[bluecloud]

Hi. I have been accepted to two nursing schools but I am getting very afraid of the debt and may not attend.

I will be between 80,000-120,000 in debt for my BSN at either of these programs!!!!

How do you all justify this with nurse wages afterwards?

Is it worth it?

Can you all recommend ways to get my BSN without it killing me with debts?

I have a MA and am almost 40, so it is ABSN programs that I am entered into currently because they take only 1.5 years.

Traditional BSN programs take MUCH longer but what would you all recommend?

Thank you!

[PMFB-RN, RN]

How did you get your RN-BSN free? Paid by your employer?

*** Actually I have never paid for any education in my life. I went to nursing school on the GI Bill and my employer paid 100% of my BSN and will pay for a MSN as well. However this isn't very common. I am lucky enough to work for a non-Magnet, union hospital.

Also, as an ADN-RN were you able to successfully find a job?

*** I graduated at a different time. Back then any new grad could get a job in any field they chose. I went to work in a large SICU that did both trauma and open hearts right out of nursing school. I went through a 9 month nurse residency program for new grads going into critial care units and recieved superb training. When I was in my ADN program (in Wisconsin) I remember we had a recruiter come up from a St.Louis hospital. The hospital was offering air fare and two nights in a nice hotel for two. All you had to do was spend 4 hours letting them tell you why you should work for them!

The whole "BSN only" thing is very new. Before about 2009-2010 I never heard of it. Sure a few hospitals, usually university teaching hospitals, had "BSN prefered" on their job postings but they readily hired ADNs. I predict that it won't last long but it is the current realiety in some areas. It is also highly location dependant. As far as I can tell there is no bias aginst ADNs here in Wisconsin and as far as I know no hospital in the state is limiting it's self to BSN grads only. Also BSN prepared nurses don't make any more money here. In those places where they do it is a tiny amount. Like $0.25-$1 an hour more. In fact one of the largest hospitals in the state will not hire new grad BSNs into it's critical care residency program for the SICU (it does hire them for other units)