What if you have a bachelor's degree in another discipline and are getting a ADN?

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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I'm a mid-life career changer and have a bachelor's degree in marketing. I spent 13 years in that profession and the last two positions were in management. I'll soon be entering an ADN program.

My undergraduate alma mater has a BSN program, but I'd be paying nearly $100 more per credit hour to get the nursing component that I can get by going through my local community college's very well repected ADN program. The nurses I know at both local hospitals all say the graduates of the ADN program are vastly better prepared from a clinical perspective than the BSN grads from the local university program.

Will the fact that I have a previous bachelor's degree and spent time in management come into play when seeking a promotion at some point in my future career?

I do see one major benefit to having a BSN, and that is if you want to work for a magnet hospital. It is my understanding that a certain precentage of their nurses need to be BSN status to maintain magnet certification. Is this correct?

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
I attended a RN-BSN information meeting yesterday and my head was spinning! I completely admire you for going back to school for this. It is not an easy road, and I did not mean to imply that it could or should be done in only 5 classes. You have to jump through a lot of hoops, to get those 120 credit hours.

I again apologize for any misunderstanding and if I have offended anyone, now I understand why! :smackingf

Understood.

Go for it. Why should I be the only one suffering. LOL

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I also have my bachelors degree in business and have been going over the same debate. My plan is to get my ADN at the local community college, get a job at one of the local hospitals, and then finish my education. Our hospitals will pay (tuition reimbursement) for continuing education. Just a thought you may want to consider.

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Specializes in ICU.

I myself just graduated from an ADN program. I have been a surgical tech for 9 years, the program i went to for that certificate had some A&P and biology but with no lab portion (that has changed now). But when i started back for my ADN i started from nothing when it came to college credits. The program i attended was very hard to get into and has a very high pass rate on NCLEX (100% last year first try). I have always planed to go on and get my BSN and get my masters in Nurse anesthetist.

But for me money was an issue and i know if i went on for my ADN first then i could let the hospital i worked at foot the bill. Then i could come out working as an RN then go back finish my BSN and then go on. As for my program i was required to take English 101 and 102 and one of the electives i took was sociology which i knew from my own research of RN to BSN programs in my area was required so killed 2 birds with one stone. Also talking to many colleges on there RN to BSN programs most in the city of Chicago only allow 70 to 80 credit hours from your ADN program so.

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Specializes in ICU.

I had a BA in Dev. Psych/Fine Arts. Fairly useless and boring degrees. I spent many years in a unique field far removed from nursing. One day I decided to make a change, and determined that nursing was the way to go after a while of searching.

While taking pre-reqs for nursing, an advisor asked me why I was going for a BSN and not the ADN that they offered. It all came down to the fact that I already held a baccalaureate degree, and could not go for anything less than the same. I was accepted into one of the accelerated BSN programs. I'm now working on my FNP degree without having to go the RN to BSN route.

It truly is your decision. However, since you are capable of baccalaureate level studies, why not go for the same again? There are options out there.

Best of luck to you!

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It truly is your decision. However, since you are capable of baccalaureate level studies, why not go for the same again? There are options out there.

Respectfully, I really don't think an ADN is a dumbed-down version for people that aren't capable of university-level classes. At least I hope not!

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Specializes in Med/ Surg and Orthopedics.

Once again, it all boils down to choice. I have a BS degree, work full time, have a child to support, blah, blah blah. I chose the ADN route simply because I could not afford to go to school full time as a single mother and none of the accelerated programs in my area were offering part-time or evening programs. It also did not hurt to be offered a scholarship for an ADN program and a guaranteed job after passing the NCLEX. Yes it will take me longer to achieve my ultimate goals, but I am on the path. Many people outside of these boards who desire to be a nurse cannot even say that much. I applaud anyone who is able to go after their dreams!

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{While taking pre-reqs for nursing, an advisor asked me why I was going for a BSN and not the ADN that they offered. It all came down to the fact that I already held a baccalaureate degree, and could not go for anything less than the same. I was accepted into one of the accelerated BSN programs. I'm now working on my FNP degree without having to go the RN to BSN route.}

Why is it that you could only go for the BSN since you already had a bachelors degree? I have my bachelors and the only thing that I couldn't do with the ADN program was take out federal loans due to going to a Community College and exceeding their max number of credits allowed. I'm not disagreeing with you I am just curious. I know a lot of people in my program that are going for their ADN in hopes of finding a job that will pay for their continuing education. Everyone has a different path to follow.

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Food for thought...

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Specializes in orthopedics, ED observation.
Respectfully, I really don't think an ADN is a dumbed-down version for people that aren't capable of university-level classes. At least I hope not!

