Back to school for nursing. Help!

[Rudem3]

I'll try and keep this short....

I am a 23 year old male and graduated in May 2011 with a B.S in Criminal Justice and a Biology minor. I don't see myself enjoying my selected field so I am looking into becoming a nurse. I have a few options that I am weighing....

I can get my ADN at the local tech school an becoming an RN or,

get my BSN from a university or,

take a few pre reqs at community college and have then get my MSN.

The ADN will take just as long as the BSN and a little short than the MSN but will save me a lot of money. But what are my chances of getting a job with the ADN? Thats my concern.

As of now, I am looking at getting my MSN right away. It's an accelerated program and it will take a little over 2 years or so to complete but of course I need my pre reqs which will take about a year.

Basically, if you were in my shoes and you have enough financial aid for either route, what would you do????

[wookieRN11]

Well since you stated that "The ADN will take just as long as the BSN" and since you have enough financial aid, you might as well just go for the BSN. Depending on where you live, many hospitals now require that you have your BSN. I would also recommend getting some nursing experience before going for your MSN so you can develop your nursing skills especially if you are going for a nurse practitioner program. Hope that helps.

[Tenacious Me]

^ I agree. What would you like to specialize in? It's important that you be able to apply everything you've learned in theory to real world situations. Going straight through to your MSN may not afford you much time for on the job training. In my state, it's extremely difficult to find new RN grad positions in the hospital, never mind MSN jobs without experience. Just FFT.