second degree BSN, ADN or direct entry MSN

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Hi everyone. This is my first time posting. I have been mulling over the correct decision for my situation. I have a B.S. in languages from a fairly prestigious university. I have completed the prereq sciences and have just applied to our local ADN program. I will receive notification of acceptance or rejection in about a month. With so many online programs out there, I'm wondering if it might not be better to pursue a second bachelor's BSN accelerated program, a direct entry MSN or stay put. If I don't get into our program I don't know whether to consider my other ideas. I am an older student and would like to enter the work force as an RN as soon as possible.

Thank you all for any thoughts or opinions you might have.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

I would look into the rules of your state. In VA I know that if you have a bachelor's degree, and then attend an ADN program--- you are considered to have a BSN (at least that was the rule 4 years ago when I started school). This is why many of the community colleges were very competitive to get into.

If this is not the case, I would go ahead and do the accelerated BSN program. Just my personal opinion though. Any way to get into nursing is good--I love being a nurse, I hope you will too :heartbeat

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Specializes in ICU, Informatics.

The answer depends on a few things.

1) What are your career goals?

-If you want to work in a hospital your resume will be stronger if you have a BSN or MSN. Where I currently work ONLY BSN prepared new grads are being hired. Some places are less strict, some accept ADNs and others will accept ADNs if they have a degree in a different field.

-Areas such as school nurse and community health also usually require a BSN.

-If teaching is your goal you will be best fit with an MSN, so your quickest route would be a direct entry MSN program. Same goes for NP (although most people suggest/require bedside experience).

-If you want to work in a nursing home or a clinic I would suggest finding the quickest, cheapest, accredited online degree. At the end of the day what matters most is if you are licensed, not where you went to school.

-It has been my experience that ADN programs are MUCH more difficult than BSN programs, yes it's true! I went through an ADN prog. and an on-line RN-BSN prog. (taking the same classes as the conventional BSN students) and I found the BSN prog to be much more LEARNING based compared to the TEST PREPARATION based ADN program.

2) What is your money situation?

-ADN programs are almost always MUCH less expensive than BSN programs (~$10,000 vs ~$30,000). But since you already have a degree you could probably find a prog. that is fairly inexpensive. If you have any inclination of some day getting your MSN, you would save a lot of money by just doing it up front.

3) Time consideration.

-You say you want to get into the profession quickly. I've seen accelerated BSN programs advertised that claim they only take 1-1.5 years to complete. Are they the best education?...maybe not, but if you are a self motivated learner you will be able to make up the difference as far a theory is concerned.

-Where the rubber meets the road is the clinical experience. Your readiness for practice and your job prospects are highly influenced by the amount of clinical hours in the program. For example, one of the schools around here has their students spend 4-6 months straight in their final term on one unit in the hospital. ALL of these students get jobs if they want them (unless they just make a bad impression).

Really there are a lot of things to run through a matrix to figure out what works best for you. I would strongly consider not doing the ADN program in general. But all areas/situations are unique so I would look for local input.

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Thanks very much for your input. I will research the situation in my state, Rhode Island.

Here's hoping all comes to fruition. Everything is theory right now!

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I am also glad that you gave such a studied answer, Stephen. There are indeed many factors to consider. I will approach it systematically.

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The bigger picture, though, is how do I stop obsessing on this whole subject. I'm causing myself a lot of needless anxiety. If I never get accepted anywhere, it really shouldn't matter. I'm married to a nice guy who is gainfully employed and I have three great children, on their way out of the nest. I have other things going for me. I play violin, quasi professionally, and speak three languages. So why is this nursing thing so important to me? Why the need to achieve at this stage in my life? I'm feeling as though I will be disappointed and will deem myself a failure and loser if this nursing project does not pan out. Intellectually, I can analyze the healthy way to approach this, but I can't get my feelings to follow. Help someone before I cause myself more agita!

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Specializes in Medical-surgical nursing.

"Intellectually, I can analyze the healthy way to approach this, but I can't get my feelings to follow."

The heart wants what the heart wants. Best of luck to you! :redbeathe:nurse::redbeathe

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just follow your heart, you will find solution for the undetermined equation in your mind, I have encounter same situation and decide to go for something better or higher, like -- a PhD degree in my original field. :):yeah::redbeathe

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