I have a Masters in a lower-paying field (Social Work) and am considering enrolling in a community college to get pre-reqs such as chemistry and biology for an eventual RN program.
I love working with people (currently I work in a psychiatric setting), and this would be a way for me to earn more money.
I'm wondering if anybody on earth has ever taken this path before. I currently work with nurses (two RNs and two ARNPs) and they have all told me that I'm stupid for wanting to "go backward" and get a BA-level license when I already have a Masters-level license (in a non-nursing field).
My primary goal is to earn more money, while still working in my current setting. My family situation has recently changed and I need to earn about $60,000 per year at least and I am currently not doing that.
How would you advise me?
Have any of you had a Masters (or higher) in another field and then switched to nursing?
So I'm no expert, and I'm still only a nursing student. But this is my understanding:
1. If you work in a higher-paying social work job (say, a hospital social worker, a VA social worker, or maybe in private practice), you could make less as a brand-new RN. New-graduate RN salaries in hospitals vary a lot by region - I think they were about $28/hour in the northern city where I recently lived, but as low as $19/hour in the south (though generally with lower cost of living). As you know, some SW's get paid more than that, some less. On the other hand, RN's get overtime, shift/weekend differentials etc that salaried SW's generally don't - they also get raises sometimes, which SWs often don't. If you are in most social work fields (community mental health for instance) you're probably going to do better as an RN, and you'd definitely do better in advanced practice nursing.
If you are in private SW practice, you might make a lot more per hour, but you have to weigh in hospitals' medical insurance (usually decent), not paying self-employment taxes, etc. And you also have to think about your willingness to work weird hospital hours, if you have daytime hours as a SW. It all depends on your own situation.
2. I just let my LCSW licenses expire last month. I went back to school because I wanted to leave SW entirely. My long-term goal is to be a family nurse practitioner, and I don't see an advantage to being able to bill as an LCSW in that situation.
3. To simplify the MSN question....you can get a "generic" sort of MSN, or a "clinical" MSN (my own categories in my head, not official designations). A "generic" MSN might be for "clinical nurse leader," or with an education/administrative focus of some kind. It's a master's degree, but it doesn't prepare you for a particular certification exam in advanced practice; your license is still as an RN. A "clinical" MSN prepares you for some specific certification in advanced practice....you are accepted into a specific specialty track including a specific number of hours in specific content areas....so you finish, you are qualified to sit for a particular exam, and eventually you become a family nurse practitioner, Psych Clinical Nurse Specialist, Pediatric NP, whatever.
4. If you are licensed as an nurse and working in an "RN" job title, you don't diagnose anything, period (except in your own head). Even if I kept my LCSW, diagnosing mental illness would now be outside my scope of practice in an RN job. Doesn't matter what your personal qualifications/knowledge are; a hospital or clinic will not cover you to practice outside of your hired role. The only nurses who diagnose and treat illness are the advanced-practice NP's and CNS'.
I was interested in this topic and so did a little checking - I never came across an employer who interested in hiring a dual LCSW/RN. People will say it's a great combined skill set, and it might count in your favor if the job is in psych or something, but the roles are still quite different.
I completely understand where you are coming from with the MSW thing...... your colleagues who say you're taking a step backwards likely dont understand or get that MSW's dont make money, not with 1 job anyways and thats no joke.
I am an LPN, and I bring home I want to say 35k.year or 18.82/hr, and thats almost more than my sister who is also an LCSW-R who makes 17/hr with here non-profit agency......now somebody above in another post said "they cant believe that MSW's require a Masters"..... let me tell you, they do and they should have masters level Ed....they have to understand a lot and know a lot and are vital to promoting psychosocial health of an individual, but, the problem is the overwhelmingly high amount of jobs in social work are in Non-Profit which aka means no money..... The Social Work jobs that do pay well are in Health Care Systems, or the Government and School Social Work......I know people that say, they want to work for the Government, and I say...Good luck with that one, unless you plan on living in the middle of nowhere.
To answer your question though.... Rn's make double what MSW's make and have chances at advancement where they can make 70,80,and even over 100k in some oppurtuinites, but they're not easy to get because everyone wants those jobs.....and you would be financially better off, but more stressed than you'd ever imagine....im going to continue in another post below about the school
Im a former social worker(and still do some in a volunteer capacity) and an getting my ADN. I eventually do want to do NP, but that's years off. I can tell you that my social work background has really helped me in nursing school(more at ease discussing people's life and reading people).
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So I'm no expert, and I'm still only a nursing student. But this is my understanding:
1. If you work in a higher-paying social work job (say, a hospital social worker, a VA social worker, or maybe in private practice), you could make less as a brand-new RN. New-graduate RN salaries in hospitals vary a lot by region - I think they were about $28/hour in the northern city where I recently lived, but as low as $19/hour in the south (though generally with lower cost of living). As you know, some SW's get paid more than that, some less. On the other hand, RN's get overtime, shift/weekend differentials etc that salaried SW's generally don't - they also get raises sometimes, which SWs often don't. If you are in most social work fields (community mental health for instance) you're probably going to do better as an RN, and you'd definitely do better in advanced practice nursing.
If you are in private SW practice, you might make a lot more per hour, but you have to weigh in hospitals' medical insurance (usually decent), not paying self-employment taxes, etc. And you also have to think about your willingness to work weird hospital hours, if you have daytime hours as a SW. It all depends on your own situation.
2. I just let my LCSW licenses expire last month. I went back to school because I wanted to leave SW entirely. My long-term goal is to be a family nurse practitioner, and I don't see an advantage to being able to bill as an LCSW in that situation.
3. To simplify the MSN question....you can get a "generic" sort of MSN, or a "clinical" MSN (my own categories in my head, not official designations). A "generic" MSN might be for "clinical nurse leader," or with an education/administrative focus of some kind. It's a master's degree, but it doesn't prepare you for a particular certification exam in advanced practice; your license is still as an RN. A "clinical" MSN prepares you for some specific certification in advanced practice....you are accepted into a specific specialty track including a specific number of hours in specific content areas....so you finish, you are qualified to sit for a particular exam, and eventually you become a family nurse practitioner, Psych Clinical Nurse Specialist, Pediatric NP, whatever.
4. If you are licensed as an nurse and working in an "RN" job title, you don't diagnose anything, period (except in your own head). Even if I kept my LCSW, diagnosing mental illness would now be outside my scope of practice in an RN job. Doesn't matter what your personal qualifications/knowledge are; a hospital or clinic will not cover you to practice outside of your hired role. The only nurses who diagnose and treat illness are the advanced-practice NP's and CNS'.
I was interested in this topic and so did a little checking - I never came across an employer who interested in hiring a dual LCSW/RN. People will say it's a great combined skill set, and it might count in your favor if the job is in psych or something, but the roles are still quite different.
That's awfully long....hope it helps. Jen