do you have a previous degree?

pockunit, ADN, RN · Feb 22, 2015

Pre-vet to English BA via self-directed vaguely medical/ethics program. I went into nursing because I finally couldn't avoid it; I spent a lot of my life doing Other Things that were Not Nursing. I've worked more jobs than you can shake a stick at, some standard, some weird. Now I can gut a chicken in about 45 seconds, whip up a nifty Excel document, or bake you a killer sourdough boule. I love that I could switch back to a desk job and still be doing nursing work. I start my BSN this fall.

Graduatenurse14 · Feb 22, 2015

A parent became very ill and I got interested in it while they were going through treatments/surgeries. My BS in Education coursework was easier than my AS in Nursing. I taught in very rough schools so that was very difficult but being a nurse is overall much harder.

Many nursing schools have a lot wrong with them. The things that go on simply do not exist in other disciplines. I can say this from my own experience and from the lack of horror stories from all of my friends and many acquaintances who have at least one degree in non-nursing fields and the plentiful horror stories from nurses in all age ranges and who attended all types of programs (Diploma, ADN, BSN.)

Good luck in whatever you decide!

anon456, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2015

Liberal Arts degree-- and I have never regretted it. It taught me to think and analyze and be creative in ways that my foreign-educated and engineering-trained husband is not capable of.

We don’t need more STEM majors. We need more STEM majors with liberal arts training. - The Washington Post

anon456, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2015

Many nursing schools have a lot wrong with them. The things that go on simply do not exist in other disciplines. I can say this from my own experience and from the lack of horror stories from all of my friends and many acquaintances who have at least one degree in non-nursing fields and the plentiful horror stories from nurses in all age ranges and who attended all types of programs (Diploma, ADN, BSN.)

Why do you think this is? This would make a good thread. Whiles some of my teachers were hard on us because there were future lives at stake, others seemed to get real pleasure out of causing unnecessary stress and a lack of kindness or leadership.

michlynn, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2015

I was originally an Athletic Training major, which I highly regret switching from, and then earned a BA in Dance because I "wanted to be in shape and have fun in college-hahaha). Let me tell you, I've never worked harder for a degree in my life, not only were you dancing every single day but the credits weren't worth as much as other classes so I was taking twice as many classes as everyone else. Into my junior and senior year I realized I didn't want to own a studio or teach classes so I started taking pre-reqs for nursing and only had to go to nursing school for a year (bonus!).

Graduatenurse14 · Feb 22, 2015

Why do you think this is? This would make a good thread. Whiles some of my teachers were hard on us because there were future lives at stake, others seemed to get real pleasure out of causing unnecessary stress and a lack of kindness or leadership.

I really don't know but I'm not at all surprised that you experienced this and very few if any nursing students or nurses would be either.

I think that the topic is very worthwhile and needs to be looked into but not as a thread on AN as it would just devolve as so many do. There are other venues where authentic, healthy and mature dialogue take place regularly. I've considered writing about this and other nursing topics at one of them. If I do, I will PM to let you know.

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2015

The previous degree was a great help in terms of learning APA referencing and how to research and to read research.

Baloo · Feb 22, 2015

B.S in Business Administration, Concentration: Management. I ran a business for about 7 years, but left to raise my family. I'm a volunteer EMT on the side, and love the 'helping others' part of it, so when it was time to re-enter the workforce I decided to go to nursing school rather than back to retail management.

My business background helps dealing with the administration side of things, and my EMS experience helped/helps in many ways, but one of the biggest advantages was in nursing school. I was very comfortable getting 'up close and personal' with patients from the get-go in the first semester...while others had to compose themselves before entering the room just to do an assessment.

Everline · Feb 22, 2015

I had a BA in Liberal Arts. Wonderful education. Yes, it helped me tremendously. I really believe having that background enabled me to succeed in nursing school and graduate with a 4.0.

Infofreak411 · Feb 22, 2015

A parent became very ill and I got interested in it while they were going through treatments/surgeries. My BS in Education coursework was easier than my AS in Nursing. I taught in very rough schools so that was very difficult but being a nurse is overall much harder.
Many nursing schools have a lot wrong with them. The things that go on simply do not exist in other disciplines. I can say this from my own experience and from the lack of horror stories from all of my friends and many acquaintances who have at least one degree in non-nursing fields and the plentiful horror stories from nurses in all age ranges and who attended all types of programs (Diploma, ADN, BSN.)
Good luck in whatever you decide!

Oh wow, very interesting. And in what aspect do you find nursing harder and/or more stressful than teaching? I've heard many former teacher say the opposite that they found nursing less stressful because their work doesn't come home with them.

And what are the types of things wrong with all the nursing program? what goes on that doesn't exist in other programs and makes them so difficult? Is it more so the work or the way its structured?

sistrmoon, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2015

English with a Spanish minor. Sure, it helped build all the skills any liberal arts degree provides:)

Oh and I went into nursing because I'd been laid off twice in a year, had volunteered in medical settings and had family members who are nurses. Also had lost many family members to cancer and a close friend in her 20s to a PE. Ended up in Oncology/med overflow.

BrandonLPN, LPN · Feb 22, 2015

This is true. One out of every three adults age 25+ in the US has a baccalaureate degree or higher. Just a couple of generations ago, half of all adults had dropped out of high school, and college was viewed as an elite endeavor that could secure a person's future for life.

]While I'm a big believer in the harmfulness of the whole degree inflation trend, one could also interpret this as all the more reason one needs to get a college degree of some sort.

Its true that college degrees aren't as "special" as they were a generation ago. But this also means that job seekers without one could be viewed as that much more unmarketable.

A four year degree used to be considered very specific higher education obtained as a prerequisite toward a specific career. Nowadays, so many students seem to be pursuing it as just another four years of general education. It is unfortunate that many high school grads attend college without any clear career plan simply because "going to college is what you're supposed to do".

There is something very, very wrong with college graduates with four year degrees who don't really know what they want to do anymore than HS grads.