LPN with BA in History, now what?? BSN, MSN, ??

[Tony1790, BSN, MSN, NP]

Hello,

I have a multifaceted question with no real wrong answer.

I'm an LPN working 3 jobs, 1 full-time in ER/Urgent Care, PRN - 2nd Urgent Care & Home health. I just finished my BA in History and I'm currently enrolled in pre-req for RN. I'm torn what to do next. I'm guaranteed a slot in the local university LPN to RN or BSN for 2nd degree holder accelerated program, but that won't start until summer 2012 (gives me time to finish my prereq)

My question is: Should I get a 2nd Bachelors in Nursing (graduate 2013) or should I try for a higher level degree (direct entry MSN) or another Masters such as Physician Assistant, Infomatics, health care admin, etc?

I'm a little long in the tooth time wise, I'm currently 44, next summer I'd start BSN at 45 and grad at 46, then try for MSN??

Financially I'm ok: no debt, retired military with GI bill benefits to boot, so I could in theory stop working 3 jobs and go to school full-time. In addition, I work for the VA and they will not only pay for school, but in addition pay my salary while I go to school and I only have to work at the hospital while on spring break, etc. That is assuming that there will be funding available next year for this program (doubtful considering the budget crisis). VA pay makes BSN and Masters level education worth it, much higher salary.

So what to do?? guaranteed BSN or try for Masters instead. Best bang for the academic/cost/age buck??

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

I say stick with the VA, use whatever benefits you can to pay for the RN and BSN, and go from there. Federal benefits and retirement. Hard to beat. Out of college I was offered something with the Social Security Administration. I've spent all that time since kicking myself for not taking it even as bored as I would've been.

If you could do the PA thing I'd recommend that. I wish I could, but I'm not moving out of state. If you want to be a midlevel provider then that'd be a good route. Another area would be the NP which is what others here will recommend since it's a nurse site. The master's in healthcare adminstration is appealing to me as well since long-term I'd rather move into that type of role rather than hands on patient work.

You sound like me. Work several jobs. Try on a hat to see if it fits. Get a degree in something totally unrelated. Change your mind.

On a side note, at UAMS here you can do an RN-MSN program. If you've already got the basic nurse stuff you can take the other general education courses and utilize the core MSN courses (theory, research, etc) to count towards the bachelor's. Then you get a master's as well. There's a similar program for RNs with degrees in other fields. Shaves off some time and course repetition. Something to look into in your area.