Need career advice

[BSW2BSN]

Hello,

I will be earning a bachelors degree in social work in May. My plan was to go directly to grad school and get a Masters degree in social work but i am a 34 year old single mom with two children and I am worried about the low pay/lack of jobs. I was always torn between majoring in social work or nursing but chose social work and am now feeling some regrets. My university offers a 2nd Bachelors degree in nursing program that would take about two years of full time study because I need to complete the prereq's (A&P 1 and 2 and microbiology). Another option would be to get an Associate's degree which would still take about two years but i would be part time.

What are your thoughts/opinions on this? I will be graduating with just under $15,000 in student loan debt which worries me also. The Community College tuition would be much cheaper. I want to make the right decision.

[CP2013]

Have you looked into how many new graduate nurses ate struggling to find a job?? There are numerous threads on here regarding that. Unfortunately, you may run into not being able to get a job, much less worrying about low pay. (nurses aren't rolling in money the first year out of school, they are often paid the bare minimum because that's how desperate the situation has gotten in some states)

Just think about the career move seriously. You'll be acquiring more debt and may be unable to find a job for months or years depending on your region and how saturated the market is with nurses.

As a Social Worker, you can wok in Case Management in the hospital as well. I know many who chose this route in Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana who only had a BSW. They see a lot of stuff an are actually able to help people get the treatments and assistance they need at their discharge.

Good luck I hope someone else is able to give you some insight as well. If I had known how bad it would be, even though I will be a BSN graduate, I would have gone with Surgical Tech or Respiratory Therapy or Radiology. Those fields seem to be hurting more in my area.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

You may be better off pursuing an MSW instead of switching to nursing. That would open up more career 'doors' and higher pay. PP was correct... new grad nurses are having a terrible time finding jobs. In many areas, hospitals are only hiring BSN grads.