Going back for BSN and wondering if I should pick up a minor along the way

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Specializes in CCU.

Hi I have a question and hope anyone can help me out with some advice. I graduated with my A.D.N degree last May. I am working in my first RN job in the ICU and I have some regrets for going into nursing but I simply sacrificed too much to throw this degree away. I am glad to have my RN but I still want to find a way to enhance myself to find work in another field when I need a break from nursing. I want to keep my options open in the nursing field so I am currently enrolled in a RN-BSN program. I don’t have any other bachelor degree to fall back on and the only bachelor degree I am even remotely close to getting is a BSN which I only need 21 credits for. Problem is that a BSN isn’t gonna do much for me in the beginning of my nursing career. Also the BSN seems to be pretty useless outside of the nursing realm for other jobs. I haven’t decided on grad school so for now I am getting the BSN for myself and for better opportunities in the future for non-hospital nursing jobs, not really interested in management. I have an interest in working with computers/technology so I am considering choosing a minor like computer science because I feel like I want to work with in the IT field a little bit, either combined with nursing or by itself. My question is, would I be wasting my time pursuing the extra 18 credits needed for a minor? Or would it be better to pursue another associate degree in IT? In a way I would like the minor to serve as a plan B if nursing doesnt work out for me. I am very conscious about going into debt for school, so I don’t want to waste more money. I would like the most bang for my tuition dollar. Thanks for the advice in advance.

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If you already know that nursing is not for you, I might consider a BS in another subject altogether. Some of your classes may transfer as general education classes and maybe it will only last 3 years. Plus you can continue to work as a nurse part time or contingent to pay the bills.

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did you mean you graduated in May 2010?

If you like computers and want to keep nursing options open, how about looking into Nursing Informatics. i have been hearing a lot more about this and it seems pretty interesting especially if you like technology but you could still use your BSN.

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I came from a background in computers to nursing and am interested in nursing informatics for the long term. I feel it might be a good way to salvage and make better use of both careers, as nursing has not been the employment security that I was hoping for.

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Specializes in Health Information Management.

Nursing informatics or health information management - either one would be a good option given your stated interests.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Neuro, ICU, travel RN, Psych.

I agree with everyone else saying the nursing informatics or something along those lines. I used to work with a nurse who's entire background was computers. She got her nursing degree, worked for a year and realized patient care just wasn't for her. She switched to some sort of nurse informatics or a position along those lines and LOVED it. GL to you!!

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Unless it is something along the lines The above posters mentioned I would not waste time with a minor. Minors are useless. Also would not waste your time with another AA. Employers of all kinds in different fields want to see a BS/BA. It doesn't really even mater what it is in to an extent. When you go to get your Masters is when you really want to know the Field you want to be in.

My first BA was in French and I worked a variety of different jobs and I didn't use my degree in any of them.

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Specializes in CCU.

thanks for the replies everyone. I am planning to complete my BSN by December 2011, if I add a minor it would be at least an extra 2 semesters:down:. For the reasons above, I have decided against the minor because it doesn't guarantee anything and most likely it will be useless and not worth the extra semesters and money required to complete it. Seems like now, it's all about whether one has the work experience/ skills employers need. If I should decide to pursue a masters I'll definitely look into all options available. I am glad a Masters can be completed in a different area from a bachelors. Will be looking into informatics.

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I am glad a Masters can be completed in a different area from a bachelors. Will be looking into informatics.

Yes you can most certainly get a Masters in a completely unrelated field to to your Bachelors. However you will need to take the preqs required for that degree and some only have a few while others have a lot.

Example: I have a BA in French. I want to get a Masters in Psychology. I have only general psychology from my Bachelors and Life Span psychology as a pre-req for nursing. The Masters program I looked into at San Francisco State want you to already have general psyc, human sexuality, and one or two more classes.

However if I decided to do an MBA I have no business classes at all so before I could even apply to a Masters program I would need Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, a bunch of other courses I don't have plus a lot more math than I have.

So yes you can get a Bachelors in Nursing and a Masters in a completely unrelated field. The Masters you choose will depend on how many additional pre-reqs you will need to take.

I am in nursing school now and wondering if it was the right decision but I know there are so many different directions I can take it.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

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