Associates after Bachelors

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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If you have a bachelors degree and then want to go back for an associates in something else (nursing, because an accelerated program isn't feasible right now), is it seen as a waste? and/ or would your bachelors be a waste?

Ive been looking into the ASN at the community college near me but this is holding me back. I am afraid what people will think.

I just didn't happen to realize nursing was a passion of mine at 18 when I first started college and didn't realize it until I was almost done with my bachelors.

I have a previous BS and couldn't do an accelerated BSN because I had to work too so I did an ASN program. The experience itself was good but know this, in the world of nursing/nurses, no cares about any previous degree.

One could have a PhD in Biology or Human Physiology and a Diploma from a hospital-based nursing program and there are many who would give more props to the Diploma than the PhD. I never experienced that in my other field.

Well, any smart hiring manager would be impressed with an RN who also has a PhD in human physiology. I don't think it's fair to say no one cares about your previous degree. It will certainly help when you seek to move up the ladder, too.

But, yes, of course they care more about the diploma from the hospital nursing program. That being the one that enabled the applicant to become a RN and all. That's true of any career where licensure is a requirement.

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They don't even help if you wanted to move up to a better position?

I don't think it's fair to say no one cares about your previous degree. It will certainly help when you seek to move up the ladder, too.

But one must, must, must get the required nursing degrees in addition to what you already have. I haven't seen any evidence that a previous degree means anything and I've been researching it since doing per-requs.

Maybe it's just my city- where bedside nurses are getting their DNP's and not planning on leaving bedside!! It's a big Eds and Meds city with multiple academic medical centers.

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arrrrreeee you kidding me?!?!!?!!!?!?

i have a bs in neuroscience and then got my asn cause i couldn't afford to go get another bachelors due to financial aid only giving assistance for the first bachelors. so anyway, i got my ash, got a job in a hospital and then worked on my bsn after.

get over the stigma, you need to get your RN wherever you can. its a hard road ahead and if you are worried about what others think, you will have an even harder time.

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Specializes in CVOR, CVICU/CTICU, CCRN.

I echo what the previous posters have said - there is no shame in getting an associate's after a bachelor's. I originally earned a bachelor's in sports medicine and became board-certified as an Exercise Physiologist. For reasons beyond my control, I had to relocate to an area where no one had even heard of an EP-c and couldn't land a job. I got my ADN at a local JuCo, fell in love with the challenging but rewarding profession, and am now preparing to get my MSN.

I would like to point out that your original degree doesn't have to be a waste. I still apply my sports medicine education on a regular basis in my nursing job and have kept my EP-c current as well. In this economy, a survivor must be willing to adjust to the environment to make a living. The route to your ultimate career may be circuitous, but you'll arrive where you are meant to be all the same and you will have grown into a very different person by the time you get there.

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Specializes in hospice.

I'm in a certificate program to become a LPN 17 years after earning a bachelor's in political science. A long time ago I was going to go to law school. Life takes turns, and no education is ever a waste. I didn't become a lawyer and have never used that BA for employment, but I've used it. I home schooled my children for several years and have continued to educate them. I evaluate events and trends in a historical context, and that makes me a better citizen. I plan to someday run for office, so maybe it will be handy then, or maybe not, but it's never a waste.

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Specializes in ICU.
They don't even help if you wanted to move up to a better position?

All nursing really cares about is nursing degrees. I believe previous degrees have personal value to the applicant, but a Ph.D is no different from an associate's to a recruiter if none of it's in nursing. I learned a lot in my previous bachelor's but I am well aware I'm the only person who cares that I have it.

If your previous degree is in business, that would probably be an asset if you are applying for a nurse manager position down the road, but if you're just going to be working as a bedside nurse a previous degree is irrelevant.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

To the OP:

A candidate who has an AS degree in nursing and a previous BS degree in molecular biology is, for all intents and purposes, an associate degree nurse. The previous BS does not make a difference in a local employment market where RNs with BSN degrees are preferred.

Likewise, someone with an AS degree in nursing and a prior MS degree in biology is considered an associate degree nurse by recruiters and HR. Previous degrees do not receive much consideration in this profession.

If you are worried about what others think, seek out another profession with more prestige and less labor (read: medicine, PT, OT, etc). Nursing already has a reputation for not attracting the brightest bulbs, as anecdotally evidenced by statements from the public such as this: "You seem smart. Why did you become a nurse?"

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Non-therapeutic response here, but WHY would you care what other people think about the road you take to your own career? There are a lot of people that enter nursing as their 2nd career and end up in an associate degree program for one reason or another. You won't be the first to do it, you won't be the last to do it, so why waste time worrying about what others think if nursing is truly your passion?

