RN or BSN (2nd Degree)?

mitchsmom · Feb 16, 2004

Someone just asked almost this exact question either here or on the student nursing forum - look around for that post and you'll find some opinions. :)

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2004

I'm not sure what you mean by "priorities". But there is a nursing shortage, so basically the power is in your hands once you have "RN" behind your name. That's all they are looking for, is a body with an RN.

However, if you are interesting in management/adminstration and not the bedside, that's different. Most of nursing adminstration is BSN or MSN prepared.

Good luck.

alk3rainbow · Feb 16, 2004

If you already have a bachelors degree, you can usually get into a nursing masters program. You may have to take a few extra classes, but you will leave school with a masters in nursing and that should be invaluable.

fulwood · Feb 16, 2004

[You have to decide as stated that if you are interested down road in management that a BSN is probably best choice but there some nures on this obard who are managers that have ASNs. This topic been discussed many time search archives. I will grduate in December with degree and then I intent to go for accelerated BSN. Whichever program I am accepted into is where I will go. I live in Arizona but want to move. I will be selling my houes so I will have a nest egg whilst going thru accelerated program. Good luck. There are many pros and cons for both. ASN less expensive than BSN. Accelerated BSN expensive but you get into workforce sooner.

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 16, 2004

i would go for the BSN if i could afford to and had access to one.

SickleMoon · Feb 16, 2004

I had made up my mind that all I needed was the ASN, but when I actually sat down and compared the requirements for a BSN and ASN side-by-side, and then looked at what course work I'd already done for my previous degree, I found that the only real difference time and money-wise between the BSN and ASN was two courses. Two courses! I thought that in the grand scheme of things, that was nothing . So I went ahead and did it all at once (I knew that for me, personally, once I got out of school I wouldn't be going back anytime soon for those extra courses to get the BSN after the ASN--made much more sense to just go for the BSN). I have no regrets--the hospital I currently work for couldn't care less if a bedside RN has a BSN or not, but they're VERY picky about management having them. So in a few years when I'm ready to leave bedside nursing I'm already set.

Kind of a long reply to just say "Go for it!" If you've already got a bachelor's the BSN may not be such a long reach, and it's probably going to pay off in future for you. The key is, find out ahead of time what coursework from your previous degree will be accepted by your nursing program. If they get picky about some lower level undergrad stuff, like sociology or humanities, remember that you can CLEP a lot of the basic requirements.

Good luck!

AccelBSN04 · Feb 17, 2004

It sounds like everyone is recommeding the BSN route, and I'm going to add to the list. I too already had a BS and work experience when I decided I wanted to be a nurse. The logical choice for me was to pursue another BS degree. Luckily, I found an accelerated program which has allowed me to complete my BSN degree in 15 months instead of 2 years (actually my program is only 1 semester less than the generic program, but we go straight through the summers). Even if I didn't have the option of an accelerated program, I would've chosen the 2 year generic BSN. I just couldn't justify getting an ADN when I already had a 4 year degree. But that's just me. Nonetheless, I think it would serve your purposes much more to get a BSN if you intend to go the mgmt route.

orrnlori, RN · Feb 17, 2004

You need to look at how much of your B commerce will transfer to the BSN. Much of it might, but much of it might not since it is a business degree and nursing programs like to consider themselves arts based. Believe me I've been looking all over the country for distance degree and I've looked at many many programs. A BA will transfer the easiest to a BSN. Business degrees are harder to swing over. Just take your time. I found it easier to swing my AAS credits to a BS in Individuallized Studies via testing and then go for a MSN using that with my AAS RN. Actual classes will be only the MSN classes, everything else just testing out.

janiece2003 · Sep 18, 2007

AccelBSN04 what school did you attend that was 15 months?