BSN or MSN Direct Entry?

[tiffyo2]

Hello! I am currently taking prerequisites for nursing school and trying to decide among the options for those who already have a Bachelors degree. I have a Bachelors in another field and will be in a good position to apply to either a second Bachelors or Masters direct entry program after I complete some prerequisites. Looking at the programs, the Traditional BSN option seems to be best for me, because I am not interested in management, and the Masters programs in my area are Clinical Nurse Leader programs, and cost at least twice as month as the BSN option. Looking at the programs, it appears that the CNL programs are more geared toward those who want to go into management or administrative roles in nursing, but not sure this is correct? I also don't see a lot of positions for CNLs that are just out of school. As of right now I see myself becoming an RN and then possibly go on to get my DNP for nurse practitioner later after I get some experience. Are there advantages to getting the CNL Masters that I'm not seeing, or am I better off sticking with BSN? Thanks!

[idkmybffjill]

Sounds like you're better off getting a BSN. I'd think it'd be incredibly hard getting a job as a clinical nurse leader right out of school when you have no nursing experience. Plus, it costs more and doesn't get you any closer to what you ultimately want to do than a cheaper BSN will.

[tiffyo2]

Thanks for your thoughts! You're right, it isn't making sense to me to get a Masters when I am just starting out in the field. Seems like I should just get qualified for RN with BSN and then specialize later with a Masters or DNP.

[flowerpowerntx]

Believe it or not there are a lot of BSN students that have previous undergrad degrees and even graduate degrees. Nursing is a career that is very attractive as a second career, I guess. I think you will be surprised how challenging nursing school really is even with a previous undergrad or grad degree, people are very overwhelmed. Going the MSN entry would just add the extra weight of graduate level requirement on top of nursing school which sounds scary to me. However, I can see that as a more mature student, it might be nice to be in a small program with students you have more in common with - the only advantage I see. Going into a new grad interview with a Masters in nursing, you might not get the reception you are hoping for.