Career Change into Nursing- Need Advice!

[JM87]

1st time posting on these forums. I've been scouring through here for the last few months just trying to get a glimpse into what life as a nurse would be like.

I'm looking to make a career change and feel nursing would suit me perfectly, however I could use some advice from current nursing students and/or nurses as to which the best route to take would be.

A little about me:

• Age 29, Male
  
• Current career/job: Personal Trainer, I own a personal training studio
  
• Have been in fitness for almost 10 years
  
• Currently have a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science with a 3.4 GPA
  
• Currently enrolled in some basic nursing pre-reqs and taking the next year to complete them (Ap1, Ap2, MicroBio, etc)
  

My dilemma:

Associates Degree into RN or Accelerated Bachelors Degree?

My current frustration with this nursing path is trying to line up the pre-requisites with the right schools. As it stands now, I am looking at two accelerated programs (in Connecticut, Southerns ACE and Quinnipiac) as well as an Associates Degree (Goodwin College).

I'm at a point in my life I really need to start saving, and working a "real" job. Personal training has been ok, but its nothing consistent and I'm ready to move on from running a business. I need something with the potential to grow and something that will keep me active.

My long-term plan is to go for Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Anesthetist, so I understand I will need my BSN for either of those. However, is there a benefit to going the ADN route and go after the BSN online while working?

My biggest concern is not finding a job post gradation with an ADN. However I do hold a Bachelors Degree already, and even though its not in nursing, I would hope that would set me apart from someone with just an ADN.

Any advice on which path would be best would be great!

[guest769224]

Find out if Connecticut or the area you live in- hires ADN nurses into hospitals. If not, than accelerated BSN would be more appropriate.

Often times hospitals will pay some tuition reimbursement for ADN nurses to get their BSN. Or if you were open to relocating to an area that utilizes ADN RN's in hospitals that could be another option. This is my advice if you are looking to go to nurse anesthesia school. If you plan on nurse practitioner, the steps are different and easier to accomplish. Some NP schools don't even require RN experience for entry, and in such case, you wouldn't even need a job to get in, even though it's very helpful to have that experience.

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

To answer your first question in regards to if it is worth getting a BSN after ADN. Yes, but it depends on where you want to work. Your job positions with an ADN are more limited compared to a BSN. It will definitely grant you typical jobs that you hear about for RNs such as a bedside nurse, dialysis, home health, etc etc. With a BSN, you can go into teaching/education, management/administration, public health nursing and others. If you plan on being a bedside nurse forever, then there may be no reason for you to take the time to get a BSN; however nowadays, we're all better off going for at least the BSN. Who knows, you may want to teach 20 years later.

Don't get too caught up on the degree alone and figuring out which degree will get you a job faster. It's who you know, who you've impressed, your work and/or clinical experience, and well how you can sell yourself to the recruiter. In regards to ADN vs BSN, in my opinion it all depends on time and money. If you can take the time and are in no MAJOR rush, ADN should be the route to go. It will be longer since you may have to be on a "wait list" to get into the program, but it will be significantly cheaper than the BSN route. If time is of the essence, then go the BSN route (assuming that university will get you in right away) and shell out the money.

Since you have a bachelors and already know that you want to be a NP, why don't you just apply for a bachelors-to-MSN program? As far as I know for an MSN program you don't need any prior ADN/BSN degree or even the RN license as you would qualify to take it after the MSN program (I have a friend that is doing that irght now)?

Another side note, some universities now are starting to do ADN-MSN programs too so you may not necessarily need to get a BSN.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Non-nursing degrees do not provide any sort of recruitment advantage for new graduate nurses who are essentially seeking entry-level nursing jobs.

In many areas of the country, hospitals are only hiring BSNs. If this is the case, job opportunities for ADNs are limited to non-acute settings, which generally do not provide as much career advancement support (e.g., tuition reimbursement, flex scheduling, etc). Entry-level MSNs competer for the same entry-level jobs along with all other new grads... because that degree does not provide any sort of advanced clinical expertise. Admission to CRNA programs will require a couple of years of experience in a high level ICU setting. Many other NP programs also have clinical experience requirements.