Current nursing student...but what to do after my BSN?!

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Hi I am enrolled in the BSN program at the University of South Carolina. I will be graduating soon but I don't know what to do after that. I have been looking at the BSN to DNP program can someone please shed some light as to whether that is worth it. I also was thinking of joining the air force (since I will have a bachelors degree, I will go in an an officer). I was looking into Nurse Anesthetist if I joined the AF. Which route would be better?! I just need to decide what path I want to pursue so I can make sure I have everything in order!

Thank you!!

If you're in it for the money, CRNA's by far the best route. .

"Martyrdom would die...a thousand deaths"...

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
You can't just go straight into a nursing graduate program. You need to get at least 2 years of experience in a hospital, preferably in the icu. I would get a job at a hospital first before making any decisions about where you want to go with your graduate education. Your interests may change with the more experience you get.
While I don't recommend it.....there are BSN-DNP options out there. So, yes you can go straight into a DNP program...however the CRNA programs usually require at least 1 year of experience.
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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.

It's not the CRNA schools that require a year of experience; the AANA sets the requirements which is now a year of "critical care" experience. Most SRNA have between 5 and 7 years of experience before acceptance into a program. I wish all advanced practicing nurse programs required the same rigor, especially as they will be a larger portion of the primary care providers in the future.

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1. Get a job and experience

2. Most CRNA schools are very competitive and have only a few seats, not only do they want ICU experience they usually require more science classes like chem

3. AF nursing is competitive right now and every AF nurse has a BSN, your chances of waltzing in with this current nursing recruitment atmosphere are close to 0

4. If the AF did take you, you would start out as Med-Surg and not ICU to begin with for sure

You could go straight NP but I am firm believer that a RN's previous experience is what solidifies the usefulness of NPs but that's just me.

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Since you've never worked as a nurse, you don't really even know what you'll like, or what you'll be good at. In my opinion, if you want to make the decision that will make you the happiest, you gotta work for a little bit. I mean, neither of those decisions is a horrible idea, but they are vastly different. If you're not on a tight deadline to get a higher degree for some reason, I'd give it a couple of years.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I actually did go straight into the ICU as a new grad.

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