Nursing schools and options outside the hospital

[jctaylor]

I have 2 questions:

I have a bachelor's in a field entirely unrelated to nursing. I am looking at leaving my job in HK to return to the states and start nursing school but I have some questions.

Firstly, since I don't have any science/med courses from my first bachelor's, I will have to start pretty much from nothing there. Who else has done this, and what have you found that works? At this point I'm planning on doing most of the pre-requisites from a community college near 'home' and then moving into a 1-year accelerated program.

Anyone have any pointers on good programs or what to look for/avoid in a program?

Secondly, while I figure I may have to put in my time in a hospital setting, that's not ultimately why I am wanting to become a nurse. I'd eventually like to move overseas and work in a clinic in a developing nation, or work on an oil rig, or something like that that will allow me to couple my interest in medicine with my desire to explore and have adventures around the world. Maybe it's wanting to have my cake and eat it too, but that's kinda what I'd like to do. So I'm curious if it would make a huge difference whether I pursue the degree from a 'top-notch' university or if a BSN is basically the same across the board. Maybe I should look into something other than a BSN?

I'll admit I'm quite naive about all of this; mostly I just have an interest in medicine, sparked after taking a 10-day wilderness first responder course and realizing that it was the first time in life I actually got excited about something that I could turn into a career. So any thoughts, advice, etc is appreciated; I don't want to just blindly go into this without really considering options.

Thanks!

[SteveNNP, MSN, NP]

There are unlimited options to you as a licensed RN. You can go overseas on travel assignments to Australia, Dubai, etc. You can do a stint with Mercy Ships or Doctors without Borders, Operation Smile, etc. You can pretty much go anywhere on a medical mission trip, or even get your master's with a focus in tropical medicine.....