B.S.N. vs. Biology? Which one is more challenging?

Nurses General Nursing

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Both are science majors...which one is considered more difficult to obtain a Bachelors in?

Just curious, why does it matter? It seems to me like we are comparing apples to oranges. If you want to be a nurse, get a BSN, if you want to be a lab tech, teacher, doctor, and pursue advanced education, get a B.S. in biology. I'm pretty sure we could go on for days with the "I had it harder than you" debate, but the fact of the matter is, it's not important.

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I think the OP was just up in the air and is probably looking for an easier out.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
Wow really? Most people think Biology is more difficult...at least I thought.

Then why did you ask?

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All that stuff really interested me, I just knew the BSN to eventually FNP route was much more practical.

:) For some people it's interesting - I was more commenting that most people would rather avoid those kind of extremely intense upper-divs...one of my friends came out crying after cell bio and then burned her notes. That's how bad that class was. And she's a 4.0 to-be pharmacy student.

From my experience with watching my friends go through school, nursing has more busywork. But content-wise, biology (upper divisions in particular) is far more ridiculously difficult.

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Which more "challenging"? As a bio major turned nursing major, in terms of content comprehension, I thought bio content itself was more challenging but the sheer volume of content of nursing was overwhelming. In nursing, a lot of time had to be spent on various projects that didn't always feel like the most efficent use of very limited time given how much there is for nurses to learn. In nursing school, your're really only tested on very small of fraction of what is covered but you can never be sure what exactly will be covered. And even if you're never tested on it, it's good to know as a future practitioner.

I personally find it easier to learn and remember if I really dig into things, but nursing covers so much so fast that compared to bio major coursework, you're barely scraping the surface of things. Check out some nursing textbooks versus biology textbooks to compare. So for me, bio was much more intellectually challenging but nursing challenged me in many other ways that are hard to describe.

In terms of grades, in bio, my grades depended on how well I understand the material and how well my classmates understood it (grading on a curve). Keep in mind bio is full of pre-med students competing fiercely for a limited number of As. In nursing, no matter how well I'd studied and understood, getting As was difficult as the evaluation methods weren't always clear cut. NCLEX style questions can be tricky no matter how well you understand of the subject in question. They call this "critical thinking" in nursing school. My positive spin on it is that real life doesn't have clear cut right and wrong answer and neither do some NCLEX questions. Care plans also were graded very differently by different instructors who often didn't make it clear ahead of time what exactly they were looking for.

Go to nursing school to be able to get a nursing job and learn to practice nursing. You barely scrape the surface in school and learn much on the job after graduation. Major in biology if you want to learn about life systems, be they animal or plant. You delve into biological systems and learn a lot. Then you get a job that may or may be related to biology and learn that on-the-job!

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Biology for sure was MUCH harder!! I have easily gotten through my nursing program while working full time. I struggled quite a bit to get through all the chemistry I had to take getting my 1st degree. As for jobs, I am actually recruited all the time for jobs and only have a BS in Biology! My coworkers and I say that you will always eat with a science degree! In fact, I will take a pay cut when I become nurse. That is of course if I ever find a job. Those, as a new grad, I am not being recruited for!!!

To answer the obvious question, I really enjoy working with people which lab work does not provide so I felt it was time for a change!

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The 4 year nursing degree is a joke in comparison to the Bio degree.

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Also for those of you saying that the NCLEX or w/e (I'm from Canada) or nursing courses require more than 50% to graduate...well, the university I went to for Biology would not let you obtain a Bachelor of Science Degree unless you had a B- GPA. That is much more difficult to obtain in a bio program than in a nursing one.

As somebody previously mentioned, nursing is just busy work. Critical thinking is involved only when you're way up there, nurse practitioner style.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
Critical thinking is involved only when you're way up there, nurse practitioner style.

I completely and totally disagree.

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I completely and totally disagree.

Really? That is actually good news for me. As a student I am so disappointed with my clinical experience on an internal medicine unit.

As I am taking on some of the tasks of the nurses, I only feel that the challenges (and they are challenges) are

- how to turn the patient in bed (if they are obese, had hip surgery, etc) to do peri care

- to make sure all the meds are done on time

- to chart accurately

- to sustain your own frustration when patients/families/other nurses are rude to you

I feel that while these are difficult, they are not 'critical thinking' per se. I sincerely hope on different units I actually learn more. Otherwise I feel like all my assessment and patho knowledge is being wasted. I try to ask questions and confirm my assessments; nobody cares.

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Specializes in Home Care.

I started out many years ago being a biology major. I love biology. I gave up on that degree when I found out just how bad I sucked at chemistry and math. It would have been a real struggle for me to complete calculus, physics and all those chemistry classes.

For me, nursing is far easier :)

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Specializes in School Nursing.

I think, generally speaking, someone who has finished a BS degree in Biology will have an easier time in a nursing program. I have nothing to back that up other than a strong background in the biological sciences provides a solid foundation for nursing. Every science class I've taken has had tests designed to test your understanding of a subject, very application driven which requires 'critical thinking' (this phrase is starting to annoy me for some reason). Not one of them give easy "vocabulary" type questions. You've had to understand the concepts to answer the questions. I only imagine those concepts get harder and harder the higher your biology classes get.

I'm not saying nursing school is easy.. only I can see how someone with a bio degree may find it 'easier'. I'm sure I'll struggle a lot more than your bio degree holders.

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