Bachelor's in Psychology to Nursing school?

[cherryharlean]

I am currently in college, on my way to get a bachelor's of science in

psychology. I have always wanted to be a nurse, but I don't know what I should be doing right now.

What can I do with a degree in psychology and make it relevant to a career in nursing? Is it basically useless?

(BTW, there is no nursing school at my college, but I have been taking the pre-nursing courses so that I will be able to go to nursing school elsewhere... but I am also still pursuing my degree in psychology.)

[jjjoy, LPN]

While one's college degree may not lead directly into a career - such as an accounting major becoming an accountant - no degree is completely useless!

I think you're on the right track to see how you might be able to swing that psych degree towards health care if that's your interest. And I think you can probably find something, too! It won't be as easy as opening the newspaper to pages of "wanted-graduates with psych degrees!" but since you have some idea of the direction you'd like to head, that can give you some focus.

One way to get started would be to look up the jobs listings in big health organizations - university medical centers, health insurance companies, local hospitals, HMOs (eg Kaiser) - and see if any of the job descriptions sounds like something you might be interested in and/or qualified for. Even if you're not qualified for a position, you can contact the company and see if you can talk to someone and get more information about that kind of work. If anything, it can give you a better idea of the wide range of jobs out there that don't fit into the more well-known vocational tracks such as teaching and accounting. And it gives you the vocabulary to further expand your search.

It can be a frustrating process but well worth it to get a better idea of what's out there... and it's definitely worth it if you land a job that not only pays your bills but also gets you in on health care! Good luck!