only a few months to decide...

ijuanabhappy, ASN, RN · Jun 25, 2011

I would definitely go with the first option if it were me. A lot cheaper and lower stress equals better concentration on school. You can always do an online RN-BSN later and it only takes another year. In two years after school is finished, you can always move into a bigger town and start working. Good luck!

RKpianoman, APRN · Jun 25, 2011

As a current BSN student, my opinion might be biased...

You already have a large chunk of your BSN pre-reqs done, and with a GPA that solid you should have no problem with any entrance exams. Here, in MS, the ADN programs are MUCH more strict and stressful when it comes to the little things (uniform, shoes, having all your equipment even when you have no need for it, and little picky things). The BSN programs tend to be more laid back and view their students as adults. I really enjoy the extra theory curriculum in the BSN, knowing a great deal of the "why" behind what we do, and not having instructors micromanage my life; they make assignments, I do them...they don't nag or send "reminders" to my email like I've had instructors of normal community college classes do.

Again, that's comparing BSN and ADN programs near me; I can't speak specifically to programs in other places.

Sure, you can get your ADN now and get the BSN later, but why split up your schooling and drag it out? It sounds like the main stumbling block for you is the HESI2 test. You had it all planned out BEFORE they started using that test. You have a 3.8gpa and have already proven you're driven by taking a load of college courses during your senior year. Don't let a test stand in your way; go buy a study book and beat that test!

NIGHTINGALE-RN · Jun 25, 2011

I agree with RKpianoman, I had friends who did ADN instead of BSN and kept on saying it does not matter whether you are BSN or ADN but we had a nurse educator/ NP in our nurse residency program and she said that hospitals are hiring more BSN'S than ADN's. The whole hospitals's policies and practices are based on evidence based nursing and research which is taught more in BSN. Offcourse in BSN generally you get treated like adult by your instructors instead of nagging you for stupid stuff.

May be after doing BSN, you can go ahead and do Masters instead of dragging your schooling for BSN.

Go to nurse hiring websites and most jobs prefer BSN's. In this market where every summer, loads of nursing schools are pouring nursing graduates in market, you always want to have an upper edge.

Hope this helps you. With such good GPA, you'll shine as BSN graduate :coollook:

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Jun 25, 2011

I just wanted to make mention of one of your pro/con arguements: you may lose your boyfriend if you do the BSN route? Darling, you are way too young to be making life decisions hinging on a high school romance =(

You sound smart, driven and focused. If a BSN is what YOU want to do, that's what you need to do, take the boyfriend out of the equation....

mustlovepoodles, RN · Jun 25, 2011

I think if I were your age I would go for the BSN, if for no other reason but to make you more marketable. I've been a nurse 34 years. When i was in school, they were moving away from hospital-based diploma schools and the Associates Degree was the way to go(unless you had some bucks.) So i got my Associates in Nursing, as did a whole lot of other nurses. Over the years, however, the Bachelors Degree has become the gold standard. If you ever plan to work in a specialty, become a manager or a supervisor you're going to have to have the BSN to be competitive. At this point in my own career, a BSN wouldn't really help me much because I have a ton of pediatric experience which is what gets me in the door. If i were 22 with an ASN, I probably wouldn't even be hired by a children's hospital and I very well could be relegated to Skilled Nursing (nursing home).

You have a lot to think about. You can get your ADN, take your NCLEX and become an RN. At which point you could enter a RN-BSN bridge program to get the BSN. Once you've passed the NCLEX you don't have to take it again. BSNs and ASNs take the same test so you *could* start working while you're finishing up that last bit. Or you can just go for it and get the BSN in 3 years. IMO, that would be the way to go. you're already 25% of the way there.

As far as your BF goes, well, that's going to be hard. But sometimes we have to make sacrifices to get what we want and need. You're very young. One thing you need to know about nursing school, whether it's an ADN program or BSN program, is that it will take over your whole life. You need to understand that. You will have to be very independent in your work and committed to studying near constantly. Nursing school is by far the hardest thing I've ever done. I also have a BS in elementary education and let me just say, that was a cake walk compared to my ASN.

glutton4punishment · Jun 26, 2011

Do yourself a favor, get your

BSN!

:heartbeat

cabanaboy · Jun 26, 2011

My reply has nothing to do with ADN vs. BSN. For a new HS grad, if you have any inkling to go away to school, you should do it! Someday you will likely wonder what you missed out on, especially if boyfriend someday exits the picture or nursing ends up not being for you.

