How important are minors?

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jan 8, 2015

Minors are irrelevant in nursing. Truly.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jan 8, 2015

Nursing is a "program", not a major. Completely different species entirely. Programs have to meet very specific curricular and and outcome criteria (e.g. passing NCLEX) to achieve and maintain accreditation. There's not enough wiggle room for electives to meet the requirements for a minor unless you just want to take a lot of extra courses that will probably put you into 'excess' mode that would endanger eligibility for other undergrad benefits like grant or loan eligibility.

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 8, 2015

Sorry to have to disagree HouTx, but each school is different. I know lots of schools in which nursing is simply a department that offers a major just like other departments do -- and students can minor in another field. When I was an undergraduate, I almost minored in Political Science, but decided to take a lighter load my senior year than was usual for personal reasons.

I often wish I had taken a minor in history ... and if I had to do it over again, that's what I would choose. But that is just my personal preference.

A true minor can help your career IF it is relevant to the type of work you want to do. For example, if you want to go into management, then a minor in business or management or health care administration could be very useful. If you want to go into nursing informatics, a minor in informatics would be helpful. The academic foundation might also be a help in grad school if you wanted to do research with a specific focus. But "any old minor" won't be much of help. It will only be of significant help if the minor directly relates to the type of work you will be pursuing.

Good luck, kgao. I say"follow your heart" on such matters. If you are truly attracted to a particular minor, then go for it. There is a good chance that your interest will draw you in that direction someday and the official credential + the actual learning will be of help when you start acting on that interest.

happyinmyheart · Jan 8, 2015

I decided to minor in Family, Consumer & Nutrition Sciences because it only required one extra class outside of the classes I already had to take. I thought, why not!?

kgao · Jan 15, 2015

Ok, yeah I can see that. I was just wondering if it would give me an edge in a certain specialty.

kgao · Jan 15, 2015

Ah! I see.

I have a lot of credits coming in so I figured I have room to find a minor,

and as llg said, In my university, there is a nursing major.

kgao · Jan 15, 2015

Thank you so much for your post! It has helped a lot!

As you said, a minor could be something to help your resume or a passion. For instance, business management would be great if I want to be a nurse manager, but I have passion for history and video production. Would you recommened something to help my resume or just find a passion?

Thanks again!

kgao · Jan 15, 2015

That is awesome! I will check if my school offers that.

NuGuyNurse2b · Jan 15, 2015

I have a bachelor's in another field outside of nursing. When I was applying for jobs in my field (Psychology), trust me, no one looks at your minor on your resume, in fact most online applications don't even have a spot for it. Is it helpful? Sure. Anything additional is. Will it give you the edge when you're a nurse and competing for that management role you speak of? No. Because it's a minor...you dabbled in it. Unless you're sending in your full transcript with your resume to show that even though you only minored in business you took more than the required course load and are well versed in it, the HR dept will simply assume that you, like everyone else, took a few classes to get it. You're a new nurse, you worked a year or two on the floor, if you're going up against someone with more experience, chances are the experienced nurse will be the better candidate for that management role. Nothing in nursing is more appealing on a resume than experience. That's why it's such a catch-22 for graduating nurses to find jobs cause everyone wants a nurse with experience.

Guests · Jan 16, 2015

The only minor that matters at all is one in a foreign language, presuming that you've acquired that language during your studies.

If you eventually want to be a nurse manager after acquiring sufficient experience, an MSN and/or MBA are useful.

To be a "pediatrician" nurse is simply a matter of orienting to a pediatric unit and perhaps earning a peds-specific certification such as those offered through ENA or AACN. If by "pediatrician" nurse you mean a pediatric nurse provider, you'll ultimately go back to school as an NP or CNS.

Regardless, a minor really confers no advantage that I can discern.

PaulBaxter · Jan 16, 2015

If you end up in pediatrics you'll spend your whole day working with minors, so I guess they ARE pretty important.

Sorry, couldn't help myself there.