Need Advice

[pilotswife555]

hi everyone, i am new to this site and i need some advice on nursing school. i have been thinking about becoming an rn for awhile now and i might actually start going to school in the fall. i need some advice though. i read on another post that to obtain your rn degree you can either go to school for 2 years (adn) or 4 (bsn.) if there is not much difference in pay, of course i would rather do the 2 year program. is this the case? also, i live in the northwest suburbs of houston, tx and need a good school to go to, and would prefer it to be not too far from home. does anyone have any suggestions? do i have to go to a university or is it possible to obtain an rn degree from a community college? someone please help me with some advice. i really appreciate it!

[elkpark]

The frequent reference to community college programs as "two year" nursing degrees is deceptive. The actual nursing courses are planned to take two years to complete in most programs, but most people spend 1-2 years completing the prerequisite courses to qualify for the nursing program. BSN programs have the prerequisite courses built into the four year curriculum. So, in terms of time, there's really not much difference between the two. There are some differences academically, and in how many doors each degree will open for you (although both prepare you for RN licensure, and you get the same license regardless of which degree you have), and, certainly, in the $$$ involved. Which choice is best for you is a v. personal decision.

Welcome to allnurses, and best wishes for your journey!

[solneeshka, BSN, RN]

I agree with what the previous poster has said. In general, if what you want to do is bedside nursing (as opposed to management), it doesn't matter which degree you get. That is changing in some areas and at some facilities, but for the most part, what they care about is that you're an RN, it doesn't necessarily make any difference how you got there. If you want to go into management of any sort, you'll almost certainly need to have at least a BSN, though.

You can get an associate's degree in nursing through a community college, in fact that's generally where it's done, as most universities only offer bachelor's degrees or higher. It doesn't take quite as long as a BSN, but it is shorter by about a year, plus it's usually much, much less expensive. One route to consider is to get your ADN now and then after you're working, you can do an RN-to-BSN program, where you essentially make up the coursework difference between the two degrees. That would give you the chance to decide if it's really something you think you'll need. Those programs are about a year long, so your total time in school would be the same, but you could be working as an RN sooner.

[RedhairedNurse, BSN, RN]

Community college two year is what I did. You need much more prereq courses for the BSN. I want to pursue my BSN but I need to take many more prereqs ie., history, government, statistics, nutrition, sociology, etc.

Associates is much quicker, then, you can always go for the BSN after you

obtain the associates. No difference in pay between RN and BSN. Just more

management opportunities if you have the BSN.