Fairly Unique Situation

[Drstrangelove88]

Hello all. I went to college on a wrestling scholarship and was originally in nursing school and made it to my ped/ob clinical rotation when my commitment to my NCAA division 1 scholarship became too much to handle on top of nursing school so I decided to change my major to something relevant to the courses I had already take. I finished my bachelors in exercise physiology and want nothing to do with it now especially because there are no jobs. I have recently decided to start school back up in September to obtain my associates degree in nursing. I have a job as an MST on a med/surg floor in a large hospital and well over half of the 50+ nurses I see each day have their associates degree. I was wondering others opinions on this. I will only need 1 year to finish up because I have so much of the coursework done from my bachelors. I feel like I'm in a great position because I'm already getting great experience working in a large hospital that hires internally and hires ADN prepared nurses. Then there's the dreaded ADN vs. BSN ugh. Here is a question. Lets say I utterly refuse to get my BSN later in life. Will I just not have a job at all as a nurse? Are they really going to do away with every associate nursing schoo/program? I am not talking about only in the hospital I'm talking about getting a job anywhere. The way people act on these forums it seems as if the millions of ADNs will not be able to work without a BSN which I find very hard to believe on top of the fact that they are going to have to shut down hundreds of schools/programs. What about nursing homes? Home health? Is it really reasonable to think that every single nursing job in the near future will only be for BSN prepared nurses? It just seems a bit improbable and frankly impossible. As I said I work with literally hundreds of BSN prepared nurses. Feedback please!

[Drstrangelove88]

Yeah that's awesome news! It's nice to know. I have no problem working in long term care either honestly. I just want to rest assured that (god forbid something happens and I don't get this all powerful BSN) I will still have options.

[4_Sq]

Looking at today's job market.. would not even consider not going for the BSN.

BSN will allow you to compete for the best jobs.

Just my 2 cents!

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

In this day and age where many jobs (not just nursing) prefer a four-year degree, I believe it will be to your advantage to get a BSN if possible. Most management positions I've seen require a bachelor's and it is easier to move up the clinical ladder and get an MSN when you already have a bachelor's degree.

[SasZRN]

I worked for 13 yrs as an LPN. Went back for my RN because I couldn't find a job. Went to a one yr Diploma program. Got my RN in 1989. Went on Disability in 2008. (I have Bipolar Disease11) Planning to return to the workforce this coming Fall after I get bilateral cochlear implants. I am just praying that I will be able to find employment. Nervous about going back, but I am a workaholic and I will probably try to work at the hsopital closest to me or another one that is about 20 minutes away. I would like to stay close to home. I will not persue a degree due to my age. I am 60 and I have no intention of working more than 6 or 7 yrs at the most. Wish I had gone on years ago though!!

[pandabear2185]

If you can afford it, go for that bsn, do the accelerated program if you can. If not ADN will get you working so Long as you don't live in a large urban city. I live in SoCal. Many of the hospitals here do not hire ADNs right now. Our market is saturated with RNs(no shortage here) so they can be more choosey. Plus with Magnet status and all that BS, they want to have RNs with more educational training.