Any courses of benefit that I could add to my RN-BSN?

[Bumashes, MSN, APRN, NP]

Hey everyone. I'm up late and thinking about the direction of my future with nursing and came up with a question. Background: I have an ADN and have 2 years med-surg experience. I have completed BSN prereqs and will be starting the RN-BSN soon, but... There's nothing really that I can do with a plain old BSN after I get it, which got me thinking, which is dangerous with me...

First off, I'm not bashing the BSN degree. I want to advance professionally in my career. Eventually, I would like to go for an MSN, but that won't be for at least another 5 years or longer. However, in my area of the country at least, a BSN doesn't get you anywhere else except management, which I would never wish upon myself :chair:. It's a shame to achieve another step of education and not have many other options than I already have. Right now, I just want the Bachelor's for me. For my own personal satisfaction. I believe that in order to advance in a profession, you should constantly be adding to your education/skills. This does not mean that a person has to do this by obtaining additional college degrees. It could be with personal study, inservices, webcourses, etc.

So the direction of my thinking now is... Is there something I could minor in or some other minimal degree (1 or 2 yrs) that would add more benefits than if I completed only the BSN program? Or should I not even bother with a BS in nursing but maybe some other Bachelor's degree? For example, I saw a job posted the other day for health information technology/electronic health records consultants. They asked for a degree in nursing and/or IT. This job would involve analyzing medical facilities from hospitals to dr's offices for their needs in converting and adopting electronic charting and record keeping mostly. And then arranging for demonstrations of the programs/software and other such tasks. And I thought, how interesting. Nursing and IT. I'm not saying that's the direction I want to go in, but you get what I'm saying with that example. Can anyone think of some suggestions? I know I don't want to be a bedside nurse for my whole career (it's so hard on the body at times ,) but I like the healthcare world and environment. *Sigh* Maybe I just need to go to sleep b/c now I'm just rambling. Thanks to any who actually read all of this!

[Ellekat]

I've also considered the Nursing/IT option. I have a 4-year degree, plus an ADN (17 years). I don't see getting a BSN as a way to obtain more knowledge as much as a way to open doors to specialties. Much of the course work can be obtained by reading and evaluating your own work. HOWEVER- if you are young, having that BSN will open many doors for you later. Even if you leave hospital nursing, a 4-year degree will generate more respect and open more doors for you. Since you have the ADN, the BSN is probably the shortest route to a 4-year degree. If you continue working while obtaining the BSN, you can explore IT, Wound Therapy, Infection Control, Education, Oncology, Hemodialysis and many other areas of nursing. With the BSN in hand, you can be certified in areas that don't allow certification to ADNs. If you find a good ADN-MSN program, you can minimize your time as a BSN and begin work in a specialty that interests you while finishing the MSN coursework in the area of your choice.

[CuriousMe]

I don't know where you're getting your BS, but see if you can get a minor in a non-nursing field. I'm working on a minor in chemistry, classmates of mine are working on minors in psych. You might even do a minor in computer science? Depends on what you're interested in.