interested in becoming a nurse

mom and nurse · Nov 28, 2006

Hi mommieto2kiddies - Welcome to all nurses. :welcome:

others may have a better answer to this than me.

Whether you go and get the ADN or the BSN you will still take the same NCLEX-RN to become a Registered Nurse. In the BSN program I graduated from, the only difference from the ADN offered at the local community college was that I had to take Pathophysiology and Pharmacology to get a BSN. I think I also needed a higher level math class like Statistics. There may have been another class or two that I had to take that may not have been required if I had gone to get the ADN.

In the area where I live, the BSN is required to be employed as a Community Health Nurse. But that might be different in different parts of the country.

I don't think the hospital I work at pays more for a person having a BSN, but that may be different from hospital to hospital.

I am working on my Masters in Nursing (Adult Nurse Practitioner). Many people who plan to get their Masters eventually go for the BSN. Also many people who do not want to remain in the hospital (bedside nursing) go on to get their BSN. But that also may vary around the country and some nurses with their ADN may go back to school and do the "RN to BSN'" or "RN to MSN" programs..

I've heard that some hospitals require the BSN to be in a supervisory role, but I have not been a nurse long enough to know if this is true. I believe that experience plays more of a part in who becomes a supervisor. At my hospital the nurse manager has a BSN, the director of nursing has an Masters in Nursing.

When you are in nursing school, you are placed at different times in various clinical areas (like OB, MedSurg, pediatrics). It also helps you see where you might "fit". In your senior year (at least at my school) you choose which area you want to do your senior practicum in. (For example some people chose OB for their senior practicum, others chose Med Surg).

After you have graduated, passed the NCLEX and started working, in an "ideal" setting you are then placed with someone who helps you learn how to be a nurse in that setting (on the job training).... Our hospital has a residency program for new nurses during which we were with a preceptor for about 3 months before we have our own patient load (But that's not the case at many hospitals).

Hope this helps. Others may have other answers.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2006

Adn and BSN nurses both take NCLEX-RN to get their license, but BSN is a college degree and may be required for some jobs. Our facility does pay $1/hr more for BSN nurses (> $2000 year). You do not have to get extra education for most nursing specialities, although many pay for extra certifications you earn while working.

I got my ADN, practiced as an RN while I worked on BSN. Many do that and many nurses prefer not to get BSN. Just depends on personal goals.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 28, 2006

Adn and BSN nurses both take NCLEX-RN to get their license, but BSN is a college degree and may be required for some jobs.

I'm guessing the part missing from this sentence was that a BSN is a BACHELOR'S college degree. :) I'm pretty sure you were in college when you got your ADN (Associates Degree in Nursing)

Original Poster: you really should take a look at the Nursing Student Forums; there you will find individual boards on subjects like Pre-Nursing (where prospective students and those taking preliminary courses can discuss options) as well as General Student boards, etc. VERY helpful to read through some of those threads, and get a feel for what will be expected of you in each of the various avenues to becoming a nurse (at whatever level you eventually choose).

Best of luck to you, and welcome!

mommieto2kiddies · Nov 28, 2006

thanks everyone you've given me some useful info and i did'nt no about the student nurse boardi'll go check it out

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Nov 28, 2006

Moved to the Nursing Career Advice Forum for more responses.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2006

adn and bsn are degrees in nursing granted by colleges. an adn is an associates degree. a bsn is a bachelor's degree. each college has specific requirements which you must fulfill in order to obtain that particular degree from their college. to become a licensed nurse, your state has specific requirements that a school which teaches nursing must minimally teach you. that enables you to be able to take the nclex exam to become licensed as a nurse after finishing school. if you pass the nclex exam in your state, they grant you a nursing license to practice nursing.

now, here is where things get confusing to many people. each nursing school, once they meet the minimum requirements of the state board of nursing, is free to add whatever courses to their nursing curriculum that they want. so, you will see a lot of variation in the courses that are taught among the various nursing schools. however, the basic required nursing foundations will be taught. what you have to do is look at and compare what the various nursing schools are offering and see what suits you. most people find that with a bsn you have more job opportunities. a bsn is definitely an advantage if you want to go into any management or leadership positions in large institutions. the particular bsn program that i went into focused on training managers, honing communication skills and preparing us for moving on to getting a masters degree in nursing. other bsn programs focus on other things.

