Does ANYBODY enter a traditional BSN program anymore?

MunoRN, RN · Feb 11, 2012

A significant number of new RN students already have bachelor degrees which is why the Accelerated BSN path has become so popular. More than half of those entering Nursing have already worked in a previous career, which often includes a previous bachelor's degree.

We have two ADN programs locally and both essentially require a previous bachelor's degree for admittance. Both are very competitive (usually 150+ applications yearly for 30 spots) and both give points for a previous bachelor's degree. I know that at least one of the programs has not had any students in the last 2 cohorts who didn't already have a bachelor's, which gives you an idea of how common it is for a Nursing degree to be a second degree.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Feb 11, 2012

***in general***, i think second degree students are experienced in how college works and to some extent how life after college works. i think we come in to it with more questions about getting the best bang for our buck while balancing everything else going on in our lives. we also, having been through it once before, know about all the things we wish we'd asked and been able to evaluate prior to going to school the first time around. as career changers, maybe we also have a really good understanding, as well, that things don't always turn out how you hope them to and that preparation, research, and more preparation is key in maximizing the likelihood of a good outcome (get in to school, graduate from school, get job).

high schoolers and first time degree students often don't know everything they could/should be asking prior to selecting a school and program simply because there are so many things that are clear in hindsight only. they may have adults and college counselors in their lives who are giving them advice that may seem sufficient to satisfy the questions they do have. they may have different key priorities in selecting a school ("college experience", close to home or as far away as possible, live somewhere sunny/snowy, etc). the internet was much younger when i was graduating high school, but it was around and i used it a ton to look up stuff and talk to people about things that i was interested in. all the super fine details that we see people pouring over here were not on my list of things i was interested in. if i had questions about school i asked my family, teachers, advisors, and took their word for it. i had some classmates with similar school plans and talked to them as well. i had no sense of how competitive the type of program i was trying to get in to was, so did very little obsessing about whether i'd get in. in my small pond, i was actually pretty competitive so i just took it for granted that i'd be able to get in to a program i'd want to go to.

but i've been through school, and it wasn't always smooth sailing (i actually didn't get in to the type of program i wanted initially and had to reapply and transfer and then it turned out i hated the program anyway) and there were a lot of things that came up that made me think "gosh, i wish i'd known this before starting school." i think that makes career changers more assertive in seeking out that information. that's how i came to allnurses in the first place, and i presume that's what draws a lot of the second degree nurses here as well. i would be very surprised if the demographic of pre-nursing students here is representative of pre-nursing students in the general population. but my experience here is that of the second degree students here, it's pretty evenly split between those who are looking for Accelerated BSN programs and those who are looking at community college programs. i do read about second degree students going to traditional bsn programs sometimes but they are often programs that have the nursing classes concentrated in a way that the second degree student can transfer in their general education classes.

when i was looking at nursing school, i saw two reasonable options for myself: the accelerated bsn which would be more expensive but shorten the amount of time i was in school, or the local community college, which was cheaper but much longer. i live in an area that has a strong hiring preference for bsn new grads and a weak new grad economy, plus i wanted to be done more quickly, so i picked the accelerated bsn. a traditional length bsn program was nowhere on my radar simple because after spending 6 years on my first degree plus the time it took to do prerequisites, i was not ready to invest that much more time in a new career when there were shorter options available.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Feb 11, 2012

The pre-req's for an ADN are nearly identical to that of a BSN program except for a couple classes like nutrition or sometimes statistics.

This really depends on the schools you are comparing. In my city, some of the BSN pre-reqs (I researched about five of them!) are part of one of the most popular ADN nursing programs. For example, A&P 1 and 2 and microbiology are pre-reqs for the BSN programs, but not for the ADN program; those three classes can be taken during the first two semesters of the ADN nursing program. Because many students do take those classes during the ADN program, the number of semester hours for the nursing-specific courses is reduced for the first two semesters.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Feb 11, 2012

When I was looking at nursing school, I saw two reasonable options for myself: the accelerated BSN which would be more expensive but shorten the amount of time I was in school, or the local community college, which was cheaper but much longer. I live in an area that has a strong hiring preference for BSN new grads and a weak new grad economy, plus I wanted to be done more quickly, so I picked the accelerated BSN. A traditional length BSN program was nowhere on my radar simple because after spending 6 years on my first degree plus the time it took to do prerequisites, I was not ready to invest that much more time in a new career when there were shorter options available.

These are many of the same reasons I chose the Accelerated BSN route. In addition, the ADN programs were often wait-listed, even with the use of point systems, because there are so many applicants to those programs. Many of the programs require a residency in the municipality that supports the CC with tax dollars. (I know a few people who lied about their residencies--using relatives as the "home address"--in order to get into the programs.)

