I am hoping to get some advice on what is seemingly the most important decision of my life right now :)
I have been accepted to an Accelerated BSN program in a great American city 3,000 miles from where I live now. The opportunity is very exciting, but requires taking out some real loans. My biggest fear attending this program out-of-state is that I won't find a job quickly after graduation, be saddled with debt, and have no network.
The only concrete healthcare experience I have right now is an EMT (Basic) license which I received one week ago. I am applying for open positions as an ED Tech/ EMT in my area.
My dilemma is: If I get an ED Tech or EMT job, should I stay in my area and get 6-12 months of healthcare experience with the hope that it will enhance my future job prospects when I finally complete an aBSN program 2 years from now? OR, will a BSN from an aBSN program be enough to land a job when I complete the program in 1 year.
Basically, stay and get experience at lower level and re-apply to local aBSN program ORgo to the big city far away and get my BSN now and hope to be working as RN by next fall.
I would love to hear from people in similar situations or who went far away for nursing school and whoever has any input.
All nurses is such a great resource, I thank you all for your consideration and advice.
A BSN in one year?? That seems illogical to me. Pacing four years of courses into one year....how is that possible??? How would it be possible for you to learn all you need to learn?? Is the school accredited? Please gather more information before you go there.
It is the fact that the first 2 years is general education which the school gives you credit for since you have completed those credits through your first degree. The nursing classes are in a compressed semester like they would be during a summer session (5-6 weeks). Would you feel that someone that took A&P over the summer had less material to learn than a student that took it during a regular semester? I went through a 15 month ABSN program (Summer/Fall/Spring/Summer) and 50% of my cohort passed NCLEX at 75 questions.
However, I do feel like getting a start in for my ultimate career goals in Travel Medicine. Not travel nursing, but Travel medicine. (
Do you mean working as an RN in a travel medicine clinic? Just wondering if I understand you correctly...obviously can't practice travel medicine or any medicine as an RN.
I went to school in WI, in a city of 64k in the middle of a rural area with loooooots of farmland. We had a travel medicine practice in one of the clinic systems (I spent a day of clinicals there.)
My thought is you need to carefully weigh the pros and cons. The job prospects may be broader in a bigger city, but do you want to gamble with the possibility of no job? Or a job in one of the less "glamorous," (not less important!) lower paid specialties? Bigger cities have bigger competition.
COL is generally higher, and have you saved enough to not need to work while in your program? Many of us work during nursing school, but ABSN programs are a whole different animal. Actually my husband started his MBA work in a 1 yr accelerated program, but then I had a 2nd baby and he needed to get a job...he wasn't able to continue in the accelerated program and spun out into the traditional one. I imagine going from non-nursing to BSN in one year, is a heckuva lot harder than going from a BS in finance to an MBA in one year.
You guys are great. I hope to give back sound advice when I am in a position and asked to give it.
Swimmingfever00, thank you, staying and working/ gaining healthcare experience is undeniably the solid plan. I'm glad to hear it worked well for you.
And bluebird, thank you too, working as an EMT would be better than nothing -but the opportunities seem to actually take me down a different path (I respect those first responders, but my area is looking for EMTs who want to be firefighters too. Thats a step in a different direction.)
Either way, attending an aBSN program will be my path into Nursing and I'm very excited. I know of many successful nurses who pursed this course of action, It seems to boil down to doing exceptional academically/ at clinicals, making connections/ using networks, luck and being in the right place at the right time - soon I am going to keep mind to task and keep moving forward!
Lastly, Here.I.Stand, I definitely want to be involved in Travel Medicine. Not practicing of course =] but involved. Administering vaccines in a clinic may not sound ambitious, but I want to work with travelers, tropical diseases, and global health issues.
Thanks all of your input - Going back to school for Nursing is a strategic process and reading your opinions and stories has been informative.
I think it makes more sense to head straight into the aBSN program, but that's mainly because new BSN grads in my city don't really struggle to find jobs in acute care. What city/area is your program in? Do you plan on looking for jobs in that area after you graduate? That may also help us give you some advice.
Is it possible to work a shift a week as an ED tech, or will the curriculum in the accelerated program be too strenuous?
I am hoping to get some advice on what is seemingly the most important decision of my life right now
My story is similar and may give you a different point of view. I don't know where you're from or where you were considering going, but here is what I did. I am from Southern California, and graduated with a degree in Human Physiology in Dec. 2013. I knew immediately I wanted to go to nursing school (ABSN), but my GPA was mediocre and with the competiveness in California, was deemed almost impossible to get in. So I started my pre-reqs and at the same time obtained my EMT-B. As I continued my pre-reqs I started to applying to less competitive schools in other states, I also got a job as a Medical Assistant and became a volunteer firefighter/EMT. I finished my pre-reqs in September, and just worked for a few months as I applied. I found a program that I got into which was a 12-month ASBN and started upcoming May 2015. Because I got in, and because it started and finished the soonest, I decided to just get it done, and relocate 2,100 miles away to Louisville, KY. It wasn't an easy decision, but I wanted to begin my career and just get the schooling out of the way, not dilly-dally as an EMT/MA with a Bachelors making not enough money to support myself. I left my family and my girlfriend of 5 years, but its 12 months, and I'll be done this May (in 38 days!) and I am so glad I made the decision. Overall I worked as an MA for 7 months and an EMT/FF for 6. Yes the experience was good and it was nice to get patient care but it also didn't translate well to what nursing is and I don't think the school I got into cared. I am going to be an ER nurse so it's nice to have the EMT thing but most just do transports and simple BLS care which really won't help skill wise, but may make you more comfortable. If you want to be an ER nurse then having a job as an ED tech would be more beneficial. But your GOAL is nursing, so wasting 6 months to work as an EMT seems silly to me, go to your goal. My advise is just get it done and do what you have to do. I moved in with another student who was already from the area so my rent is dirt cheap and no lease, because I relocated so quickly and because you'll be so busy, I just brought the essentials, and keep it cheap. Yes the cost for school is expensive, but all college is, especially accelerated. You're getting another bachelors degree in 1 year, so you're paying for a 2+ year education, I kind of think of it as a privilege that you have to pay for.
FatsWaller, thanks for sharing. Your story is really validating for what I'm doing. Its definitely a risk, but I do believe opportunity is on the other side. Even though you went from an area of high competitiveness to low (and I might be doing the opposite). Getting the credentials, making connections during the program, and casting a wide geographic net for a new grad nurse job/nurse residency are my focuses. Good luck to you, and thanks again.
NICU Guy, BSN, RN
4,161 Posts
It is the fact that the first 2 years is general education which the school gives you credit for since you have completed those credits through your first degree. The nursing classes are in a compressed semester like they would be during a summer session (5-6 weeks). Would you feel that someone that took A&P over the summer had less material to learn than a student that took it during a regular semester? I went through a 15 month ABSN program (Summer/Fall/Spring/Summer) and 50% of my cohort passed NCLEX at 75 questions.