How soon to pursue RN to BSN transition?

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I graduate with my ADN in December and I am really excited to get to work. In my area, a BSN isn't necessary to get hired at the local hospital, so I don't have to get my BSN right away, but I know that it's important. Is it ok for me to wait a year or two and get some experience under my belt before going on for an online BSN? I already have a lot of the prerequisites, but I'm so sick of school that I would like some time just to adjust to being a nurse. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

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It depends on the kind of person you are. Personally, I would just keep on going while you are in "school mode" but I am the type of person that would get used to the "break" and not want to go back to school.

If you feel you will need time to adjust to work first and feel that you will thrive this way then hold off. If not, I would say, just get it out of the way and keep pushing through to your BSN.

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While I do agree with you, RN403, about staying in while you're in school mode, as a relatively newer nurse myself, I have to warn about the first 6 months to a year of nursing. Haha, I remember it well.

It's extreme stress due to being terrified you're going to make a mistake and lose your license. It's an entirely new learning experience in and of itself because you're actually applying what you've learned.

I don't know if you worked as an LPN before getting your ASN. If you did, I think the transition would be pretty easy and school wouldn't be too hard to handle. But if you've got no nursing experience yet, I would suggest taking at least one semester off to see how things go. I know in my first 6 months of nursing, I couldn't have taken a class. I'd have completely lost my mind.

But the good news is...you can always go back. :) best of luck in whichever you choose.

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

I'll be graduating in May and I was originally going to start right away on the BSN in the summer. Since I've been in school non-stop since 2012, I decided to take this summer off and will start the BSN in the Fall 2015 semester. That gives me time to take the NCLEX, get my license and (hopefully!) find a job before starting the RN-to-BSN bridge. The program I'll attend is designed for you to work full-time while completing the BSN, so the course load is very manageable :)

I'm so burned out on school right now, I definitely need the break!

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I graduated in May 2013 and started my BSN in October 2013 (had to take some gen eds before I could begin the BSN classes, the BSN classes started in January for me). Even with that small of a lapse, I seemed to have fallen out of the school mode. It was very difficult for me to buckle down. After being out of school for that long, I forgot (for a while) how to juggle work, school, family etc.

Why did I go right back? Going back held off my ADN student loans from starting to require payment, I figured the sooner I get started, the sooner I'm finished. Also, tuition only goes UP. Again, figured i'd rather pay the lower tuition now than the higher tuition in a year or two.

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RN403, thanks for the advice. I can definitely see the advantage of not getting out of school mode.

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jojo489, I have not worked as an LPN, so I do feel that the learning how to be a nurse will be my big push during that time. I do think it would add more stress to be in class.

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SupranoKris, I think it's going to be hard no matter what I do. I guess I'll just have to play it by ear. Initially, I thought I would continue as soon as I could, but I'm really feeling burned out. Maybe just a break of one semester would be enough.

CT Pixie, thanks for the fresh grad perspective. I hadn't really thought about the loans, because I figured that I would work and pay off the loans before going back to school. You do bring up a good point, though. If I continue, the interest won't be due either. I continue to look at programs and think about plans, but now I have more things to think about.

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I had plans of going right to work (I went from LPN to RN) and hopefully working for a hospital that offers tuition reimbursement or assistance. The pay would also help pay the student loans. Well, after months and months of no offers, the student loans coming due (all around Christmas time) figured I'd better get my butt going and get into school to hold off those loans for a bit.

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

I think it's ok to take a break. I think I'm going to take a semester off. Not sure yet. I graduate in a few weeks and I am tired, lol. I'm probably going to go straight to MSN, as I have a BA already. But I'm going to do it slowly and concentrate on working my first year as a nurse. I actually go back and forth on this because I'm the kind of person who always wants to be moving forward. So we'll see. But yeah, it's ok to take a break. It might be to your advantage to have some experience before you go on with your education.

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CT Pixie,

Yeah, if I don't get hired, then continuing with school would help me keep my mind off of the job search as well as help me to increase my skills.

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Everline,

That's the funny thing about the type of people who become nurses... We seem to be highly motivated for the most part, so we don't want to become stagnant. Ever since I decided to become a nurse, I looked at the possibility of becoming a NP. It's just another goal to pursue, right? Like you, I go back and forth. I don't want to stop, but slowing down sounds really good right now.

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