education, qualifications and salary

[sclarkNMT]

I am just finishing up my sciences, praying to enter a nursing program Fall 2012. I have yet to decide on RN or BSN and would love some advice..

I am a licensed and certified neuromuscular therapist, entering my second year of work in a multidisciplinary clinic in Atlanta that includes chiropractic, physical therapy, a physician and three manual therapists (myself included). I was highly educated from one of the most prestigious schools in the country with 900 contact hours of education (90% was daily anatomy, physiology, orthopedic conditions, assessment & treatments and kinesiology.)

With a passion for musculoskeletal health, a nursing specialty in orthopaedics seems a no-brainer! By the time I graduate, I will have 3-4 years (depending on the degree type) of experience in clinical orthopedic healthcare in a medical environment under the supervision of 4 doctors of chiropractic and a physical therapist.

My questions are:

1) Will my 3-4 years as an NMT mean anything as far as certification in orthopaedics, or will I have a clean slate as a new grad RN?

2) Would a ASN or a BSN be preferred by employers, as well as educational requirements for certifications? I would love to jump right in to the BSN, but because of a need to graduate asap (for insurance coverage and ability to relocate) the ASN is just too convenient!

3) What is an average salary for an orthopaedic certified nurse? In Atlanta the average nonspecific RN salary is 65-67k a year. This isn't so much a deciding factor, I'm just curious

Thanks!!

[solneeshka, BSN, RN]

1) Certification in different nursing fields all require a certain amount of experience (usually 2 years) as a nurse in that field. I think your previous experience, since it was not as a nurse, will not help you in that regard, although it probably will help you a great deal with passing the exam.

2) Whether or not employers prefer a BSN over and ASN depends on where you live; I'm afraid I don't know what the standard is in Atlanta. If you call HR at a few area hospitals, I bet they would be willing to help you. I used to live in Austin, which is mostly staffed (as a whole) by ASNs (maybe 2/3 of new grad hires are ASNs). I now live in St. Louis, which places a much heavier emphasis on the BSN (about 90% of new grad hires, at least at my very large facility, are BSNs, and they would like that number to be more like 100%). I don't know of any RN certifications that require a BSN over an ASN. I was in the same boat as you, I needed to start working asap, so I got my ASN, started working, and then did an online program to get my BSN. Not the right solution for everyone, but *much* more cost effective that getting the BSN out of the gate.

3) Getting a certification doesn't generally affect your salary directly. A particular facility may have a policy of a salary bump with certification but I don't think that's typical. Where it would help you financially is after your first job, when you apply for another job, you may be able to negotiate a higher salary because you are certified whereas other applicants may not be.

I hope this helps at least a little!