RN to BSN or go straight to MSN?

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Specializes in Critical Care, Operating Room.

I'm an ADN RN with 7 years floor experience and I'm getting ready to go back to school online. My ultimate goal is an MSN ed and so many schools offer RN to MSN programs without a BSN. What's your opinion? Do I need that BSN along the way too?

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I dont really know how that RN to MSN works. For me personally, I would get my BSN because it has classes on leadership & management etc & I could work for a year being a BSN (not that itd make any difference I dont think) but getting your MSN (depending on what you want to do) is a lot of leadership & management roles. I know both ADN's & BSN's do the same thing but BSN's learn a lot about leadership & all that stuff. I mean I dont know how much this helped (probably not at all though) :( I guess I'd say if you have been a charge nurse or had leadership roles then go ahead & do the RN to MSN. If not, I'd get experience in that 1st before going & getting the MSN. Either way it's up to you my dear! Sorry if I couldnt help

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Specializes in ICU.

It depends on what companies require. Some require that BSN. I see you want to do education and I'm not sure if colleges require a BSN. They will want you to have a good many years of bedside under your belt in order to teach. Do you have many? If you may need to get some bedside I would also get that BSN.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

If by "MSN ed" you mean Education, you'll be much better off with a program that includes an internship - giving you actual exposure to the discipline of education in practice. Most bricks-and-mortar schools have a lot of online courses now, especially for graduate classes. If you believe that eventually you may want to pursue a doctorate (entry level for teaching BSN students) I also urge you to choose an MSN program that includes thesis.... rather than a nebulous capstone project. This would give you a huge advantage when it comes time to apply for doctoral programs.

From my recent investigations, it appears that all of the RN-MSN programs actually do include coursework needed to achieve your BSN, however, whenever possible, rather than taking an undergrad & grad course on the same topic (e.g., intro statistics) they tend to require you to just to complete the graduate course. In some cases, the 'leap' can be significant which makes the coursework more difficult. If you're a happy learner with good academic skills, you won't have a problem.

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With 7 years of experience I personally would make the jump for RN-MSN especially if you know what you want to do. I am assuming you get your BSN along the way? If you can consolidate your classes, I say go for it.

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