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Jun 26, 2011

I think if I were your age I would go for the BSN, if for no other reason but to make you more marketable. I've been a nurse 34 years. When i was in school, they were moving away from hospital-based diploma schools and the Associates Degree was the way to go(unless you had some bucks.) So i got my Associates in Nursing, as did a whole lot of other nurses. Over the years, however, the Bachelors Degree has become the gold standard. If you ever plan to work in a specialty, become a manager or a supervisor you're going to have to have the BSN to be competitive. At this point in my own career, a BSN wouldn't really help me much because I have a ton of pediatric experience which is what gets me in the door. If i were 22 with an ASN, I probably wouldn't even be hired by a children's hospital and I very well could be relegated to Skilled Nursing (nursing home).
You have a lot to think about. You can get your ADN, take your NCLEX and become an RN. At which point you could enter a RN-BSN bridge program to get the BSN. Once you've passed the NCLEX you don't have to take it again. BSNs and ASNs take the same test so you *could* start working while you're finishing up that last bit. Or you can just go for it and get the BSN in 3 years. IMO, that would be the way to go. you're already 25% of the way there.
As far as your BF goes, well, that's going to be hard. But sometimes we have to make sacrifices to get what we want and need. You're very young. One thing you need to know about nursing school, whether it's an ADN program or BSN program, is that it will take over your whole life. You need to understand that. You will have to be very independent in your work and committed to studying near constantly. Nursing school is by far the hardest thing I've ever done. I also have a BS in elementary education and let me just say, that was a cake walk compared to my ASN.

As far as this WHOLE thread goes, WHY the ripping on ADN so much lately??

Mustlovepoodles, you have 34 years of experience, so you went to school quite some time ago, yes? You are saying you were told that employers were moving towards requiring BSN's THEN?

Perhaps some areas of the country are different, but in a hospital here, NO, a BSN is not required. For some higher level positions (like management), yes, it is, but that's always been that way. In other words, this has been talked about FOREVER.

I was 21 with an ADN and it in NO way relegated me to only being able to work in a nursing home. In fact, at that time, I got a 4k signing bonus from the hospital.

OP, I'm not saying you shouldn't go the BSN route. What sticks out to me, though, is the part about having to find a place and get a job if you. Would school be full time? Because in order to pay rent and other bills to support yourself, you'd have to work a good amount. I worked 32 hours a week and went about 3/4 time to school. I also was able to split the rent with my then-fiance. If I had needed to keep up a place to live on my own, it would have been extremely difficult. Don't put yourself in a position of having too much on your plate; that's setting yourself up to fail.

A&OxNone, MSN, RN · Jun 26, 2011

Cheerybreeze, I dont think she was saying having an ADN is a bad thing. It's just in this economy, it is better to have a BSN. If I was young and had the option of moving away and getting my BSN, i would do it! It is reality that with the economy the way it has been, more people are going back to school, and having your BSN is becoming what is expected of new nurses.

I was young and had to work my way through school, too. I was 20 and supporting my 12 year old brother, working 32 hours a week and going to school full time. I am tickled to have my ADN. I am going back for my BSN online. But if I had graduated with the option of moving away and getting my BSN all at one time, I would do it. *** And I would tell any young future nursing student that education lasts a LIFETIME and most boyfriends do not, and to go for the higher degree. *** Its less hoops to jump through in the future of you want to get a graduate degree or move up in a hospital.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jun 26, 2011

you need to look ahead to your future, and not just the next two or three years. this is what i always say when this topic comes around again..

this is one of the most contentious issues in nursing: the level of education needed for a profession. i come down squarely on the side of a bs in nursing or bsn as entry-level educational preparation. when i had smaller kids and they asked me a question, i always asked them, "do you want the short answer or the long one?" since i can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times they ever said, "short" and still have enough left over for the boy scout salute, here it is again.

