Is getting a Bachelor of AS in Allied Health worth it if I intend to become an RN?

Published

I'm currently active duty in the U.S. Army as a Healthcare Specialist (a.k.a. Combat Medic). I am getting an incredible amount of experience, clinical and trauma, at the DoD's largest & most advanced hospital, and all of this is getting documented.

I'm 19, HS graduate, with no prior college experience. My military contract doesn't end till Fall of 2021 (I do not intend to sign for another contract).

Because my husband and I are both active duty and are working to get stationed together, it's highly likely I'll be moving sometime next year, possibly overseas.

I'm looking to get some college education while I'm in, and due to my circumstances I feel like an online degree program would be best for me right now. I do want to become a nurse after my time in the Army.

I was looking at Louisiana's Northwestern State University's online programs and they offer a fully online BASAH (I was accepted into this university before I decided to join the Army).

Would it be worth it for me to get this degree? Would it help with my future plans of becoming an RN? Would you personally say it's worth it?

Any insight would help a lot. Thank you.

you could get a bachelors and then get another bachelors in nursing, in which case it'd be an accelerated program. nursing schools don't care if you've gone to college before, though. take your prerequisites now and it'll be easier to apply once you're ready.

Sometimes it can be helpful, for example some schools will take whole 60 credits if its an associate degree but wont take 60 credits from outside institution without degree. It's just weird!

Specializes in Emergency Department.

As long as the degree awarded is exactly the same as one awarded if you attended the physical campus, and the University is Regionally Accredited the same as any other College or University in the area, then it's quite likely worth it to get a Bachelors Degree. I have a Bachelors Degree in Sports Med. Disclaimer: I'm in California so some rules about this may be different than your area! My Bachelors made Accelerated BSN programs available as you can't take those as your first Bachelors. They're just too intensive to allow for other UDGE coursework. It also made taking a traditional BSN program basically the same as an ADN schedule-wise as both are 4 Semester programs. At the time I was applying to nursing schools, BSN/ABSN programs weren't available to me by either financial reasons or by University policy preventing 2nd Bachelors students from enrolling. So I enrolled in an ADN Program. The Bachelors made it so I only had to attend the nursing program itself and did not need any other coursework to graduate once I qualified for the program.

Whatever you do, make sure you attend a nursing program that results in a degree and that it generally would be acceptable to California... I only say this as it appears that if you can get a California license, you can get a license anywhere in the US. If think you might end up working in California at some point in your future career (even if it's a remote possibility) if you think ahead and plan for that possibility, you'll save yourself a headache (or migraine) or two as California is known for being very strict about licensing standards...

+ Join the Discussion