What exactly are your concerns? If you're just graduating with your 1st bachelors, I guess I can understand a little better, because there is that exciting feeling mixed with superiority that comes with knowing you earned a university degree. I remember graduating with my 1st degree filled with optimism and feeling like my feces smelled like roses because, good golly, I was educated – and the world needed to watch out…because I was going to do amazing things…like sit in a cubicle answering phones all day for $35,000 a year!! You may (or may not!) soon realize that the precious bachelors degree” isn't worth the paper it's printed on (for me, that case was certainly true…I was a sociology major…not exactly in high demand). Now, if you're making the switch from something like engineering and you're already pulling in a decent buck, and all your engineering friends are scoffing at you for considering a return to community college, then, well, I also understand that, too. But, again, it's your future, and unless they are paying your tuition, does it matter what they think?

Bottom line, if you want to enter nursing, go for it. Don't worry if someone may look down on you because you chose to earn an associate degree if that is the option that best suits your current financial situation. In the end, you still take the same NCLEX and earn the same license. It very well may be that the person/people looking down on you today could end up unemployed tomorrow or earning half what you may eventually earn, so why bother wasting any of your energy on them?

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To the OP:

A candidate who has an AS degree in nursing and a previous BS degree in molecular biology is, for all intents and purposes, an associate degree nurse. The previous BS does not make a difference in a local employment market where RNs with BSN degrees are preferred.

Likewise, someone with an AS degree in nursing and a prior MS degree in biology is considered an associate degree nurse by recruiters and HR. Previous degrees do not receive much consideration in this profession.

If you are worried about what others think, seek out another profession with more prestige and less labor (read: medicine, PT, OT, etc). Nursing already has a reputation for not attracting the brightest bulbs, as anecdotally evidenced by statements from the public such as this: "You seem smart. Why did you become a nurse?"

I know that they don't look at previous degrees, that is why in was worried it would be a waste Lol. and why would anybody think nurses are not smart?

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Non-therapeutic response here, but WHY would you care what other people think about the road you take to your own career? There are a lot of people that enter nursing as their 2nd career and end up in an associate degree program for one reason or another. You won't be the first to do it, you won't be the last to do it, so why waste time worrying about what others think if nursing is truly your passion?

What exactly are your concerns? If you're just graduating with your 1st bachelors, I guess I can understand a little better, because there is that exciting feeling mixed with superiority that comes with knowing you earned a university degree. I remember graduating with my 1st degree filled with optimism and feeling like my feces smelled like roses because, good golly, I was educated – and the world needed to watch out…because I was going to do amazing things…like sit in a cubicle answering phones all day for $35,000 a year!! You may (or may not!) soon realize that the precious bachelors degree” isn't worth the paper it's printed on (for me, that case was certainly true…I was a sociology major…not exactly in high demand). Now, if you're making the switch from something like engineering and you're already pulling in a decent buck, and all your engineering friends are scoffing at you for considering a return to community college, then, well, I also understand that, too. But, again, it's your future, and unless they are paying your tuition, does it matter what they think?

Bottom line, if you want to enter nursing, go for it. Don't worry if someone may look down on you because you chose to earn an associate degree if that is the option that best suits your current financial situation. In the end, you still take the same NCLEX and earn the same license. It very well may be that the person/people looking down on you today could end up unemployed tomorrow or earning half what you may eventually earn, so why bother wasting any of your energy on them?

You are absolutely right! I guess its not so much what others think, its more of me thinking OK wow I paid all this money for a social sciences degree (which like you with sociology, I can only get low paying cubicle jobs) and now I feel like if I go back to a community college for something else, not that its "lower" or less "prestige" but I'll be throwing by BA degree out the door.

On another note, for the most part the only people that I went to school with or who I know that went to school who have been able to really get anywhere with their degrees are the people that either majored in something business (like accounting), engineering, or a health/allied healthcare field (ie nursing, sonography etc whether at the associates or bachelors level). Most of the others can't really do much with their liberal arts degrees unless they decide to go and teach high school with it. So maybe I should start looking at it from that aspect.

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Specializes in MICU - CCRN, IR, Vascular Surgery.

This is what I did. Sure it felt a little strange going to community college as a university graduate, but that feeling lasted for like 3 days maybe. I was able to get two different jobs as an ASN. No one has cared about my BA in Spanish at all though, which is sad because I thought that would be an awesome thing for an RN to have.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

My husband got his first degree in his early 20s in forestry. Never used it, then many years later decided to become an RN and got his ASN through a community college. In his case, yes, his bachelor's degree was a waste. No, nobody looks down on him for getting an associate's degree in nursing after getting a bachelor's in something else (this idea is so foreign to me - why would that be looked down upon?).

Whether YOUR bachelor's degree would be wasted in nursing depends entirely on what your bachelor's degree is IN (have you even mentioned that in this thread? Kind of an important point).

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