I have a BA in Psychology. I want to get my BSN. Must I start from scratch?

BlueRidgeHomeRN · Mar 18, 2008

it should not take four years, as your general classes (history, sociology, english) should transfer to any bsn program.

when i went back for a bsn after having a ba in business, i had to take a&p i and ii, organic and inorganic chem before starting the actual nursing program. i would have needed stats also..thank the lord my business stats transfered. :banghead:

check with your prospective school(s) for exactly what you need, and good luck. it took me 2 1/2 years to get my bsn, but i was also a married mom and had to pace a little.

it's been well worth it to me--love being a :nurse: , at least 90% of the time...:chuckle

elkpark · Mar 18, 2008

Welcome to allnurses! :balloons: You can find lots of info and support/encouragement here.

You could either transfer into a "traditional" (regular) BSN program, or there are "accelerated BSN" programs for people who already have a baccalaureate degree in something else. In either case, many (if not most) of your courses should transfer in. A traditional BSN program would take longer (but not another four years -- many, if not most, BSN programs are set up as two years of general education, and all the nursing courses concentrated in the junior and senior years); accelerated programs are (I hear) extremely intense and demanding but would take less time.

There are so many variables to consider that there's no generic "right" answer to which way you should go -- which type of program(s) are available in your area, whether or not you're interested in relocating to attend a particular school, cost, waiting lists, etc.

There is also the possibility (and I mention this just for the sake of being thorough and comprehensive) of taking an Associate's degree through a community college and then completing a BSN through one of the kazillion RN-to-BSN programs out there nowadays, after you're licensed and working. (One of the advantages of that route is that the programs are typically less expensive than BSN programs, and hospitals often offer tuition reimbursement as a job benefit, so you may be able to get the additional program paid for out of someone else's pocket ...)

Only you can decide, after you've researched all the available options that appeal to you, which one would be the best choice in your particular circumstances.

Just out of curiosity, how did you decide, when you've just finished a psychology degree, that you want to switch career tracks to nursing? How much have you researched nursing as an occupation, in general, and have you spent any amount of time in healthcare settings with nurses?

Best wishes for your new journey --

nurse-to-be1000 · Mar 18, 2008

Welcome to allnurses! :balloons: You can find lots of info and support/encouragement here.
You could either transfer into a "traditional" (regular) BSN program, or there are "accelerated BSN" programs for people who already have a baccalaureate degree in something else. In either case, many (if not most) of your courses should transfer in. A traditional BSN program would take longer (but not another four years -- many, if not most, BSN programs are set up as two years of general education, and all the nursing courses concentrated in the junior and senior years); accelerated programs are (I hear) extremely intense and demanding but would take less time.
There are so many variables to consider that there's no generic "right" answer to which way you should go -- which type of program(s) are available in your area, whether or not you're interested in relocating to attend a particular school, cost, waiting lists, etc. quote]
I am interested in a non-accelerated BSN program because the accelerated ones are so fast. However, I also already have a psych degree, all the pre-reqs done and I keep hearing it is going to take me 3-4 years to get my BSN. Somehow this just doesn't make sense to me. Has anyone who aleady has a BA/BS gone back for the BSN and not done an accelerated program? How long did it take you? I looked at some of the community college programs and in one semester of my first semester in nursing it looks like I had more clinical time than the associates degree and I don't see how I could feel confident going and working on the floor at this point. Most programs that are BSN and not accelerated say it will take me 4 years to coplete the program which makes no sense what so ever to me.
NTB

elkpark · Mar 18, 2008

I am interested in a non-accelerated BSN program because the accelerated ones are so fast. However, I also already have a psych degree, all the pre-reqs done and I keep hearing it is going to take me 3-4 years to get my BSN. Somehow this just doesn't make sense to me. Has anyone who aleady has a BA/BS gone back for the BSN and not done an accelerated program? How long did it take you? I looked at some of the community college programs and in one semester of my first semester in nursing it looks like I had more clinical time than the associates degree and I don't see how I could feel confident going and working on the floor at this point. Most programs that are BSN and not accelerated say it will take me 4 years to coplete the program which makes no sense what so ever to me.
NTB

Again, there are so many individual variations among nursing programs that there's no one "correct" answer. I can tell you that there are many BSN programs out there (although I don't know how the programs in your area work) -- I taught in one -- where you enter the college/university as a "pre-nursing" major, and don't even apply for and get accepted into the nursing program until you are a rising junior; all of the nursing courses take place in the junior and senior years, and someone who already had a baccalaureate degree could simply apply for the nursing program (which, of course, doesn't mean one would necessarily get accepted), and complete just those two years of the curriculum (assuming, that is, that all prerequisities had been met).