in general, you must understand that nursing school is only the beginning of a nursing career. it teaches you the basics of nursing. any job you take is going to require some orientation and on the job training. the more education that is involved in a career, the more education and training that is required in the jobs that are taken on due to the complexity of the work involved. nursing is a career where you are always learning and most states and many employers of nurses have a formal continuing education requirement that you must satisfy in order to maintain your license in nursing. this means that you will have to continue to take as many as 15 hours of nursing class of some kind every year. most all us licensed nurses do that.

if you do not like the idea of education and learning, then a career like nursing is not for you. but, you should not be afraid of education and learning if you are basing this on experiences you might have had as a child and teenager. adult learning is very different from grade school and high school. for one thing, as adults we learn differently than we did as children. for another, adult learners are in college for a purpose, not because they have to be as we were as children and teenagers. when there is a purpose and a goal to what we are studying, we tend to be more successful at it.

you also should understand that licensed nurses are taught to think critically in order to make decisions and judgments. what this means is that you are taught to make purposeful, reflective and goal directed judgments based on evidence rather than conjecture (guessing). you are taught to use the principles of science and the scientific method. this is not exactly the same image most people have of the kindly nurse who fluffs your pillow and brings you your medicine to take. although that is also a true picture of what a nurse does, the critical thinking is an even bigger part of the job that is not commonly known. rns are trained to be supervisors and managers of patient care. beside learning the skills of hands on care of patients, we learn other skills like how to prioritize and delegate tasks, plan and initiate patient care and the supervision of the assistant staff who do some of the actual physical work with the patients.

i am listing some links i have on general information about a career in nursing for you to explore. please read them and educate yourself about what nursing is and what nurses do. after completing nursing school there are so many career choices a nurse can make. you will find information about that in this reading. see you on the forums!

http://www.discovernursing.com/

http://www.nursingsociety.org/career/cmap.html

http://www.nurse.com/nursecontent/ - this is a very nice site that has a career showcase that explains what some of the various specialties in nursing are as well as having information about the various licensing levels in nursing and how to prepare and get your education to become a nurse.

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/majors_careers/42226.html - "thinking about nursing school? consider your many options" from the college board.

http://www.wetfeet.com/content/careers/nursing.aspx - about nursing from webfeet.com

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm - about registered nursing from the u.s. department of labor

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm - about lpn nursing from the u.s. department of labor

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos165.htm - information on nursing assistants (cna) from the u.s. department of labor

http://nursing.about.com/od/becomeanurse/bb/beforenurse.htm - "before you decide to become a nurse". things to consider about being a nurse. lots of links to information about what skills you need to become a nurse. and, what if you're really bad at math and science is discussed.

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/majors_careers/45263.html - "ten questions to ask yourself" about nursing and if it might be right for you

http://nursing.about.com/od/becomeanurse/a/notforeveryone.htm - "nursing is not for everyone". this is a very down to earth and honest article that broadly discusses what a nurse does and what you can expect on the job as a nurse.

http://nursing.about.com/od/nursingshortage/a/transferskills.htm - "nurses skills transfer to other professions". a list of 8 basic job skills that nurses are able to perform making them desirable for hire in many other professions.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/day-life-registered-nurse-185298.html - a day in the life of a registered nurse thread on general nursing discussion forum

https://allnurses.com/forums/f87/types-nursing-careers-very-helpful-121955.html - lists a few of the career options in nursing along with links to their national organizations

http://www.hospitalsoup.com/day/archives.asp - a day in the life. . .of a critical care nurse educator, professor of nursing, operating room manager and emergency room nurse. there is another link to the description of and informatics nurse at the same site

http://www.wetfeet.com/content/real%20people/robert%20nelseon.aspx - "robert nelseon, registered staff nurse in the health care industry". read about the day in the life of an intensive care unit nurse.

http://www.wetfeet.com/content/real%20people/joan%20nikkicoda.aspx - "joan nikkicoda, nurse practitioner in the health care industry". read about the day in the life of a family nurse practitioner who specializes in cardiac care.

http://www.wetfeet.com/content/real%20people/maria%20o%e2%80%99connell.aspx - "maria o'connel, psychiatric nurse". read about the day in the life of a psychiatric nurse who works on an acute inpatient psychiatric unit.