How do I go about this, 2nd degree BSN

[RHill9919]

Hi all!! I am 27 years old, currently hold a B.S. in psychology. I want to go to school for BSN, in hopes of later becoming a nurse practitioner or CRNA.

1) I just moved to Japan for 3 years with my husband, who is in the Navy. I have some of my prereqs completed, about half. I plan on taking online courses to complete the rest of them. First question, should I be taking these online (chemistry, micro)..none of the U.S. schools here on the base offer these in a traditional classroom setting, so I kinda HAVE to take them online.

2) Should I waste my time with an online accelerated BSN?? Like I said above, I eventually want to go for NP or CRNA so I'm not sure if online accelerated BSN will hurt me down the road? (I initially wanted to go to get my license in psychology until I was told by multiple sources that online coursework was heavily frowned upon in that field). I could just get my prereqs done here and start a traditional BSN program when we move back to the states in late 2015. I'm worried about wasting time while here in Japan and am in a hurry to get into BSN. Alternatively, I could use my time here volunteering at the hospital (which is absolutely and option) and learning Spanish since I want to work either in California or Florida...what do you guys think?

3) this is kinda reaching, but if I can find a BSN program here in Japan, could that be good for me? How could I transfer my license from Japan to the U.S.? Should I even waste my time on that?

[UVA Grad Nursing]

I would recommend using this time in Japan to work on your prereqs for BSN programs, to get valuable volunteer experience, and to take advantage of your time in Japan and East Asia. I am aware of only one online RN program that prepares you how to be a RN, but graduates of that program are not eligible to sit for the RN examination in many states. Most of the other online nursing programs require you to already be a nurse.

There are over 100+ ABSN programs (a good tool to search for programs is at American Association of Colleges of Nursing | Nursing Program Search). Use this time to investigate programs and see what the prerequisites might be at the schools that interest you. Most programs require that the prerequisite classes are complete before you apply. Then aim to apply in late 2014 for entry to a program in 2015.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

Online BSN classes and traditional BSN classes will present to you the same didactic information. Clinical experience should be concurrent with your didactics. Look at/ Read over the problem that BSN's educated in the Phillipines have when they try for authorization to take the NCLEX-RN so they can be licensed in California. Not all states have a problem with that, but some do. So just be aware of that.

I briefly considered an ABSN program... until I saw the cost associated with the one I was looking at: $35,000. Since I would not be able to work at all during that program, the total cost would have been somewhere in the range of $65-70k. That's just too much debt for me to take on. I'm not opposed at all to the ABSN, in fact I think it's a great idea. It's just that it can be expensive and then some...