Pursuing Nursing - Need Direction

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I have a non-nursing Bachelor's degree (and an MBA). I am 35 years old and I'm considering changing careers to Nursing. What is my best plan of attack?

1. Get a bachelor's in nursing?

2. Get a RN certification (w/out BSN)?

3. Or go for the Master's in Nursing?

Thank you for your input.

Specializes in Community health.
18 hours ago, southike said:

CommunityRNBSN - That's great. You were in the same exact place I'm in. Thanks for your insight. How long did it take you to get the pre-reqs and bachelor's finished? Did you do in-class version or online? You are right; I did mean APRN. You did not misread. What school did you get your BSN at, if you don't mind me asking?

After my pre-reqs were done (which took about two years because I had to take EVERYTHING; I didn't have any up-to-date sciences), I applied to the ABSN and was accepted. Then there was a gap of about 8 months (because I applied in March for a program that started in January) during which I was just sitting around waiting for it to start.

The BSN program itself was one calendar year-- started in January, graduated in December. I went to University of Connecticut. It was an extremely, crazily busy year, as you can imagine. However, the caliber of the students and professors was high, and we had a lot of support. My clinical experiences were very good, and I was able to do a lot of hands-on tasks; although it was luck-of-the-draw and some students ended up with weaker experiences. I graduated December 2018, took the NCLEX in January (my program has a pass rate of virtually 100% so we were well-prepared for that aspect) and started my job in March. I think being older has helped me transition into care; my patients never say "Oh, did you just graduate? Are you qualified to be a nurse?" When they see me, they assume I have a decade of experience, haha! I don't inform them otherwise...

Edited to add: my pre-reqs are from all OVER the place; I moved halfway through the process so some were from New York City. Some online. Some from a local community college. Some from a private university in my town. I would just decide "I need to take genetics; who is offering it next semester and how can I get into it?" You should see my absurd stack of transcripts. UConn didn't care where they were from, as long as I got good grades in them.

On 12/26/2019 at 11:57 PM, Kristen Eileen said:

I also have a non-nursing bachelors and decided to pursue nursing. The ABSN and MENP programs were a great starting point as they took all your previous coursework into consideration and eliminates repeats.
My ultimate decision was for the MENP as my long term goal is to be a FNP. This will require additional schooling but I’ll be that much closer.

Depending upon your long term goals any of these paths could be feasible for you.

The accelerated programs only take up to two years full-time. Good luck in your decision!

I agree. It depends in part on your ultimate goal.

Good luck.

Specializes in Med-Surg, L&D, NB-100+ (home care & office).

Unless you have your heart set on a more traditional path, you could look into all kinds of careers.

Forensics, research, education...

Godspeed, I know those kinds of decisions can be mind-bending?

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.

One cannot work while going to ABSN program. It is more than full-time. Forget about the NP thing for now. You have NO idea what will interest you and what will make you run away out the door as fast as you can move. You just don't know until you are in the trenches. I was also a second degree person and had to work about 30 hrs a week to pay the bills. It took me 3 years of part-time (including summers) to get my BSN but I had almost no debt. I lived close enough to campus to walk to classroom but clinicals were usually an hour subway ride. I was 25 when I graduated and waited 10 years to start CRNA school to 1. get experience and 2. save money. Paid off what loans I had within a year but it's more expensive today because we were actually paid a little stipend for our "residency." It covered subway tolls and peanut butter.

Specializes in Nursery.
On 1/16/2020 at 9:58 PM, subee said:

One cannot work while going to ABSN program. It is more than full-time. Forget about the NP thing for now. You have NO idea what will interest you and what will make you run away out the door as fast as you can move. You just don't know until you are in the trenches. I was also a second degree person and had to work about 30 hrs a week to pay the bills. It took me 3 years of part-time (including summers) to get my BSN but I had almost no debt. I lived close enough to campus to walk to classroom but clinicals were usually an hour subway ride. I was 25 when I graduated and waited 10 years to start CRNA school to 1. get experience and 2. save money. Paid off what loans I had within a year but it's more expensive today because we were actually paid a little stipend for our "residency." It covered subway tolls and peanut butter.

Wow! Congratulations!

On 12/26/2019 at 8:02 PM, southike said:

I have a non-nursing Bachelor's degree (and an MBA). I am 35 years old and I'm considering changing careers to Nursing. What is my best plan of attack?

1. Get a bachelor's in nursing?

2. Get a RN certification (w/out BSN)?

3. Or go for the Master's in Nursing?

Thank you for your input.

You may have answered this, but why nursing? You could finalize a Pharm.D. in essentially the same amount of time, and come into the marketplace anywhere in the Midwest at 130K first year, This would maximize your ROI exponentially when compared to nursing.

Ask yourself what you like about nursing, if it’s the paycheck make sure you’re looking at how high earners are earning that money.... remember a nurse practitioner can write a prescription, but the lowest paid pharmacist makes more filling it.

if it is job security, look at the current nursing unemployment rates, almost less than 1%. Just be cautious, arriving with a terminal degree such as an MBA, puts a target on your back immediately because every hiring manager will look at you as a mediately wanting to Move on, or wanting to jump the line.

Is cost an important factor for you? If you don't want to be in debt, the ADN programs are a great value. I started working, then my company paid the entire online BSN. They hire ADNs in my area but your contract states you must attain the BSN within 5 years. I am debt free, working the same job as RNs who are still paying off loans.

After working for a number of years, having a Masters right off the bat wouldn't have given me the experience needed to work any RN job. You'll gain more knowledge from experience than you will from your schooling. Do you want to be in management? The Masters will help you gain a position there. Unfortunately, many of the outpatient supervisors these days are not RNs. This is a problem because they have no nursing knowledge.

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