Twinmom06, ASN, APN · Feb 12, 2012

there is only one accelarated BSN program in my area and on top of the nursing classes, you had to finish the pre-reqs first - which is ok but the pre-reqs included 12 credits (4 classes) of religion and philosophy...I'm not paying $50K to have to take 4 bull classes that I went to a secular school the first time around to specifically avoid!

RN In FL · Feb 12, 2012

there is only one accelarated BSN program in my area and on top of the nursing classes, you had to finish the pre-reqs first - which is ok but the pre-reqs included 12 credits (4 classes) of religion and philosophy...I'm not paying $50K to have to take 4 bull classes that I went to a secular school the first time around to specifically avoid!

Well i guess thats a way to weed out career change people who aren't sure if they want to go into nursing, meaning, those that do will sacrifice those 4 classes, do what they must to get there. However I can understand where you are coming from.

Columnist · Feb 12, 2012

Moved to Pre-Nursing forum.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2012

Well i guess thats a way to weed out career change people who aren't sure if they want to go into nursing, meaning, those that do will sacrifice those 4 classes, do what they must to get there. However I can understand where you are coming from.

Or go to another school.

Twinmom06, ASN, APN · Feb 12, 2012

I'm doing an ADN program now from the same school I got my bachelor's from in 1996 - made all the general ed's completed - the only pre-reqs I needed were A&P and Micro certainly makes me happy!

RN In FL · Feb 12, 2012

I'm doing an ADN program now from the same school I got my bachelor's from in 1996 - made all the general ed's completed - the only pre-reqs I needed were A&P and Micro certainly makes me happy!

That is awesome Twinmom06. I got my ADN. I didn't get a BSN. I got my BS in Community Health Education. My degree was markeable in the health arena. I retired senior management with an hmo. Out of my 28 yrs of nursing, I have worn many hats from bedside nursing, to community health, to home health, and managed care. I am 48.

I am an "old school" RN and it is so hard for me to grasp how people can just go from one career to nursing. I was a CNA at 18, and LPN at 19, RN at 21 with a BS in Community Health at 24...at work in many "hands on capacities"....wounds, IV's, deaths...blood, guts, poop, i can't for the life of me figure how can somebody who has been an accountant for 15 yrs up and want to "be a nurse"...just like that. Then to hear on this site, so many who have not even gotten into programs, to talk about going on for masters degrees, without mention of working in a hospital. I thought you wanted to be a nurse???

Anyhoo.....keep up the good work Twinmom06:bow:

Twinmom06, ASN, APN · Feb 12, 2012

That is awesome Twinmom06. I got my ADN. I didn't get a BSN. I got my BS in Community Health Education. My degree was markeable in the health arena. I retired senior management with an hmo. Out of my 28 yrs of nursing, I have worn many hats from bedside nursing, to community health, to home health, and managed care. I am 48.
I am an "old school" RN and it is so hard for me to grasp how people can just go from one career to nursing. I was a CNA at 18, and LPN at 19, RN at 21 with a BS in Community Health at 24...at work in many "hands on capacities"....wounds, IV's, deaths...blood, guts, poop, i can't for the life of me figure how can somebody who has been an accountant for 15 yrs up and want to "be a nurse"...just like that. Then to hear on this site, so many who have not even gotten into programs, to talk about going on for masters degrees, without mention of working in a hospital. I thought you wanted to be a nurse???
Anyhoo.....keep up the good work Twinmom06:bow:

I worked for an insurance company for 10 years before getting laid off...I don't think I could have handled being a nurse in my 20's - but once I hit my 30's, did a lot of research and had kids - and realized that at this point in my life (nearly 38) and with my kids in Kindergarten I'd been given an opportunity to pursue something I've wanted to do since I was 29 and excel at it!

honestly - I may not go beyond my ADN - I don't want to manage anything, I want to be a bedside nurse, possibly a doctors office or school nurse - I'm too old to worry about being an NP or CRNA LOL!

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2012

I am an "old school" RN and it is so hard for me to grasp how people can just go from one career to nursing. I was a CNA at 18, and LPN at 19, RN at 21 with a BS in Community Health at 24...at work in many "hands on capacities"....wounds, IV's, deaths...blood, guts, poop, i can't for the life of me figure how can somebody who has been an accountant for 15 yrs up and want to "be a nurse"...just like that.

Most of the people in my ABSN program talked about wanting to have a job where they felt like they were making a difference in people's lives. We had some financial people in my class, but also former teachers, fresh college grads who realized late in school that they wanted to do nursing (and the quickest way to do that was to stay the course and then do an ABSN), managers, paramedics, real estate folks, office workers, campaign managers, etc.

Not everybody knows what they want to do at 18, and you yourself developed and expanded your career over the decades so I'm not sure why it would seem so odd for people to want to switch to nursing.