Any ex RTs?

[Justsomedude]

Hello all. This is my first time to this forum, so if I posted this in the wrong spot I apologize.

The reason for my visit is that I have been a respiratory therapist for 15 years, and I'm interested in becoming an RN.

I was hoping to hear from other former respiratory therapists that have made this change. I currently only have my AAS, and was thinking of going for my BS first before I started the nursing.

Any thoughts, tips, criticisms, and sarcastic comments are appreciated.

Thank you

[vanilla bean]

Yeppers. There are a few of us that prowl around AN. I was an RT for 18 years before becoming an RN (last year). I'm happy with my decision and enjoying settling in to my new role. Why not go for an accelerated BSN program rather than getting a BS in an unrelated field?

[Justsomedude]

It's my understanding that you need to have a BS degree before getting into the accelerated program.

[vanilla bean]

That's entirely possible. One of my colleagues made the transition from his AS in RT to BSN in a 3 year accelerated program. But this was quite a while ago, so I don't know if program requirements have changed or if it depends on the school? I worked with a couple of RTs that were able to do the Excelsior program back when it was still open to RTs (I heard it no longer is).

So, if you do indeed have to have a Bachelor's Degree in order to do an ABSN program, have you looked into how costly/quick it would be for you to complete your BS in RT online? A friend just did this through Georgia Regents University. Of course, there's always the ASN then RN to BSN online route.

[Justsomedude]

Just got info on getting my BS in RT from Independence University. I asked about continuing into a BSN program, and they will get back to me.