As for hours of supervised clinical experience, that is a standard that is established by the state BON (Board of Nursing) -- every program in the state (diploma, ADN, or BSN; accelerated or "generic") has to meet the minimun required number of clinical hours in order to be approved by the BON. Programs can choose to include more hours; but even the minimum standard is typically high enough, and hard enough to implement, that it's rare now for schools to go much over the requirement. If anything, in most areas, community college programs tend to be heavier on clinical hours than BSN programs, so I suspect that you may be misunderstanding something about the associate's degree literature you were looking at.

However, if the actual, live people at schools in your area are telling you that it would take you 3-4 years to complete a BSN in their programs, I'm certainly not here to argue with them about that, or tell you something different. There is also the question of whether relocating is a possibility, if none of the schools in your area are going to meet your needs/interests -- there are a kazillion schools of nursing out there. :) Good luck with your search --

lcmrn · Mar 21, 2008

Duquesne University in Pittsburgh,PA offers and accelerated program. BA to RN BSN in 12 or 16 months. If I am not mistaken $45,000.

We have had several of these students thru my unit. The ones with science backgrounds do much better.

Good luck

jjjoy, LPN · Mar 21, 2008

The BSN program I went to accepted all students the junior year. I already had a bachelor's degree when I started as a junior again. So it took me two academic years to finish. I did have to have all the pre-reqs done before starting. I wasn't getting any financial aid so qualifying for student aid wasn't an issue. It was a state school some years back, so fees weren't outrageous. They closed the program since then, so I can't recommend it to you. Some of your classes from your psychology degree may count towards the nursing major elective credits, such as developmental psych.

NightOwl0624 · Mar 21, 2008

[quote=nurse-to-be1000;2721943

I am interested in a non-accelerated BSN program because the accelerated ones are so fast. However, I also already have a psych degree, all the pre-reqs done and I keep hearing it is going to take me 3-4 years to get my BSN. Somehow this just doesn't make sense to me. Has anyone who aleady has a BA/BS gone back for the BSN and not done an accelerated program? How long did it take you? I looked at some of the community college programs and in one semester of my first semester in nursing it looks like I had more clinical time than the associates degree and I don't see how I could feel confident going and working on the floor at this point. Most programs that are BSN and not accelerated say it will take me 4 years to coplete the program which makes no sense what so ever to me.

NTB

It may just be the total time - getting the pre-reqs in, and done in the correct order. For example, if you didn't take it before, you may need BIO before A&P or Micro, and Chemistry before Organic Chem, etc. depending on the requirements for each class.

HM2VikingRN, RN · Mar 22, 2008

Check out an acclerated program. The accelerated option at Minnesota State University at MNSU.edu is about 16 months long. Figure 2 semesters for the prereqs and it is 2 1/2 years. I would look over your transcript carefully so you can identify which prerequisites that you need to take. There are some ways to accelerate you prereqs. I would concentrate on getting the very best grades possible because it seems like prerequisite gpa is the main concern of nursing programs. Best of luck!

AZRN4life · Mar 23, 2008

I have a BA in biology and found it easy to go on for my BSN. Depending on the classes you took for your BA, many of the classes you took may satisfy the non-nursing classes that are required. This will depend, of course, on the college you plan to attend. Your best bet is to speak with a counselor at the college.

Journey_On, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2008

There has been many great replies so far, so I will reply with what I personally did.

I graduated with a B.S. in Psychology in May 2007. I loved my major, btw. However, I got interested in nursing somewhere along the way. :)

Before I graduated, I had finished all my pre-req's for the ABSN program. The additional classes I had to take for admission into the program were

Sociology

Microbiology

Nutrition

Anatomy, Anatomy Lab

Physiology, Physiology Lab

Thankfully because of my major, I already had

General Psychology

Developmental Psychology

2 English classes

Chemistry (well, I had taken this back when I was on the pre-med track)

Math class

Statistics

Good luck with everyone! Feel free to PM me for more info or questions.