A Major and a Minor

[millikinmajor]

Hello! My name is Autumn and I will be attending Millikin University in fall 2014. I have hopes and dreams to go into pediatric oncology after I graduate and hopefully one day find time to towards a masters. I was just curious, would a minor in business management compliment with my nursing major? If anyone has done so, how was the work load? And how has it helped you in your career as a nurse? What are the benefits? I really want to attain this minor but I don't want a minor that would not compliment with my major. And if not a management minor, what would be some other minors that would be complimentary to my nursing major?

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

I don't know of anyone who completed a minor in business along with nursing school, but I would imagine it'd be superfluous unless you want to go into management and need a working knowledge of the business side of healthcare. For bedside nursing (as you indicate you'd like to pursue peds onc) it's hardly necessary and I can't imagine it'd give you an edge in interviews.

Also, AN is designed to be an anonymous website. If you're using your real name and photo, you'd be wise to change your username and avatar immediately.

(click on your screen name > select Account on the far right > select Edit Username/Password/Email Address from the dropdown box to change your screenname).

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I think a point of clarification is in order. Nursing is a "program" rather than a "major". This is similar to other types of education designed to prepare professionals for a standardized licensure examination that is required to legally practice the profession. Nursing curriculum is largely determined by regulatory requirements (accreditation and BON) and once you enter into the 'program', the content is no longer divided into easily transferable classes. In other words, you have to complete all of your clinical education in the same program. The curriculum includes didactic (classroom), skills lab and clinical practicum.

There is generally no room in a nursing curriculum to insert a sufficient number of additional (elective) courses that would enable you to have a declared minor. Most students find that it takes a significant amount of effort (time & energy) to successfully complete all of the requirements of a nursing program. Although it is possible, it is extremely rare for a nursing student to take any additional electives.

[RunBabyRN]

I agree, the business minor wouldn't do you a lot of good. You could take business courses during the summers or after nursing school, but there is no real benefit to minoring in business. Plus, as HouTx pointed out, nursing programs aren't something where you sign up for a few courses at your leisure and can take other courses as well- it's a full load program, where you go through with everyone else in your class, and you study a TON outside of class. Few people find the time to take even one general ed course while in school. At my university, as a transfer student, I was required to take 3 upper division courses at that university, and I crammed them in over the summer, because there was no way to load them in with nursing courses.

[aeromoveo]

Like the previous posters... Nursing school/pursuing a BSN take a lot of time and effort... a business minor not only would be a waste of time, but I don't think future employees would care about the business minor (maybe some will... I might be wrong here). A good minor for nursing students is a foreign language. Where I live is populated with spanish speakers, so many hospitals highly recommend spanish speakers. It will really make your resume in the future stand out!