What would you do in my shoes? ADN or BSN?

[Emma&Ben]

I graduated with a Bachelor's degree and have had a successful career in corporate training and media management for 4 years. I've recently decided to pursue nursing as a career.

The technical college near me offers an ADN program for a total of about $4,000 (includes tuition & fees, not books) for the two year program. I could enroll in the program this year.

My other option is to attend the university here for a BSN, but I would need to take about 18 hours of courses before I could enroll. These courses are built into the ADN program that I previously mentioned. I took science, math, and psychology courses while I was in college, but they are not the exact ones that the school requires (I took a different statistics, calculus instead of the required math, and different biologies).

The university near us does not have an accelerated program for post-Baccalaureate students. Also, the program is $8,000 (not including books) for the two year program. Plus I would need to pay for the additional 18 hours of courses before I could enter the program.

My husband is a nurse (BSN) and says that the only difference where he works is about $1 an hour extra for nurses with a BSN.

The ADN looks much more attractive to me, but I understand that some management positions require a BSN. While I do have a Bachelor's degree, it is not in nursing. What would you do in my shoes? Do you think the BSN is worth twice the price plus about 1 year's worth of additional courses? Will I regret choosing the ADN because of the additional expense?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[StarryNyte713]

Hello. Given what you stated, I would go for the ADN. It's less money to do the program, and you'll be a nurse sooner. If your plans are eventually to get a BSN, I'm sure you can find a ADN-BSN bridge course that your hospital might pay for.

Also find out if the technical college has a waiting list, as most seem to. If it does, then go ahead and apply while taking pre-req courses that can apply to both the ADN and BSN programs. See which one you can get into first.

Good luck!

[PurrRN]

I agree with Starrynyte. I would go for the ADN program which you can get into now and plan for a BSN-completion program. I'm in my last semester of an ADN at a University that offers the BSN completion. I've planned all my pre-req's ahead of time in conjunction with this program and will be able to segue right into the next semester. This means for me that I graduate ADN program May '08 and will graduate BSN May '09.

You can shop around for a BSN completion program that fits your needs and try and get some of the classes out of the way now and during the summer. I took Pathophysiology (8 week class) and Cultural Diversity (8 week class) during last semester in conjunction with my third semester of the ADN program. These are classes that my university requires for the BSN.

Good luck in what you decide to do, but planning now never hurts.

[Emma&Ben]

Thanks for your advice! I'm probably going to go the ADN route.

I hadn't even thought about the possibility of a hospital helping me finish my BSN once I begin working as an RN. That sounds like a good option for me.

Thanks again!

[TheBean]

I was in the same boat as you--got my BA in 1997 and switching careers. Had my local community college been better organized, I would have stayed there and gotten my ADN and then done the RN to BSN or RN to MSN program at the state university. It's so much more economical in the long run.

Would you consider starting the ADN program and transferring out if it isn't suiting you?

Something else to consider: when I was looking at scholarships, there were a fair number of them that supported ADN to BSN.

[OlyNP2b]

Hi Emma, I'm in the exact same boat as you. The only BSN in my area would cost ~$35k, so I'm almost sure that I'll go the ADN route. I also have a bachelor's degree in another area, and as I gain experience I ultimately plan on completing an RN-MSN program with the ultimate goal of becoming an NP. You can usually bypass the BSN if you take a few bridge courses before you start your Master's program. So, down the road, this may be something you'll also consider.