I have a masters!

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 18, 2008

That depends on what your career goals are. If you want a lot of options for career advancement, you will need at least a BSN. However, if you are not interested in career advancement, then an ADN will be sufficient for many staff nurse jobs. Ocassionally a person can advance without a BSN, but you can't count on that. Those folks are the exception, not the rule.

Some jobs and employers strongly prefer (and some require) a BSN even for entry-level jobs. However, they are in the minority.

Finally, it's important to remember that you are preparing for a career in the future -- not the past. The trend in nursing over the past 150 years has been to require an increasing amount of education, not less and there is no reason to think that trend will reverse itself.

janis9799 · Jul 18, 2008

Before the end of my last semester of nursing school I was applying to many hospitals online. Most of the job descriptions said BSN preferred...I was so glad that was what I was getting :)

ilstu99 · Jul 18, 2008

Hello,
I currently have a masters in Education and I am thinking about going into nursing. I was wondering if it is at all important for me to obtain a BS, RN. Or should i just get my RN and will hospitals see my other degrees in other feilds and see that i have a masters?
Thanks,

You may find that there is not much difference in course requirements to just get your BSN over ADN....depending on the school you look at, and your area of emphasis in education...especially if you can apply to the same school you graduated from with your original degree.

For me, it was only one semester longer to complete the BSN than ADN.

ThatPoshGirl · Jul 18, 2008

You should be able to get into an accelerated BSN program that will only take a year.

okchug · Jul 18, 2008

i could have done a bsn in the same amount of time as the adn but for me it was a question of financing. i cannot qualify for grants or loans because i used them for my first degree, and they won't give me a loan for a second bachelors.

the adn will cost me about $4,000 including pre-reqs. the accelerated bsn would cost $20,000 at a state university and $38,000 at a private one.

many hospitals require that you have been an employee for a certain amount of time in order to qualify for tuition assistance. scholarships i have looked at require that you be admitted to a program before applying.

sometimes the options are not necessarily equal on all fronts.

besides, the cc i attend has a pass rate of 90%! and with the previous degree+rn i can go on to msn if i want.

yeSICU · Jul 18, 2008

I have my teaching degree (a BS in General Science) and half of my teaching masters (it is the way Michigan State makes you do it to get your teaching cert). I went straight from my student teaching to a accelerated second degree program and it is one of the best things I have done for myself. (teaching is a very noble profession, but I went into it with a very glorified idea of what the job entails) If your bachelors is science focused it is a breeze because all of the prereqs are done. If you have a BA, you will have some prereqs to do which will take a couple of semesters most likely. I personally would get my BSN because if you want to be a "skirt nurse" (I am joking...lol... I don't know what capacity you want to work in) sooner than later, you want to make sure there is nothing standing in your way. There is always the option of a RN-BSN completion that you can do after your ADN as well. As far as skills are concerned and getting hired as a staff RN either one is good. If you are looking to break into managment or Education type positions, work toward your BSN.

Good luck and congratz. I have a feeling you will find out it is a great decision for your future (and believe it or not sanity...lol... You only know what I mean if you have had to endure a class of 30 kids 5 days a week for a whole school year... summers off arent even worth it:banghead:)

interleukin · Jul 18, 2008

My advice...do not go for the BSN. Get your ADN and start nursing.

Fact is, you can get your MSN without your BSN...I did. I had a BA, nursing experience and could write well. If you can show other academic promise (you already have with your masters) you can get into the masters program. These graduate schools are businesses and want your tuition!

So, if you want to nurse, then get the ADN and thy butt to the bedside long enough for experience and tuition reimbursement and then check out grad school.

Finally, if you do not plan to teach or get into nurse management in one form or another, the MSN will do you little practical good. But others, I'm sure, will disagree. If you want advanced clinical skills, read, study, go to in services and do lots of hands on and then go for you clinical nurse specialist.

A Final finally; check out going to PA school (gads, he's knocking nursing!) and avoid the accumulation of indirect care tasks, politics, constant micro-management of our practice by executives, and back-breaking demands that nursing will inflict upon you. It'll be a bit longer but you'll be free of anything but pure pt care--the promise they made to us in nursing school.

SweetTeaRN, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2008

I disagree with some of the above posters. I had a BA in Biology, and was trying to decide where to go to school. I applied to both BSN and ADN programs and got into both, but I chose the BSN route. Yes, you can get an ADN then decide later to do an RN-MSN program. However, my understanding is that most of these programs require up to a year extra time than a traditional BSN-MSN program because essentially you still must acquire a BSN before being eligible for a master's. I would only recommend doing an ADN if you have no desire to ever work outside the clinical setting, or if the extra tuition difference is a large factor (although if you are resourceful there are a lot of great scholarships and tuition reimbursement plans for nursing education) since the timing should be similar. I am glad I did the bachelor's even though I already had a BA. It took me two years to do the BSN, which is the exact amount of time it would have taken me to do an associate's.