ADN in LA ?

[Jeeta]

Hey guys,

I am in desperate need of advice. I want to change my career and become a nurse in Los Angeles. I am aware that it is a very saturated field and becoming nervous about if this will be possible for me to get a job. I have a bachelor's in another field so I am unable to get any financial aid. I also learned that there is a cap on what I can take out for loans. Ugh.

I saw that another option would be to go for my ADN and sit for the RN and then possibly do the RN to BSN bridge program online. I would hate to get my ADN, pass the RN test and then not be able to find a job in LA because I do not have a BSN or any work experience to help support the ADN.

I have applied to several hospitals to start volunteering and about to start my first semester of pre-reqs, but would love some advice and direction because I am scared I could make a big mistake.

Has anyone successfully gotten a job with ADN? Perhaps I should put in process of getting BSN? Or go in person and attempt to charm their pants off/beg mercilessly?

I appreciate any and all words of wisdom.

J

[justwanttohelp12]

Yes, it's possible to get a hospital position with an ADN while having your BSN in progress. I know a couple of people that did this. I think you're jumping too far ahead. You need to do well in your prerequisites before even thinking of ADN vs BSN. Your prerequisites will probably take you at a minimum of two semesters to complete. You might not even have that many options later if you don't do well in your prerequisite courses since California nursing schools are so hypercompetitive. Nursing prerequisites are generally A&P, Microbiology, English, and Math with some programs BSN programs requiring Lifespan psych, Statistics, and Chemistry. But in the community college that I attended, chem was a prereq for physio. What I'm trying to get at is that you'll eventually need all these classes anyways. Get into a BSN program from the start if you can.

It's probably not financially sane to take out more loans when you already have debt, but there are many people that have done this in order to finance their BSN degree. You may qualify for the BOGFW so you can take your prereqs at a community college for free.

[Jeeta]

Thank you for the reply and solid advice, @iamtoonice

I'm probably getting prematurely anxious. Going to start with some prerequisites and see how I do. I did very well in school before but it's been about 4 years so I might be rusty! Thanks again

[justwanttohelp12]

Not a problem! Shoot me a PM if you want to get into more details such as specific CCs to take your prereqs and/or programs to apply for.

[DnCali]

You can get a job with ADN in LA. I found a good job at USC in urgent care and was offered a job in dialysis with only my associate degree. I had several years of experience so keep this in mind. I did get my BSN in 2014 and moved on to a good hospital that only hired BSN. If you don't mind taking jobs that may not be your dream job while working on BSN then I think you will be fine. Many hospitals such as providence and MLK will hire you but require a BSN within a specified time frame. Small community hospitals like Olympia hire new grad ADN a lot!

[Jeeta]

Thank you! This makes me feel so much better about my journey. I'm prepared to go right into the bridge program online, I was just hoping to be able to get something that would give me that first year experience to work towards the dream job. Thank you for the reassurance!