What happens if i dont get into nursing program

1. I am currently trying to get into an accelerated B.S.N program for the summer of 2014 and I eventually want to go to grad school and become a N.P or C.R.N.A. The thing is though is that they only accept a select few people.
   
   The good thing I have going for me is that:
   

   • I am graduating with my bachelors in psychology in May
   • I have a 3.63 G.P.A right now and am working (hopefully) on a 3.7 G.P.A
   • I have plenty of work experience at an internship and with faculty members
   • I have got 2 A's and one B in three of the nurse pre-req-classes

   
   The things I don't have going for me are:
   

   • Absolutely no nursing experience( hopefully my psych experience will qualify for nursing experience---or show that I have drive and that I have worked in the helping profession) because nursing and psychology have a lot of similarities.

   
   I want to also note that the accelerated program states that it is open toward students with a "non nursing degree"---so I can't see how the applicants I'm running against will have a bunch of nursing experience since they have been pursuing a non nursing degree. I do realize though that some people may have nursing experience if they thought about this career decision earlier on because I basically decided to make a career change about a month ago.
   
   My main questions are:
   What are my chances of getting accepted into the accelerated B.S.N?
   
   If I don't get accepted to the accelerated program would it be a good route for me to go to my community college and get my R.N------and when I get my R.N should I go from R.N to B.S.N or should I jump straight to an M.S.N program since I already posses a R.N license as well as a bachelors degree?
   
   Are there a lot of programs that offer the R.N To M.S.N option---do a lot of people do this?
   
   Do a lot of M.S.N programs accept people who already have an R.N license along with a non-nursing bachelors or do they prefer to accept people who have a B.S.N?
   
   I really appreciate any advice or experience with this situation. Thanks!

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2. 3 Comments

   Comment
3. 
   Mar 21, '13

   1. Experience gained from pursuing your psychology degree will NOT count as nursing experience. It may count as healthcare/related experience depending on exactly where you were and what you did. But unless you were a RN or LVN at the time, it's not nursing experience.
   
   As far as nursing experience in your competition goes, it's possible that some may have it, if they were diploma RNs or LVNs.
   
   2. Your chances of getting accepted into the ABSN program depend on the school you're applying to. You look good at first glance, but who knows what your school is looking for...and how many other applicants have equivalent--or better--numbers and quals than you.
   
   3. You could go pursue the ADN through your local CC...though to be honest, a growing number of facilities are preferring BSNs. Also, RN plus a non-nursing bachelors does NOT equal BSN, though some facilities may accept it as equivalent.
   
   4. What degree(s) you pursue depends on your future goals are, what your personal/financial situation is like, and whether you like nursing enough to want to pursue advanced degrees (I say this because you are not a nurse yet, and many a nurse has thrown in the towel and left the profession after the first year or two). In your case, since you want to pursue NP/CRNA, it may make more sense to bypass the RN-BSN and go straight for the RN-MSN or even the RN-DNP.
   
   5. There are a lot of RN-MSN programs that will accept RNs with a non-nursing degree...in fact, there's a few programs that are specifically designed for such a student.
   
   Best of luck!
4. 
   Mar 22, '13

   There are also direct entry MSN programs with the same requirements are that you have a Bachelors from another field......that I have been told by many that you might have a better change of getting into......I would look into that before going the ADN route if your goal is to be a CRNA.
5. 
   Mar 27, '13

   thanks!

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