Extremely Lost...Graduated with B.S. in Biology but Decided to Pursue Nursing

[grand_theft_avocado]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, so I apologize if I am posting in the wrong place/way.

• I have little idea what my best options are, and am confused as a result.
  

Disclaimer:

I have read many old posts from people in similar situations as me (got a B.S. degree, trying to switch to nursing, etc.), but they have not been very helpful because they were either outdated or the information was confusing.

Main questions:

1. Given my situation, what is the quickest and least expensive path for me to become a nurse? (When I say "nurse," I am referring to a hospital RN, not a CNA, LVN, or LPN.)
   
   My short-term priority is to be able to get a nursing job, so that I can pay off debts.
   I hear "accelerated BSN" a lot, but the time+money problem is complicated by #2.
   
2. I am intrigued by the idea of also becoming a nurse anesthetist (CRNA?) further down the road (further = if the way the education system works requires me to do other stuff first), since I assume I need significant RN experience first to be eligible for that track.
   
   However, I found "direct entry MSN programs" that seem to be a shortcut way for people to skip the "BSN" altogether and just become a "CRNA" without needing to work as an "RN" first? I don't fully understand the path, whether it has any catches, or whether it can get me to where I want faster/cheaper.
   
3. What do nursing programs want to see in their applicants? Lots of community service/volunteering? Leadership history? Unique experiences?
   
   * The program sites I've been reading focus mostly on the pre-req courses, but I don't want to be lured into thinking that's all they look for, unless it really is that straightforward.
   

I have no idea where I stand, or whether any of the extracurricular stuff I did in college matters/translates well into a nursing track.

If you read everything up to here, thank you so much :') I would be very appreciative of any advice.

[elkpark]

I am not sure if I understand your post (though I thank you for replying). English is not my 1st language, so a lot of times I don't catch wordplays or subtleties/undertones.

I am not posting about "medical school." My intended question is about getting into nursing. But to address your point, my original academic goal was becoming an animal researcher, but I am obviously backing out of that because

1. extreme family emergency. I need to become the income earner now, as fast as possible, which is impossible with a PhD
   
2. academic research is not what I imagined. There is too much politics and funding is a nightmare.
   
3. my hospital internship w/ nurses made me realize that I love patient care (and human interaction) more than being stuck in a lab alone with test tubes for all of eternity.
   

Did your reply mean that I don't qualify for nursing because I should have gotten a 2.2? I am not sure I understand, sorry.

No, I meant that we get a lot of people posting here who were pre-med but have now realized that their GPA is too low for them to be able to get into a medical school, so they've suddenly "realized" that they want to become nurses instead. With your high GPA, that is obviously not your situation. That's all I meant.

[elkpark]

That is an interesting point. I have actually been hospitalized for a week for a life-death condition, and I spoke with one of the nurses. She had switched careers after quitting the film business, and became a nurse instead. She was very kind, and I did not feel that she was any less compassionate or professional than her colleagues.

I wasn't referring to switching fields; I was referring to your requests for the quickest, cheapest route into nursing. Again, the famous "triple constraint," or "iron triangle" of project management: cheap, quick, and good -- you can have any two of those, but not all three. If a program is cheap and quick, it's not going to be good. If it's good and cheap, it's not going to be quick. If it's quick and good, it's not going to be cheap.

FYI, if you choose to do an associate's degree (which, at a public school, would be your least expensive option), you could then complete a BSN later, probably with financial assistance from an employer, and it would definitely not be another four years. You could transfer in some of the credits from your BS which might shorten the program for you somewhat (since ADN programs include some general education requirements). And you may be able to work part-time (or even full-time, depending on how motivated and determined you are) during the ADN program. Assuming you didn't wait so many years that your previous BS classes "aged out," you would likely be able to transfer in, for credit, pretty much everything except the actual nursing courses. It would not be at all like starting all over again for another entire baccalaureate degree.

I understand you are saying you feel severe time pressure because of your family situation, but there simply isn't any way to become an RN "now." The quickest program possible would be an ABSN, some of which only take 12 months (but most are 15-18 months), but there is no guarantee there is a 12 month program in your area. Are you prepared to move to go to school, in order to go to a shorter program?

Another option would be to transfer in to a traditional BSN program; your biology degree likely includes all (or most) of the prerequisites and general education requirements, and you would only need to complete the actual nursing courses (which would probably be two years). Many people are able to work part- or full-time while attending a traditional BSN program, especially if you aren't carrying a full course load. Many state schools programs are not expensive.

I encourage you to make appointments to meet with advisors at all the pre-licensure nursing programs in your area (unless, as I mentioned, you're willing to relocate to go to school), explain your situation and background, and see what they have to offer you. You might find a program that would work for you somewhere you hadn't anticipated.

Best wishes for your journey.

[grand_theft_avocado]

I encourage you to make appointments to meet with advisors at all the pre-licensure nursing programs in your area (unless, as I mentioned, you're willing to relocate to go to school), explain your situation and background, and see what they have to offer you. You might find a program that would work for you somewhere you hadn't anticipated.

I am curious about this. Are those programs' offices usually willing to provide this kind of counseling for the public, i.e. people who are not already their students?

I tried seeking help from my home institution's nursing school and they basically turned me away without giving real advice because they saw that I was already a B.S. student, and they discouraged accepting transfers like me.

[algae1492]

Accelerated BSN would be a great way to enter the nursing profession as an RN. State universities are options. Private schools would be a more expensive option. Off topic, have you considered the physician assistant route? You may be a great candidate once you fulfill the requirements.

[Neo Soldier, BSN, RN]

Quickest and cheapest is the ADN from a community college.

