RD to RN....Accelerated BSN Program advice

[Marie1031]

I am a new dietitian who is having trouble finding a job. I'm debating on going back to school for nursing. I am thinking of applying for an accelerated BSN program. Has anyone been through an accelerated program, or does anyone know anything about them? I'm a little worried because it seems like it is going to be really intense with a lot of information crammed into 1.5 years. I'd like to go the accelerated route because if I went back for a regular BSN it would take 3 more years at my local university . Any advice is appreciated!

[spete39, ADN]

I'm currently single with NO CHILDREN....so I have just me, myself, and I to worry about...I would rather eat dirt before I work during any ABSN...lol...I exhausted all of my available financial aid so I don't think I can afford the ABSN...unless some company will pay for my schooling and I'll work for them after I graduate. Or I might have to search high and low anywhere in the US for someone's ADN program without a long waitlist...Either way I'll make it up the nursing career latter....THANK SO MUCH MARK

[citygrl646]

a BS in nutrition without doing an internship is useless-you need the internship to sit for the RD exam and to find employment as an RD... and if you have a Maaters in nutrition but are not an RD, that doesn't work in terms of employment either.

It's funny because I'm doing the opposite-I did an accelerated BSN, have my RN, but did not like nursing. So, I made the switch to do my DPD (pretty much completed), hopefully get into an internship! and complete my masters. Dietetics is a more rigorous program-and longer because classes/clinicals are not combined.

I'm wondering about why you are switcing from nutrition to nursing? is it the internship requirement (i know internships are very competitive, you typically need at leaat a high nutr. gpa/and cumulative gpa usually at least above 3.5, and it's stressful to apply and worry about geting into one!) or r u simply more interested in nursing? the pay? in nyc i don't think the pay for MS/RDs is that low. I think the demand will really increase in a few years esp. since it's a tougher road academically and so the supply wont keep up with demand.

Good luck on your ultimate decision, but remember that you should do what you truly love not pick what seems like the quckest route, becaus then you may back track like i did. With nursing i focused on the relatively high starting pay after 15 months ($74,000 in nyc) but, i ended up hating the work on my floor.

i could have switched but the type of work (mainly hands on/technician type such as blood draws/med dispensing etc..with very little pt. education/counseling/or providing your own orders on a daily basis) did not suit my personality. A loooong time ago I almost went into law, and guess what? Due to the recession many lawyers today are out of work making avg. pay. So I'd caution anyone to NOT pick a career simply b/c it pays well at the moment or seems like a relatively quick fix-it may level off a few years from now. Do what you truly would love to do everyday and that you are ok with in terms of the daily tasks. In every career you will have people who love or hate what they do, it's a matter of finding your happy fit. And ask yourself if you'd still want to be a nurse or whichever job you're considering, if the pay were a bit lower.