(disclaimer: have worked as a staff nurse, inservice/staff development, instructor, nclex prep course instructor, case manager in multiple settings, and other stuff too numerous to mention. in short, been around, seen that, done that.)

what's a profession? is nursing a profession? what's the basic educational prep for people you think of as professionals? would you want your chemistry research done by someone with an associate degree? your child taught high school math or english? your income tax advising? sure, there are good people with lower level education who succeed in life, but don't let that "we all have the same license and sit for the same exam" fool you. better education makes you better at what you do. there are any number of people who can give you examples of bsns or mns who don't know how to take a rectal temp (why does everyone focus on that and bedpans when they think of nursing, anyway?) and marvelous crusty old lpns who saved the resident's butt one dark and stormy night, but for every single one of those i will see your anecdote and raise you half a dozen godawful errors made by nurses who didn't take the coursework and didn't get exposed to the idea of autonomy in school.

ability: honey, if you have done a year of college-equivalent work already, do not sweat the test, and do not shortchange yourself by thinking you won't pass it. you'll be fine. who do you think they write those exam questions for, anyway? right, people like you.

time: the bachelor's degree program you describe takes three more years. the associate's degree (as or asn) takes ... two and a half, once you count all the prerequisites you're going to have to take before they admit you into the nursing program. and those who say you can work on your bsn while you are working as an rn with an as don't tell you (and maybe don't know, to be charitable) that many of your course hours from the as program are not transferrable, so it won't just be a matter of a semester or two or three. and working as a nurse is hard, almost as hard as nursing school ... think you'll have the mental, physical, social, and financial energy for more education at the same time? oh, and in most jurisdictions you can't sit for the lpn exam and work as one while partway thru a as or bsn program anymore, either.

job opportunities: although the old a-nurse-is-a-nurse-is-a-nurse attitude is fortunately fading away, at entry level for new grads, about the same, and i realize that people who are just starting out have a very incomplete idea of what it means to be a nurse. however, look around the place and see who's working. are you planning to be older some day? do you see older nurses working in those entry-level staff or charge positions? if not, where did they all go? why do you care? well, suppose you work on a general medical floor and get entranced by cardiac rehabilitation after following a patient who did it. a job comes up in the department, hooray! oops, bsn only. or you find your heart drawn to helping underserved women in a public health clinic for high-risk pregnancy. sorry, bsn only in public health. after five or six years as a staff nurse you have become a resource to new hires and your peers and you realize you have a gift for teaching. you see that a position in staff development has come open, and you are first in line at hr to apply. you got it.... bsn is the minimum. school nursing? bsn. hurt your back and want to go for a job in case management? bsn. you discover you have a gift for asking, "why do we do it this way?" and are amazed to find you want to look into jobs in management or nursing research.....bsn minimum. you are starting to get the picture now. also, many, many practice settings give you a differential for bsn. no, i know, not all, but hey. one more factor.

growth: the questions in the licensure exams (nclex) are developed from errors made in the first year of practice by new grads, and regardless of pass rates from different level programs, anyone in practice can confirm the research: in the first year of work all new grads perform at about the same level as they get their feet under them and get used to the idea of working as an rn. but after that year, the bsns pull ahead in ways that are related to their higher level of education. why? because what we call in the ed biz "psychomotor skills," the things you do with your hands, can be done by anyone with enough practice. hell, we teach lay people how to do peritoneal dialysis at home or suction tracheostomies. but the understanding of why some things are as they are is something you get in better education: more science, more sociology, more psychology, more history, a basic statistics class, exposure to more clinical settings (i doubt if you'll get a full semester in peds, psych, ob, or any public health at all in any as program) give you the insight to ask better questions and make better decisions.

well, i hear you about the challenges of getting into and staying in nursing school. but if you really want to be a nurse, don't you want to find yourself in the camp of folks who are grateful they learned more, rather than the ones who find they had to for advancement or competence and wish they'd done it in the first place? my answer is clear.

(and as for the boyfriend? if he won't wait for you, he's not the one you want anyway, so move along, nothing to see here. life awaits!)

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Jun 26, 2011

I was recently hired at a Children's Hospital in NJ. I was told that my application was selected for review SPECIFICALLY because I had a BSN. I'm not saying you won't get hired in Peds with an ADN, but a BSN can certainly give you a better shot. I don't regret at all the four years I spent in college, learning how to be independent and making friends.

As far as your boyfriend goes, if it is meant to be, it will work out if you go away to college. Any boyfriend worth spending your life with will not stand in the way of your future goals and dreams.

**Cherrybreeze** mustlovepoodles stated that when she graduated, DIPLOMA programs were being phased out in favor of the ADN. Now, the BSN is the preferred degree. You got your RN ten years ago, when ADNs were very popular and AD nurses worked everywhere (I know they still do in some places). However, sign on bonuses are extremely rare and the job market is very competitive. Anything that gives a nurse a better shot at a good job should be seriousy considered- and that included a BSN.