RN to BSN or Masters in Health administration

[shresha]

Hi I recently graduated from ADN and I had earlier got Bachelors in Speech communications. Since its going to take almost 2 yrs to do BSN, one of my frens advised me to take gre/gmat and do masters in health administration instead as it will take the same 2 yrs to finish it. What are the benefits of doing Masters in health administration and what is the pay scale difference, and what are the job areas. I am so confused as i couldn't find the exact answers anywhere.

[ybq2008]

Hey Shresha,

I think the best method to answer this question on your on is to figure out why you want to pursue a higher level of education. Are you in it because you want to do something that you are currently limited in by your current level of education, or are your doing if for a pay raise? I've always heard that RNs who go the BSN route have a better shot at transitioning into nursing administration, should they decide to do so. I've also heard that at the end of the day, the ADN and and BSN trained nurse are both RNs and are both perfectly capable of being excellent nurses.

So you might want to really do some soul searching and decide what it is you really want. There are some direct-entry masters programs as well as some accelerated BSN programs that you might be interested in. Personally, I don't think I'd go for Health Care Administration in this economy. I know things will improve eventually, but it would suck to go through the the trouble of getting a master's degree and not be able to use it for a while (I'm in the EXACT predicament I have aforementioned, lol). I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide!

[UVA Grad Nursing]

I'd second a lot of what jdcurly says. What do you want to do when you "grow up"? Do you intend to stay in nursing (as a charge, manager, administrator, teacher, etc). If so, get your advanced degrees in nursing. If you see yourself transitioning out of nursing to a general health administration area, then a MHA program would be preferred.

Do you see yourself at a Magnet institution at some time? If so, then the focus is definitely on graduate degrees in Nursing. For example, at UVA Medical Center, all unit managers are required to have MSN (or higher) degrees in the next few years.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

If you want a desk job, administration.