Need advice on what to do.

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 7, 2010

If you are serious about pursuing nursing as a career, I'd encourage you to check into accelerated nursing programs in your area. Given your Bachelors in Sociology, you may be eligible for a "fast track" program. Expect to take a number of prerequisite courses, but this might still be the quickest way for you to get a nursing degree.

Good luck!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Oct 7, 2010

first, i don't think there are many -- or any -- diploma programs around these days. your alternatives are ad or bsn. you'll need a bsn eventually if you'd like to move into management or advanced practice, so if you can get into a bachelor's program, that would be the thing to do. if not, an ad program would certainly be quicker and less financial investment up front.

as for the cna business -- i never worked in a health care setting until i graduated from my bsn program. i'm not advocating that as the way to go -- i had a very difficult -- and miserable -- first couple of years as a nurse. i didn't know what i was getting into and had no idea what i was doing when i started out as a nurse. at least if you've worked as a cna you have some idea what you're getting into and have had experience with poop clean-up, how to take vital signs while attempting to reason with a dementia patient and what 24/365 staffing really means.

my question for you is this: if you've never worked in the health care setting, how do you know if you'll like it?

when i graduated, i had a husband to support so quitting wasn't an option. if it had been, i wouldn't have lasted a week. by the time quitting was an option, i'd been doing the job for a couple of years and had acclimated. folks today, though, don't seem to suck it up and deal with a less than ideal job or a less than ideal schedule. so think long and hard about how you'll feel about working saturdays when the gang is at the beach, working christmas when your whole family is gathered around the tree and working nights when everyone else is home sleeping. granted, there are myriad opportunities in nursing that don't include those hours, but almost every one of them requires some hospital experience, and in order to get that, you have to work the hours.

argtango · Oct 8, 2010

Go for the ADN. I have a BA in a liberal arts major and then graduated with ADN. Before I received my ADN, I did a lot of research and visited several schools. The fastest way for me was the ADN. The problem with the accelerated BSN is that most schools give you problems when you try to transfer your general education and prerequisite courses that you already have taken. So it looked like I would have to RETAKE a lot of courses because the BSN schools would not give me credit for it. You also have to take any additional upper division courses that the BSN schools want in order to graduate even though you have a BA.

The ADN accepted all my general education courses. My prerequisite courses were accepted. So I only had to take Nursing courses only.

If you want to get another degree after you have your RN license, I would go to an accelerated MSN program to get a nurse practitioner license. You have more flexibility. The MSN also allows you to go into clinical specialty or teaching if you like these areas.The MSN program,for example, requires a bachelor's degree in any major, and a RN license. The program takes about 2 1/2 to 3 yrs. The BSN takes about the same amount of time. In the end you'll only end up with a BA in Sociology and a BSN.

flowrate · Oct 8, 2010

Hi everyone, I'm a student nurse about to start my preceptorship and i wanted to know my vaule as a new grad nurse into the hospital........I herd it all is about where you work and the department but i would like to just know a range if possible.....i'll be working in NY hopefully the city and im interested in PICU, NICU, or ER

thank you

coast2coast · Oct 9, 2010

The problem with the accelerated BSN is that most schools give you problems when you try to transfer your general education and prerequisite courses that you already have taken. So it looked like I would have to RETAKE a lot of courses because the BSN schools would not give me credit for it. You also have to take any additional upper division courses that the BSN schools want in order to graduate even though you have a BA.

I just wanted to say that I was admitted to a couple 2nd degree programs and did not have any trouble w/ credit from previous courses. Don't overlook these programs, they are probably closest to what you need right now.

You can also look into direct-entry programs - they usually take 2-3 years and you are an RN, MSN at the end of it. They are more expensive than an ADN but an MSN salary is also higher.

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 9, 2010

I just wanted to say that I was admitted to a couple 2nd degree programs and did not have any trouble w/ credit from previous courses. Don't overlook these programs, they are probably closest to what you need right now.

In my accelerated cohort, we had people with majors ranging from Divinity to Dance to Psych to Engineering to Law Enforcement, with plenty of others in between. My university apparently didn't jack around candidates too much in terms of accepting credits. Obviously, your mileage may vary....