ASN or BSN for missionary

[Gringomissonary]

Hey everyone,

So first off, I know there are literally hundreds of threads for the epic ASN vs BSN topic, but I wanted to ask your opinion for my specific situation.

Im a missionary in Colombia, South America and have been for 3 years. Recently I've felt the need/desire to go back and get a degree as a nurse because it serves me in the mission field (we desire to help people not only spiritually but physically) and it just happens to be a career that I love and I've always wanted to do so my wife and I will be moving back to the good ole US of A in April.

My question is what would be a better option for me (ASN or BSN) with the following situations:

- I have a family and I would like to get a degree the quickest possible way to start working for an income.

- We don't want to be in the United States longer than needed, because we want to return to the mission field.

Also, I have a few questions:

- could I easily find a job with an ASN in the USA?

- Will an ASN serve me just fine on the mission field compared to a BSN? (Obviously there is a greater education with the BSN, but I just need practical stuff for the mission field)

- Does anyone know how easy it is to get medical visas with an ASN compared to a BSN?

- Would it be hard to go from an ASN to BSN if I decided to in the future?

Honestly, I would not mind getting a BSN, I love the idea of higher education in the medical field, but in the mission field it's a different environment. What I want to know really is if I get an ASN could I easily find a job when we're living in the USA and if I decided to go from ASN to BSN in the future, would it take long? Plus, the ASN/BSN will only be an additional tool for my career as a missionary, pastor, minister, and teacher so it's not my only career.

Thanks for the advice! And a big thank you to all the Nurses out there, you are the backbone of the medical field and you're grately appreciated!

[JBudd, MSN]

ASN is shorter, as there are fewer prerequisite courses and in an accelerated program can be done in 18 months (after the prereqs). Job availability depends on the area, some regions hire ADN as easily as BSN, others don't. Much of the differences BSN programs give are in areas of research, leadership and management, more pysch, and a good 2 years of prereqs that include history, english, social sciences etc., to complete a full Bachelors education. I am comparing what my BSN program required vs. the ADN program I have taught at.

If you are not in a hospital in your mission field, and are wanting to provide more home care type nursing, then ADN should serve you. I would take extra classes in first aide, etc., as that sort of learning is not included in nursing.

If you want to provide midwifery care, you'll need a BSN to go to advanced practice as a nurse midwife. There are midwives who are not nurses..... that education I can't help with :)

[Gringomissonary]

ASN is shorter, as there are fewer prerequisite courses and in an accelerated program can be done in 18 months (after the prereqs). Job availability depends on the area, some regions hire ADN as easily as BSN, others don't. Much of the differences BSN programs give are in areas of research, leadership and management, more pysch, and a good 2 years of prereqs that include history, english, social sciences etc., to complete a full Bachelors education. I am comparing what my BSN program required vs. the ADN program I have taught at.

If you are not in a hospital in your mission field, and are wanting to provide more home care type nursing, then ADN should serve you. I would take extra classes in first aide, etc., as that sort of learning is not included in nursing.

If you want to provide midwifery care, you'll need a BSN to go to advanced practice as a nurse midwife. There are midwives who are not nurses..... that education I can't help with :)

Awesome! Thanks for the advice. I have all the prerequisites for the ADN so I should be able to finish within 1.5-2 years. plus I've seen some great ADN to BSN programs if I was interested in continuing my education later on.

Thanks 👍