I have a Bachelors in History... I want to be a Nurse

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · May 24, 2012

You need an entry level nursing degree (ADN or BSN) in order to become licensed as a nurse. You'll need this degree before you can get a masters.

The two best route for you is probably an Accelerated BSN program. This is available to students with a previous bachelors degree and you will graduate with a Bachelor's of Nursing. These programs are usually 12-18 months.

IndyElmer · May 24, 2012

Accelerated BSN programs are usually 12-18 months, but you would probably need to take some pre-requisite courses first. Most would be more directly related to nursing (e.g. anatomy, physiology) but others may seem less directly related (e.g. psychology, developmental psychology, philosophy). For each program that interests you, you'd need to meet with an adviser (usually from the school of nursing) to find out their exact requirements. Some schools have very different requirements. The two primary schools that I was considering, one required a philosophy course but the other didn't. The one that didn't require philosophy did require nutrition. The one that didn't require nutrition had recently switched to requiring nursing informatics instead.

You can start to get an idea of what's required by visiting the websites of the nursing schools that interest you. They should have a list/worksheet that will help you to zero-in on which of their requirements you've already met. For example, if they have basic history and science requirements, there's a good chance that you've already met them. At one of my schools, I needed just one semester of biology. At the other school, I needed two semesters of biology (in both cases, with lab). But other schools may not require any basic/intro biology at all and just care if you've had any basic science credits to transfer toward the BSN core requirements.

My first major was marine biology, so I definitely didn't have any human biology or psychology classes and had to take all of those before I could apply to the program. In total, before I could even apply to one of the schools, I had to complete 3-4 credits of intro psych, 3-4 credits of philosophy, 4-5 credits of anatomy, 4-5 credits of physiology (or I could have done 6-8 credits of A&P), 4 credit of microbiology (mine from my first degree was too old), 4 credits of developmental psych. (That's a total of 22+ credits just in pre-reqs)

My program also required (but I already had completed) one semester of intro biology (with lab), one semester of intro chemistry (with lab), one semester of intro organic chemistry/biochemistry and 4 credits of math (at a certain level). (That's another 16 credits of pre-reqs.)

Once I had all of those credits completed, I was allowed to apply to the accelerated program and still had three more pre-reqs to take - 2 credits of nursing informatics, 3 credits of pharmacology and 3 credits of pathophysiology. (I think I was required to take all three of those at their university, but I can't remember).

The requirements for each school vary quite a bit and some schools will take transfer credits from some community/junior colleges and others won't take transfer credits for certain classes or from certain schools. I've only listed my pre-requisites as an example of how my school SAYS it's a 12 month program, but the time put in to getting all the pre-reqs was at least 2 semesters (since some classes in the pre-req lists were very strongly encouraged to be taken consecutively, e.g. anatomy before physiology (if you weren't doing a two part A&P) or intro psych before developmental psych).

So I guess the first step is to figure out which schools/degrees you'd like to consider and figure out what their requirements are. (People with previous bachelor degrees can take the traditional nursing program classes in some school's BSN programs so you aren't forced to do accelerated BSN. And of course you could consider other non-BSN options or even an accelerated BSN-MSN combined program. There are pro's and con's to each.)

Bobmo88 · May 24, 2012

I would recommend keeping your options open because nursing programs are getting pretty competitive. ADN programs require less pre-requisites and tend to be less expensive if they're public. BSN programs require even more pre-requisites and can range from 12-18 months if they are accelerated (like IndyElmer said) or even 3 years including summers like the program I will be attending in the Fall. I have a friend that completed an ABSN program and she said it was very intense so that would definitely be a full time commitment. I am going to a public university and since I just earned my BA (I graduated yesterday!) my tuition will be more than most of my classmates because it is a 2nd Bachelor's. I don't know too much about ELM/MECN/GMSN/whatever other acronyms they use for Master's Programs for non-nurses but since it is a master's degree, you will be paying graduate level fees which would be more expensive. I have seen programs in which you are eligible to take the NCLEX after the pre-licensure portion and then continue to finish the Master's portion. I think it all depends on 1. How well you do in your pre-requisites 2. How much money you want to spend 3. your need to at least work part time (people have worked through ADN programs, and I know of some that worked through at least part of their BSN programs but with ABSN it would be impossible, I don't think it would be feasible either with ELM programs) My advice? Apply to ADN programs as soon as you are done with those pre-requisites (such as Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology) and then keep working towards the additional pre-reqs for BSN programs so you can have more choices or even a back up plan if you weren't considering ADN at first. Remember that you could always go back to school and get a BSN and MSN after graduating from an ADN program if you would like to advance in the future.

confusedstudent_88, BSN, RN · May 24, 2012

You need an entry level nursing degree (ADN or BSN) in order to become licensed as a nurse. You'll need this degree before you can get a masters.
The two best route for you is probably an Accelerated BSN program. This is available to students with a previous bachelors degree and you will graduate with a Bachelor's of Nursing. These programs are usually 12-18 months.

I'm sorry that is not true. You can go into an Entry Level MSN program. You will need to take all the science pre-reqs in order to apply for one of these programs and they are very competitive. It may be cheaper to go the route of an accelerated BSN or you can just go all the way and be done. I would suggest going into the Entry Level MSN program if you are absolutely sure you want to be a certain nurse (NP, Palliative care, etc). Look at the website I have posted which is from the accrediting board for nursing schools and you can see the schools with the programs.

I'm not sure where you live but in California there is UCLA and Azusa Pacifica. In Tennessee there is Vanderbilt and Hawaii has University of Hawaii at Manoa. Those I can think of off the top of my head. Also in Colorado.

link for all accredited programs- American Association of Colleges of Nursing | Nursing Education Programs

Link for all Entry Level Masters programs- http://www.aacn.nche.edu/research-data/GENMAS.pdf

Also remember that by 2015 there will be no Masters programs they are fazing out Doctorate programs. If you start your program before 2015 then you are grandfathered in. Really there is no big difference.

IndyElmer · May 25, 2012

As you consider which path you might want to take to nursing, you might also want to do some reading about which degrees and additional activities (such as work at non-nursing hospital postions) people think give the best employment opportunities in a job market where there is no nursing shortage and some (many?) new grads have difficulty finding positions for new nurses with no experience.