which road to take

Thank you that is good advice to know what direction I want to go before I being. Save a lot of time and heart ache if in the end I supposed.

My school, and yes it's an actual state university, has an option for associate's degree bearers to jump straight into a master's pathway, and in doing so you take select classes along the way that incidentally yield a bachelor's degree and then the final master's. I realize this may not sense by the way I articulated it, but consider it this way. You save time and money on classes rather than duplicating them. Whereas a BSN program would require a course in research methods and public/community health, a MSN program would require a course in research methods and public or community health as well. In the program I'm referring to, although I'm not in it as I already held two bachelor's degrees, one would take those courses only one time. Others would work similarly.

A lot of schools offer an RN-MSN program. Most of them would get you a BSN and an MSN; others just an MSN. What do you want to do with a graduate degree? You can be a clinician (i.e. CRNA, NP, CNM), an educator, or get an MSN in Management. I would decide what you want to do with the degree first, and then look at programs. The great thing about nursing is that you have so many options! I have an MSN in nursing education and currently have 3 jobs! I work full time for an online university, teach NCLEX prep classes for new graduates for a large test prep company, and am currently editing a new nursing med-surg textbook for a large publishing company. And that's just with a Masters degree. With a doctorate, you can do even more. I am currently looking at doctorate programs but probably will not start until next year for that very reason: I don't know what I want to do yet (although I am leaning towards a DNP as a clinician, and will still teach). Good luck in your search!

What school is this? I have honestly thought of going thst route because then I wouldnt be duplicating parts of my education.

I do need to decide what I would want to do but I am leaning towards an NP.

Thanks everyone for the posts and the advise much appreciated