I would suggest you go to assist .org to see if the classes you took at UCLA are equivalent to the ones at your local community college.

There is also the accelerated BSN for people with a degree. I don't know if it's cheap but you should look into it.

The usual prereqs for nursing school are:

General psychology

Psychology: human growth and development (may be called lifespan psychology)

Intro to chem

Intermediate algebra or higher

Anatomy and physiology 1 and 2 (in some schools, you can take anatomy by itself then physio after)

Microbiolgy and the lab

Communications (interpersonal or public speaking)

Intro to sociology (or an intro to anthropology)

Do you have any of these already?

Also, if you want some hospital experience, take a quick CNA course. Don't use up a semester doing it, a quick one month class (at an accredited institution) will be fine.

[grand_theft_avocado]

Off topic, have you considered the physician assistant route? You may be a great candidate once you fulfill the requirements.

I have read about the physician assistant path, and have ruled it out because it requires ~3 years of previous clinical patient care experience at the time of application. I did not think that would be the best way to plan my future because it means I would be using an RN degree as a stepping stone to a separate career, and I prefer to devote myself to a single career long-term.

[Ddestiny, BSN, RN]

I would say don't completely disregard ADN programs. Depending upon the options in your local area, the time involved might be on par with the accelerated BSN programs and will definitely be cheaper. Once you have an ADN, bridging to the BSN is pretty easy. Most ADN to BSN bridge programs have little or no clinicals so there are many options online. My state of Kansas has one of the most inexpensive online bridge programs at Fort Hays State University which is a real brick-and-mortar school that also has online programs. It's easy to work full time while completing the schooling this way and, yes, many hospitals will help with tuition to get their ADN nurses to be BSN credentialed.

The specifics of what, exactly, is the best path to optimally consider money and time will depend upon the programs around you or anywhere that you'd be willing to relocate to temporarily.

Also, while you're making your decision, you might note that a lot of schools require applicants a Certified Nurses Assistant (at least this is the case around me, anyway -- I can't speak for other states). If you don't have your CNA and you're looking at schools that require it, you'll definitely want to look into where you can do that as well. Timelines on those vary too because some programs try to be very flexible to work around people's work schedules, which makes them longer. When I took mine it was fulltime, 8am-5pm Monday through Friday so it only took 3 weeks.

Good luck with your decision-making.

[grand_theft_avocado]

I would say don't completely disregard ADN programs. Depending upon the options in your local area, the time involved might be on par with the accelerated BSN programs and will definitely be cheaper. Once you have an ADN, bridging to the BSN is pretty easy. Most ADN to BSN bridge programs have little or no clinicals so there are many options online.

I have a question about all nursing degrees in general (anywhere from RN to MSN etc). Is nursing a field that actually cares where you graduated from? Do "good" programs have any influence on the hiring process? I would like to know if it is any different from other fields. For example, in computer science, companies would almost always choose an engineer from a more well-known school (e.g. Berkeley) over someone else from a community college, when all else is equal.

If the same type of favoritism exists in nursing too, I would have to factor it into my decisions so that I do not put myself in a position where I am unlikely to be hired, even after putting in all the work.

[grand_theft_avocado]

Another question, is there an official recognized organization in the United States that "accredits" nursing programs, i.e. makes an official judgement whether a particular program is legitimate and legally allowed to give out nursing degrees?

I am not worried about actual state schools, since those are most likely legitimate, but I am worried about being scammed by lesser-known programs because I did not know a way to determine whether they are sketchy or legitimate.

[Ddestiny, BSN, RN]

I have a question about all nursing degrees in general (anywhere from RN to MSN etc). Is nursing a field that actually cares where you graduated from? Do "good" programs have any influence on the hiring process? I would like to know if it is any different from other fields. For example, in computer science, companies would almost always choose an engineer from a more well-known school (e.g. Berkeley) over someone else from a community college, when all else is equal.

If the same type of favoritism exists in nursing too, I would have to factor it into my decisions so that I do not put myself in a position where I am unlikely to be hired, even after putting in all the work.

The answer to this question might vary depending upon where you live. In Kansas, it doesn't matter. We have enough rural areas where hospitals are always needing more nurses and have no problem with hiring new grads without any experience. My understanding is that California is different, at least in southern areas where everyone wants to be.

There are accrediting bodies in nursing. And yes, you can find yourself up a creek if you go to a school that is not accredited. There are plenty of sad cases on these forums if you care to search. Most of the programs that are not accredited that I've noticed people talk about are expensive "for profit" programs so avoiding those options can save you a lot of time and worry. And actually to go back to your other question, the only time I've heard a nurse manager say she didn't like to hire nurses from a school it was in reference to an accredited but for-profit school "chain school" that has multiple locations out here. She didn't feel that their students were as well-trained as those she'd seen come from other community colleges and universities in the area.

[thatgirl2478]

I am curious about this. Are those programs' offices usually willing to provide this kind of counseling for the public, i.e. people who are not already their students?

I tried seeking help from my home institution's nursing school and they basically turned me away without giving real advice because they saw that I was already a B.S. student, and they discouraged accepting transfers like me.

The same thing happened to me at my alma matter. The reason, at least in my case, was because my school 'had enough undergrad interest in the program so they didn't need to accept transfer students'. Yeah.

So what am I doing? Working around it.

I have been accepted to the local community college where I will get an ADN. After that the plan is to have my employer pay for my RN>BSN program.

Look into ALL your other options before you decide no one's going to help.

[Green Tea, RN]

If you really need to be a breadwinner right away and your ultimate goal is to be an RN, you should get an CNA certificate and work as a CNA for now. Unfortunately, you cannot be an RN overnight.