Long-term career advice need: LVN with a Bachelor's?

U.S.A. California

Published

Hi all, I'm puzzling about long-term career plans and I thought I'd ask the people I always go to for advice about nursing on the internet.

My situation

Have:

  • BS in Biochemistry from state school
  • recent grad from LVN certificate program at junior college
  • GPA 3.1ish?

Want:

  • RN
  • Possibly NP later

Wondering about:

  • LVN to RN: 30 credit? AD? BSN?
  • All questions in relation to possible NP

Thanks in advance for any help. Feel free to ask questions, didn't want to write a book before I knew what info was relevant!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.
Hi all, I'm puzzling about long-term career plans and I thought I'd ask the people I always go to for advice about nursing on the internet.

My situation

Have:

[*]BS in Biochemistry from state school

[*]recent grad from LVN certificate program at junior college

[*]GPA 3.1ish?

Want:

[*]RN

[*]Possibly NP later

Wondering about:

[*]LVN to RN: 30 credit? AD? BSN?

[*]All questions in relation to possible NP

Thanks in advance for any help. Feel free to ask questions, didn't want to write a book before I knew what info was relevant!

If you have plans to continue your education and/or move outside California in the future, absolutely DO NOT do the 30 unit option.

If time is more important to you, go into an LVN to BSN bridge. If money is more important, you can do LVN to ADN and complete and RN to BSN afterwards. There are some ADN to MSN options, but your most flexible option would be to get a BSN, so you can apply to a greater number of NP programs.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Agree with PP. Doing the 30 unit option limits your license to CA only and you will NOT be able to endorse it to the other 49 and DC.

Also, if you plan to practice in CA, rule out Excelsior's LVN-ADN as the CA BRN still won't touch EC RN grads, even if you end up going RN-BSN afterwards,

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Thanks for the advice!

Part of what I'm wondering is if my Bachelor's in Biochemistry can get me out of needing a BSN. That way I can take the fastest/cheapest route to RN (30-credit option) and go back for an MSN of some type later.

I'm not interested in practicing outside of CA, and am definitely aware of the CA limitation of the 30-credit.

There are some ADN to MSN options, but your most flexible option would be to get a BSN, so you can apply to a greater number of NP programs.

Do you know if the BSN is absolutely required for MSN programs? (just wondering, I will do research myself.)

Thanks again for the help!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.
Thanks for the advice!

Part of what I'm wondering is if my Bachelor's in Biochemistry can get me out of needing a BSN. That way I can take the fastest/cheapest route to RN (30-credit option) and go back for an MSN of some type later.

I'm not interested in practicing outside of CA, and am definitely aware of the CA limitation of the 30-credit.

Do you know if the BSN is absolutely required for MSN programs? (just wondering, I will do research myself.)

Thanks again for the help!

No, your Biochemistry bachelor's will not get you out of needing a BSN for anything that would require it. Nor do employers or graduate schools generally view having a different bachelor's as equivalent to a BSN for a nursing position. However, it would most likely get you out of taking additional GEs for either an ADN or BSN, so all you would need to take are the nursing classes.

Despite not being interested in leaving California, the 30 unit option is still not advisable for three reasons:

1) you are not given a degree. This will make it difficult to asses your standing in applying for NP programs in the future. I can't say what schools are going to tell you, you would need to ask each individual school how they would address your situation, but I would assume they would encourage you to complete the degree before applying to their program. Again, this is up to each individual school, so you would need to ask them directly.

2) the job market is tough in California. Only about half of new grads find jobs within 18 months. And BSNs have the edge over ADNs. Having only the 30 unit option makes you even LESS competitive as a new grad. So if you were to choose this option, you had better be sure you already have a job lined up after licensure.

And the most important thing to consider, 3) the major difference between the 30 unit option and the ADN are the GEs. Since you already have your bachelor's, you already have most of these completed. As an LVN with another bachelor's, the difference between the 30 unit option and an ADN will most likely only be a class or two. Therefore, the 30 unit is not faster and not that much cheaper because you can take each class alongside your nursing classes. For example, I have a previous bachelor's and my LVN. The additional classes I needed to take for my ADN were my pre-reqs (anatomy, physiology, and micro), plus psych and developmental psych as co-reqs. For almost all nursing programs, you have to have those 3 pre-reqs whether it is the 30 unit option, ADN, or BSN. So really, I only took psych and dev psych to satisfy the additional requirements for an ADN because of my previous bachelor's.

And, no, the BSN is not ABSOLUTELY required for MSN programs. As I mentioned before, there are ADN to MSN programs that exist. However, this limits your choices of MSN programs because you can only apply to MSN programs that have that track if you choose not to obtain your BSN as an intermediary.

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Wow, that was super helpful and detailed advice. Really appreciate the time spent on providing it. I may revist this post to ask more questions, gonna mull over what you've said and do some more research. Many thanks! :up:

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