Route to the OR

Hello All,

I am in process of making a career change from real estate into health care. I am planing on starting school this fall, but have a couple questions before doing so. I definetly want to work in the OR, most likely as a scrub nurse and/or circular nurse. But I also have interest in becoming a first assistant.

I'm curious what everybody thinks is the best route to get there (keeping in mind I'm 35 years old). Would there be a significant advantage to getting my BSN as opposed to going the community college route? I have a community college that is within 5 miles of my house and has VERY cheap tuition (about 25% of the university I would go to for a BSN), but at the same time I don't want to spend 2 years in school, if it will still be a struggle to get a job.

So, my question is, if I want to scrub and later get my rnfa is it worth the extra time and money to go for my BSN? Will I be any better off in terms of job opportunities and pay having a BSN vs an associates (keeping in mind, I plan to go for my rnfa)? Also, would you consider going the surgical tech to surgical assitant route?

I'm sorry for sooo many questions, but I have been holding on to a real estate career in a tough ecomony, and I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision, because I don't want to end up in this spot again.

Thanks for your help!

Chris