Will it matter if I don't have the BSN? ADN -> MSN question

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jan 30, 2012

Will it matter to employers if I don't have a BSN - that is, if I go straight for the MSN?
I already have a bachelor's degree in a different field. Not sure yet where I'm going to nursing school, but, if I do the ADN route, are there any concerns to eventually be a MSN with no BSN?

I also have a non-nursing baccalaureate and decided to go for my BSN after receiving my ADN and becoming an RN. There were two reasons: One was cost and the other was the likelihood of finding a nursing job as an MSN with little nursing experience.

With respect to cost, all of the 2nd degree MSN programs I looked at required a number of "bridge" classes for non-BSN's. Tuition for these courses was at the graduate rate, which was well north of $600 per credit. I'm presently in an RN-BSN program that is about $155/credit and will run me just over $7k in total - that's about $2- $3k less than the just the bridge classes. The total time will be just under a year, or only about one semester more than taking the bridge courses, not really much of a time penalty.

Regarding nursing experience, my hope is that after getting the BSN later this year, I will be able to find a nursing position (the job prospects for RN's without a BSN in my part of the world are very bleak) and get some experience before applying to an MSN program. I frankly don't know what the job prospects for new-grad MSN's with little experience are, but have to think that they're not good. Nearly all of the postings for nurses these days state that experience is required, often 2 two years at the minimum. I have to think that an MSN with less than 2 years experience will not fare well but that's just an assumption on my part. Perhaps others with more direct experience will be able to comment on this aspect of things.

Raven Sierra, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2012

Chuckster, thanks for the reply. I guess I should have explained better: the MSN program I'm planning on pursuing won't let me do the MSN part until I've been a nurse for two years. But I think you have a great point about the cost of the BSN vs. the bridge programs. I hadn't considered that. Thanks! You've given me food for thought.

UVA Grad Nursing · Jan 30, 2012

You should also consider what type of MSN you are seeking. Here in my state, none of the RN-MSN tracks are for advanced practice areas (NP, CNS, CNM, or CRNA). They are only in education, administration or clinical nurse leader.

nursingschool* · Feb 12, 2012

If you already have a bachelors then getting a BSN may not take anymore time than getting an ADN. That was the situation I was in. It does take longer, the program is typically 4 semesters instead of 3 but you should have the bulk of the non-science pre-reqs out of the way. Depending on the nature of either program - I could be off a little - but generally speaking they would be pretty close.

My experience though is that you will def need a BSN for an MSN program - I don't know that you can get a masters in anything without a bachelors first.

If you can get in and out of an ADN program faster and significantly cheaper, then you can do your bridge while you're getting those 2 years experience. So that's certainly viable. I looked into that and it made some sense. I made my decision to do BSN because 1) cost wasn't a factor and the time was within 6 months and 2) I didn't want to go 3 semesters to school then do nights and/or weekends in school for the bridge as soon as I was done with the ADN....in other words, I traded time and cost up front for some freedom on the backend. If that makes sense...