I just stumbled across this thread and had to comment. In my experience, the ADN program I graduated from had the same level of rigor as the private liberal arts college that I attended to receive my Business/Communications degree - without the attendant high tuition. Especially w/ oldest DS starting college next year, I took the "two" year route and will let the new employer pick up the tab for the BSN degree completion. I think implying those of us who chose the ADN route based on acedemic rigor, or lack there of, is insulting. :angryfire

ADN candidates passed the same Boards as the nurse with the BSN, without the additional classes. But, I would never imply that that makes an ADN applicant smarter.

P.S. I realize Michigangirl was responding to another poster, but wanted to second her statement!

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
I'm a mid-life career changer and have a bachelor's degree in marketing. I spent 13 years in that profession and the last two positions were in management. I'll soon be entering an ADN program.

Will the fact that I have a previous bachelor's degree and spent time in management come into play when seeking a promotion at some point in my future career?

Let's say I have a BSN,worked for 13 years in it and go back to school to work in business. Will I get a leg up when I graduate and go to work in the stock market?????

The fact is all of life's experiences help us in many ways, not all written in stone. If you are a successful employee, you are more likely to be successful at some things and less successful in others. From what I see it can go both ways. Some people use what made them successful in previous careers, to be successful in another. I worked in business and did just that.

Bbbuut........

I have also seen many people, (frequently posters on this BB) coming from "management", or "business", or "IT", thinking that they are just going to just rock nursing to its foundations, straighten all it's problems and be awesomely vaulted to the top of the pack because of their genius. And they go down in flames, cursing all those biased nurses who eat their young and unfairness of it all.

When you change fields, you have to let go of some of the things that worked in that field and adjust to the new one. But there are many things to be said for already having a set work ethic.

But why do people feel that when they change fields in midlife, that they should automatically have a leg up? I expected to "start over".

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Let's say I have a BSN,worked for 13 years in it and go back to school to work in business. Will I get a leg up when I graduate and go to work in the stock market?????

The fact is all of life's experiences help us in many ways, not all written in stone. If you are a successful employee, you are more likely to be successful at some things and less successful in others. From what I see it can go both ways. Some people use what made them successful in previous careers, to be successful in another. I worked in business and did just that.

Bbbuut........

I have also seen many people, (frequently posters on this BB) coming from "management", or "business", or "IT", thinking that they are just going to just rock nursing to its foundations, straighten all it's problems and be awesomely vaulted to the top of the pack because of their genius. And they go down in flames, cursing all those biased nurses who eat their young and unfairness of it all.

When you change fields, you have to let go of some of the things that worked in that field and adjust to the new one. But there are many things to be said for already having a set work ethic.

But why do people feel that when they change fields in midlife, that they should automatically have a leg up? I expected to "start over".

I have never been a nurse, nor have I worked as a stock broker, so I can't comment on that. However, since most nursing care is performed under the umbrella of a business, I don't think it is unreasonable for someone with extensive business experience to have ideas or input for improvement. Working in IT for 10 years, the majority of my time was spent studying all kinds of business processes. Now a nursing student for less than 1 semester, we have spent a good deal of time studying the nursing process. (And it seems to be rather important to you all!:))

I can see where it would be irritating for an experienced nurse to have to deal with someone with all these new ideas, just because they are switching careers and think they can change everything. There is ego involved on both sides, but I'm sure the inexperienced person does not have the depth of knowledge to understand why some of their suggestions are unreasonable. But, on the other hand, sometimes it takes someone thinking "outside the box" to make improvements, and it shouldn't automatically be discounted because of who makes the suggestions.

I know I'll be starting at the bottom, and that doesn't really bother me. I just hope I'll be respected for what I do bring to the table.

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If hospitals felt that the BSN grads were not competent, they wouldn't be hiring them. But they DO hire them, because they understand that grads from all 3 types of programs can do the job.[/b]

It's not just about the ability to get hired as a new nurse but also how smooth a transition the graduate wants from student to professional. Different schools' clinical experiences can vary a lot even if the number of clinical hours is identical. If a person is concerned about their ability to pick up on clinical work, they might prefer a school with known reputation for a strong clinical education. If a certain local program has a clearly stronger reputation for turning out clinically strong graduates, that might be a deciding factor for some, regardless of whether the degree is a ADN or BSN.

Sure, you can expect to pick up more clinical skills during your new nurse orientation, but there's so much else to learn at that time that some might prefer to have stronger clinical skills right out of school. Many new nurses find the transition from student to nurse VERY stressful and for some having a stronger clinical foundation might make that transition less stressful... and might even keep them in nursing at the bedside as opposed to be overwhelmed and leaving bedside nursing altogether.

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