ADN is fine?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2007

I am planning to go this route as well...my ADN will cost me about $5,000 total, and to get a BSN for free? You can't beat it!

See post #8, hospitals don't go around supplying ADN's with free BSNs. It's a great way to go, I'm doing it myself, but most places supplement to a point, but don't pay 100% of unlimited books and tuition.

arciedee · Apr 12, 2007

mtruland, another thing to keep in mind as an option is that UNH's nursing department has started a bunch of "3+1" articulation agreements with the NHCTC schools (not all of them, though, I believe they're in Stratham, Manchester, NHTI, Nashua, and Colebrook) where you get your associate's degree from the Tech while completing your gen eds (so it takes 3 years) and then you transfer to UNH for the final year to get the BS. Though keep in mind, too, that the NH has the highest community college tuition in the country.

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Apr 12, 2007

I am currently a paramedic and a nursing student at NHTI, Concord. I decided to go with my ADN first becuse 1) I want to make sure I like nursing before I invest a lot more money and time into it 2) I would rather work as an RN for an extra 2 years or so while obtaining my BSN 3) I can always go back.

Sweetooth

mtruland · Apr 12, 2007

Excellent. Thanks for the help.

LaborNurse1 · Apr 16, 2007

Hello,
I'm a student at UNH in Durham, NH. I am currently on a pre-nursing track to get a BSN. This is going to take me five years, as I had some trouble finding what I truly wanted to do.
Through my work on my local ambulance as an EMT, I have decided that I want to work somewhere in the medical field (Most likely flight Nurse or Paramedic). I was wondering if getting a BSN is totally worth it. I realize that I have the option to get it later, which I would plan to do anyways. What is your opinion on this topic. What should I do? 5 years and get BSN, or 2 and get ADN? Also, how are those online RN-BSN programs, and are they worth it???

I'm not sure if flight nursing requires a 4 year degree, but I would guess that they do given that it is a competetive field. However, I did the ADN, began working as an RN while continuing on for my BS. I highly recommend that route, so long as people really do go through for the 4 year degree. I found that working as an RN with the ADN while going to school for the BS was highly beneficial. I made good money (the same amount as the 4 year degree RN's) that paid my way through school.

I think the online programs are great for the RN to BS/N. Basically, you are just fulfilling pre-req's and do some community stuff. Much less intensive, in my opinion, and therefore less intimadating to do online.

mtruland · Apr 16, 2007

I know quite a few people with ADNs who work as flight nurses. All they needed are RN certs and all of the other ALS certs.

fairytattoo · Apr 16, 2007

I'm an ADN and had only 12,000 in student loans to pay back as opposed to the 100,000+ alot of the BSN nurses I work with have to pay back, and we make the same wage. I work in a NICU and there are varying levels of experience in the staff, but the pay scale is exactly the same for everyone. The hospital I work at has a tuition reimbursement program, but it definately would'nt pay for the whole BSN program, although they are looking into full reimbursement in our area.

As far as the flight nurse thing, from what I understand, there are waiting lists and you have to have so many years critical care/ED experience before they will even consider you. At least that' s the way it is around here.

Blove86 · Apr 19, 2007

WOW, I feel like the cheesy one, lol. Since I just got accepted to A BSN program, once I graduate I will will start str8 out as an RN with a BSN. But I do have a question: What is a Nurse Tech and when is a nursing student able to apply for a position?

nursey_nurse · Apr 19, 2007

I just graduated last year with my ADN and now just finishing up my first semester in the RN-BSN program. I gotta say that this was the best decision for me. I already have almost one year of experience under my belt. The RN-BSN program is a piece of cake, since I love to write and do 10-15 pages of research assignments. PLUS, I'm earning more money than most of my classmates in the university lol. My employer has a tuition reimbursement cap of $2,000/year which is fine with me. I would rather have something than nothing at all. Goodluck and weigh the pros and cons :balloons:

BULLYDAWGRN, RN · Apr 20, 2007

Doing the ASN to BSN complete long distance thing.. Still able to work more than fulltime and complete the course. Plus hospital floats some of the bill. We have a group of Jr's from a BSN program doing clinicals at my hospital and they asked me about the ASN to BSN fast track that I'm doing, they all got pissed and complained to me that it was'nt fair that they had to go through all that school crap and I get to do my assignments at home or at work.

bigsyis · Apr 20, 2007

Absolutely do the ADN and Paramedic thing. You can go anywhere and do almost anything with that combo, except teach. You can always top off the ADN with a BSN and Masters later on.

BTW, I was an LPN who bridged to RN, and later became a State-Certified Firefighter/First Responder. Because I was a Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) my County allowed me to function as a Paramedic, when responding to calls.

Best of luck to you!

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2007

Good reasons all.
But just to clarify that in a lot of parts of the country it's not a "free BSN". Employers usually have a cap on what they pay. My employer pays $2300/year tuition reimbursement. Most other folks in my class have a similar cap. Depending on the school it may indeed be "free" but usually there's some out of pocket expenses, especially if you go the online route.

And not only the cap - generally you "owe" the employer "time" in exchange for money. i.e. - they contribute X amount of tuition dollars to your BSN, and you owe them a year for each academic year they pay for/partially pay for, or something similar.

Read the fine print carefully, or you could end up overly obligated to someplace you hate.