ASN to MSN

[JanieMarie]

hi- i am starting nursing school in the fall. i have the option to go to a bsn program which is intense or an asn program that is less time consuming. my only concern is that i want to go on and be an np. i've looked into a few online schools that offer asn to msn programs, but i am kind of confused. when a school offers a bridge program once i finish that will i have my msn or will that just prepare me for my msn? money is not a factor in my decision. i just need to figure out the quickest/best way to become a np. can anyone shed some light on this?

[PMFB-RN, RN]

hi- i am starting nursing school in the fall. i have the option to go to a bsn program which is intense or an asn program that is less time consuming. my only concern is that i want to go on and be an np. i've looked into a few online schools that offer asn to msn programs, but i am kind of confused. when a school offers a bridge program once i finish that will i have my msn or will that just prepare me for my msn? money is not a factor in my decision. i just need to figure out the quickest/best way to become a np. can anyone shed some light on this?

*** there are several types of asn to msn programs. in some programs you earn your bsn on the way to msn. they are called rn to msn programs and usually what they do is bring 9-12 credits down from the msn program to subsitute for bsn credits. so you earn and bsn and msn in 9-12 less total credits plus you get those 9-12 graduate credits at undergrad cost.

there are also rn to msn programs that do not award a bsn. one goes from asn to msn. usually there is a bridge program that will take one to two semesters. the bridge prepars you to enter the masters program. the bridge program is done instead of the bsn.