Help: Adn->bsn / absn / adn->msn

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  1. Which route should I take?

    • 3
      CNA -> ADN -> BSN -> MSN
    • 2
      CNA -> ABSN -> MSN

5 members have participated

I am 22 and recently gradated with a BA in Psychology. I have satisfied the pre-requisites for each program I've looked into (through Organic Chem II, Calc I, human pharm, upper level nutrition, psych and phys). I am curious what those in the profession would recommend for my plan of action. Ultimately, I would like to practice surg or neuro intensive care.

I will be moving to Virginia or Maryland within the year and do not want to pay non-resident tuition. My tentative plan:

Obtain CNA while I am still living in OK --> enroll in ADN program & obtain RN licensure (all while waiting to meet residency requirements) --> once I have established residency, work & obtain BSN...

The timeline is less pressing to me than the expense. I would most appreciate state or school specific advice, cost, general advice about second degree students and your evaluations to whether or not this sounds realistic!

Thank you in advance!

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I was in the same boat: BA in Pysch and moving to another state with fiancé after graduation. Like you, I had started taking pre-requisites for nursing programs during my senior year of undergrad.

I got my CNA in the state I was moving to (a 2 week course) before I actually moved there. The summer after graduation I went to Ohio, took the course, moved back home to Wisconsin for my summer job and towards the end of summer moved to Ohio with fiancé and got a job at a hospital working as a CNA. I had a few pre-reqs left to take, which I took at the local community college. I have lived here for almost 2 years and I am starting an accelerated nursing program at the College of Mount St. Joe's in Cincinnati. It is a Masters Graduate Entry Level in Nursing program, and after 15 months I will have my MSN.

If you are worried about money, look into getting a job at a hospital that has tuition reimbursement as a benefit!! I had to work there for 6 months before that kicked in though. But all of my prerequisite courses were paid for!

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

The job market is flooded with new grads right now many facilities are favoring BSN grads over ADN grads. ABSN program can be expensive but you go to school as long as the ADN but have the preferred hiring credentials. This is very specific to different parts of the country. I do know that the east coast is very tight in the job market with new grads waiting 14-18 months to find work.

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I would also say don't go the ADN route. You can't bank on being able to get experience if you do ADN before you enroll in a BSN or MSN program, so why not at least go the ABSN route or Direct Entry MSN route? Then, you only have to worry about applying to one school for right now.

I had a very similar background to you. BS in Psychology with several hard sciences including two years of chemistry and several biology classes. I just graduated last month from undergrad and I am going to DE-MSN route. I'll be starting at Vanderbilt in the fall. Just to warn you, a lot of posters on AllNurses are critical of the DE-MSN route and you can either do your own searches or ask me why if you are interested, but the DE-MSN route was perfect for me and I am confident in my choice. It all comes down to what works out for you.

To help, here's a list of ABSN and DE-MSN programs that I found very helpful since all the info is in one place: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education-Resources/APLIST.PDF

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Specializes in ICU.

I was dumb and didn't do my research. After I got my bachelor's in Psych I just did a regular BSN... would have gone with an ABSN if I'd known about them then. I say ABSN is the way to go! I would have loved to have finished up my BSN faster than I did. The other route just seems like you would be in school so much longer, which is a big factor for me.

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Thank you for that list! So much better to have it condensed!

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