Hi from South Florida!-considering nursing as a second career

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Hi from South Florida!-considering nursing as a second career

Hi, I just joined your message board and look forward to participating. I am considering nursing as a second career and would like to hear from those that may provide advice.

I pretty much started my profressional career in hospitals(11 years), however, not in a direct patient care role. I worked for the last four-five in the human resources area, responsible for nurse recruitment in addition to other Human Resources duties. I always had an interest in nursing, however, continued to develop my career in the corporate arena. I am approaching my 45th birthday and evaluating my career goals, etc. I believe that I would truly enjoy nursing, as I have always had a great deal of respect for nurses, receive gratificaton from helping others and know that I can possibly can make a difference in someone's life. I also know that there will always be a great demand for nurses, and so many opportunities for professional growth.

I completed my bachelors degree and wonder if I am better off considering an accelerated bachelors degree, however, will then have two bachelor degrees; or should I consider obtaining my masters degree in nursing? I am leaning towards the Masters degree; however, do I need to first become an RN with a BSN, or am I able to become an RN in the Masters program?

Looking forward to hearing from you!!

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Specializes in Med surg, cardiac, case management.

:welcome:

Hi! To answer your second question first, no, you don't necessarily need an RN or BSN to get an MSN. There are direct-entry MSN programs for people with degrees in other fields (I happen to be in one).

To answer your first question would depend upon what you intend to do in nursing. Most jobs can be done with a BSN, both entry-level and more advanced. The MSN is more associated with things like teaching, research, managment, and certain specialized roles like NP, CNS, CRNA, etc....

Also, you could enter a traditional BSN program in addition to an accelerated BSN, though it would take longer. You'd have to check and see what the prerequisites are and how competitive the entry requirements are.

Hope that helps.

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Hi Alan,

Thanks so much for your reply. You are in the MSN program as well, how is it going for you? Is it an accelerated MSN or more traditional? Are you an RN as well? I love to teach and have extensive experience in the management area, however, believe that I would also enjoy direct patient care. I will start calling different schools. Thanks again and best of luck with your education and career!

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Specializes in Med surg, cardiac, case management.

I'm going to start in the fall; it's an accelerated program of about 2 years, and I'm not a nurse, although at the end of the program I will get my RN as well as my MSN.

Good luck, and remember: Do your research carefully.

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HI Alan, That is such great news!! Congrats!!

I am looking for the same type of program!! How did you identify yours? It is online? I noticed that you live in Chicago. I am experiencing great difficulty in identifying one. All of the ones that I have seen so far, require the RN prior to enrolling. Any recommendations?

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Specializes in Med surg, cardiac, case management.

If you go to the site www.allnursingschools.com you can use their "Find a Program" search engine. Just select "direct entry MSN" and "Florida" and you'll find there are around 4 or 5 schools in Florida that have these types of programs.

Good luck

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hi magpie45,

I am also considering going back to school for nursing. Good luck on all your endeavors! You are not alone. I had a question concerning your past experience in Human Resources. How did you get the Nurse Recruitment position? I have my bachelors degree in Business with a concentration in HR but I have found it hard to get started in this field so my past jobs have been anything but HR. I recently moved from N.Y to F.L and although I am planning on going back to nursing school I would like to get a job in HR to pay for pre-nursing classes! Any specific places to start or advice would be very much appreciated.

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Hi! I am also changing my career to nursing. I also have a bachelors. I was wondering if anyone had advice as far as going for an ADN program or an Accelerated Bachelors? They both will take the same about of time, but I'm nervous that I wouldnt be able to work while in the BSN program (its only full time). I dont want to be wasting time "going backwards" when I already have a degree, but I also need to put food on the table! help!

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