BSN with PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences .

I'm not sure about working for a pharm company... that seems to be a real niche.... bit maybe with that background you could also work in public health in regards to toxicology.

Thanks for your response.Most pharmaceutical industry positions for nurses require at least a bachelors of science degree in nursing (BSN) and several years of experience. Nurse educators, professors, and researchers are a good fit for pharmaceutical companies too. Nurses that specialize in a therapeutic area that the pharmaceutical or medical device company manufactures products for have a better chance of getting their foot in the door. For example, a company that manufactures drugs for acute care will seek nurses that have worked in critical care or the emergency room. So I plan on working in critical care while I pursue a PhD. This advance degree only makes me look better to employer for the purpose o have mentioned above..

Interesting information. It's going to take you a while to finish this goal. Getting into critical care after nursing school might take at least a year of med/sure if you don't get into critical care right away. Also getting a Ph.D. while working won't be easy and might take you longer than expected, unless you go per deim or something. Then that is possible. I would speak with someone in the pharmacology department and see if getting a BSN is necessary. A Ph.D. is a very intensive degree and I would think that you wouldn't need experience in nursing at all to get into a pharmaceutical company.

Definitely, check with the department and I would even try to research companies to see if any BSN trained critical care nurses to need a Ph.D. in pharmacology to get their foot in the door. Getting a Ph. D is a big endeavor and usually requires passion about the subject to sustain the effort, not just to get a foot in the door to a company. On top of that, I would consider the cost of these programs in making my decision.

Sounds awesome you would do that. Thank you.

I would also be ensuring that you would be getting paid PhD wages too! You'll be paying on PhD student loans right?

So what would be the difference in the BSN degree and a pharmacologist degree? Isn't the pay for a pharmacist much better?

When accepted in to the PhD program I will be on a PhD grant /scholarship hopefully. Becoming a Nurse is a dream come true for me, trust me. A degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences only goes further to elaborate my Therapeutic skills in nursing. I really don't care about the money because with excellence comes money it self.

Money and excellence are two totally different concepts. Ph.D. grant/scholarships are few and far between, especially if you're studying a science. But, they exist I'm sure. It's nice to have goals and a dream and things we are excited and passionate about. It's also good to reasearch things before jumping into them. If my interests were about devices and drug development, I would never have gone into nursing at all. Nursing is more about people and the human experience than anything else.

You know, your advice has been really handy. I'm really an ambitious person that I want to do everything. I think I have to focus on one thing, which is the passion that brought me to Nursing. I have always been good with people and wanting to analyze the food they eat, their vital signs as it relates their overall health. With my experience as a nurse aid, I have always been concern about the biology of catether, chest on patient.

I want to able to look at a patient life style and their diagnosis and be able to be of help. Nursing provides me that pathway because of how diverse it is.

I'm currently doing a research in to all this I want and would hopefully decide what to do when I graduate.

You know, your advice has been really handy. I'm really an ambitious person that I want to do everything. I think I have to focus on one thing, which is the passion that brought me to Nursing. I have always been good with people and wanting to analyze the food they eat, their vital signs as it relates their overall health. With my experience as a nurse aid, I have always been concern about the biology of catether, chest on patient.

I want to able to look at a patient life style and their diagnosis and be able to be of help. Nursing provides me that pathway because of how diverse it is.

I'm currently doing a research in to all this I want and would hopefully decide what to do when I graduate.

Not sure if you are ambitious, or scattered, "only" two semesters away from your BSN... is a long way.

"I want to able to look at a patient life style and their diagnosis and be able to be of help." You don't need a PhD in pharmacology to do that.

Have you discussed this plan with your academic advisor?

OP, you sound like a planner. I definitely appreciate the "security" of thinking that I have my career trajectory planned out. However, it so rarely works out that way, especially over a number of years.

I didn't get a job in my specialty of choice after school (psych) and was initially pretty devastated. I felt it would set back my "plan" of spending so many years at the bedside while eventually moving to becoming a PMHNP. I decided to start in Med-Surg after getting my RN to get a breadth of experience and to get myself into the hospital setting (I'd worked primary care as an LPN). After a couple of years on that floor I was feeling stagnant and it made me open to a specialty I had never even considered -- Critical Care. It scared the **** out of me in school. But I've now been working there for a year and I *love* it. At this time in life, I don't see me wanting to change specialties again.

My point here is... us planners can sometimes get so caught up in our plans and wanting to reach the next goal that we don't stop and pay attention to the journey along the way. You may get your preferred specialty out of school and hate it, or you might find yourself drawn to something else. Or maybe things will follow your current plans -- who knows? It's too early to say. It's nice to have ideas, but don't lock yourself into a mindset that you MUST do x,y,z... Get through school, get that first job, get through that tough first year and re-evaluate where life has taken you in that time. You might be surprised where you end up. I know I definitely am!