Career Change into Nursing - Would love advice on best path!

[miqbal1109]

Hi everyone,

For many years I've considered a change into nursing but my current career path in the arts has presented several opportunities that I couldn't refuse. As a 27-year old with 3 years of work experience and a much better understanding of the career opportunities in the arts, I feel that now is the time I take action into changing my career. I currently have a B.M in Music Performance and an M.A. in Arts Administration. I've been researching the several pathways into transitioning into nursing such as ADN, Accelerated BSN, and Direct-entry MSN. As someone with an arts and humanities background, it'll take me close to two years just to finish the prerequisites for many of these programs. I'm currently working full time in Ohio and taking classes part time at a local community college. I'm looking into the shadowing process as well to ensure that this is a right fit for me. My current mindset has been to take this transition slowly, enjoy my current job, save money, and just try to enjoy life.

My dream would be to get into a Direct-Entry MSN program by Fall of 2021. The University of Toledo is my top choice. I've also looked into Ohio State, University of Virginia, and Columbia University. The biggest challenge has been sorting through programs with similar prerequisite requirements. I've taken classes in Statistics, Nutrition, Psychology, Lifespan and Development, Intro to Anatomy and Physiology. I've enrolled into Anatomy and Physiology I, A&P II, and Microbiology for the Summer,Fall, and Spring respectively. I should have enough prerequisites fulfilled to apply for several Direct-Entry MSN programs.

The reason I've posted is because I'm really nervous about doing all I can to ensure a successful career transition. I understand that there are so many paths into nursing and I just want to be sure that I've thought through my plan carefully. I've contemplated just going back and get an ADN because it would allow me to work-full time while going to school. But the idea of starting over completely from scratch and going back into BSN/MSN programs sounds cumbersome after having spent the last 7 years acquiring my current degrees. There's several accelerated BSN programs in Ohio but the prerequisite requirements are even more extensive than direct-entry MSN programs (many BSN programs require 4-8 credits of Chemistry with lab). Ultimately, the direct-entry MSN program seems to be the most efficient way of changing.

Are there any recent career-changers here? If so, could you talk about your experience and pathway into changing careers? Any thoughts on ADN vs Acceerlated BSN vs Direct-Entry MSN Any advice/perspective/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[ivyleaf]

have you done any shadowing? or better, work in the clinical setting you're interested in as a nursing assistant? I would STRONGLY recommend doing this before jumping into a new career