In need of advice pls!

[rn_mama2]

Hey allnurses community! I am not a new member here rather, I could not remember my password and wanted to make a new user name now that I am no longer a nursing student. I am in need of advice for my situation.

I've had my RN license for 2 years this past July. I have limited experience; 4 months in LTC and 1 year and 4 months on a med/surg/tele unit. I knew going into nursing that I wanted to work in Labor and delivery. However in my area ( SE PA) BSN nurses are required and the ASN nursing degree is fading out. I had every inclination to go ahead with my BSN, however the sudden passing of my dad last year ( same time I was newly hired on med/surg) took a toll on me and I wanted to focus on my job and family. Fast forward to a year later and I am looking to transition out of med/surg. I am more than halfway to my BSN degree and was told abruptly that I owe $3000 OOP to the university before I can start classes again. Unfortunately, I do not have that kind of cash in my back pocket and it will take me a while to pay that off.

During this time, I have been trying to figure out what to do. I have come to the ultimate conclusion that I want to ultimately be a WHNP. With this being my goal I am trying to look for a position within OB-GYN nursing that will help me with the experience I need to get toward my goal.

I am torn because again I need a BSN degree to gain experience in my desired field yet I am not sure if I should goto a different school and bypass a BSN degree and focus on an ASN to MSN bridge.

Thank you for taking the time to read!

[Stephers85]

First, I am sorry to hear of your father's recent passing. It sounds like you might have a couple of options. You could check to see if your school has a payment plan, I was able to pay for my MSN program as I went via a payment plan, which broke up the tuition into 5 payments over the semester (I already had my BSN). It was a lifesaver as I didn't have to take out loans for my MSN! A lot of hospitals are transitioning to some sort of Magnet status or Pathway to Excellence which requires a certain percentage of their nursing staff to hold BSNs, that said, many have a deadline to be enrolled in a BSN program (not typically to have obtained the BSN by that deadline). Additionally, many hospitals offer some sort of tuition reimbursement for full-time and sometimes part-time employees (not usually PRNs unfortunately) which could off set some of the costs of your education.

I would definitely see if you could stick out a year in your med-surg position and see about cross-training in mother-baby if your hospital has that department. The med-surg will definitely serve you well regardless of the department you end up in. I had been working at my hospital for about 2 years and left for a short bit and returned as a float pool/PRN employee. My background was in ER, but I was able to be able to cross train into psych, which I fell in love with. It might be a good foot-in-the-door opportunity for you. I don't have any background with OBGYN, but I would suggest gaining nursing experience in it first before fully investing in a WHNP program, especially if your interest in mom/baby is based on experiences in nursing school. Our interests can certainly change over time and our real life expectations might not match up to our brief experiences in nursing school. Just my two cents, best wishes to you in your future endeavors! :)