Teacher turning to Nursing Career

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Aug 2, 2011

Hi Everyone,
I've been an elementary school teacher for the past 5 years and I'm seriously considering a career change to nursing. I was thinking of taking a CNA class and trying to find employment in a hospital before entering an accelerated BSN program in 2012. I've been searching all over the internet and it seems as though all of the cna programs in the phila area are targeted to LTC.
I'd just like to know from nurses who work in hospitals:
1) Are there any hospital based cna programs in phila or the surrounding counties?
2) How challenging is it to get hired as a new cna in a hospital?
3) What programs do you know of that have a good reputation?
Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated and respected.
Thanks in advance!

Here's my 2 cents.

Your plan to get your CNA cert and work in a hospital is a good one though I will caution you that the job market for nurses, aides and techs in many parts of PA and specifically in the Phila area, is quite challenging. Most of my 2010 graduating class from a well-respected CC nursing program in the Phila area have been unable to find jobs. Of those who did however, most were already working as CNA's or PCT's at the hospitals that hired them as RN's. You're correct that LTC facilities employ most of the CNA's but hospitals also employ significant numbers, though not nearly as many as before the recession.

I also think that your plan to get your BSN is wise. The trend in nursing overall and specifically in the Phila area, is to hire only BSN's. This is not a knock on associate degree nurses (I'm one) but simply an acknowledgment of the new reality in the job market. Prior to the recession, most postings for RN's either made no mention of the BSN or stated "BSN preferred". Most now seem to state "BSN required" - even for RN positions in nursing homes.

Getting your BSN through an accelerated program may not be the quickest and probably won't be the least expensive route into nursing however. You may want to consider an alternative approach which would be to get your ADN through your local CC and then once you've passed the NCLEX and become an RN, enroll in an online RN-to-BSN program. The cost of your ADN at a CC will be in the $5 to $6k range and there are a number of well-regarded on-line RN-BSN programs that are well under $10k. In addition there are number of additional advantages to this route over and above any cost savings. Unlike an accelerated BSN program, you can do this on part-time basis and keep your classroom job. You may also be eligible to sit for the CNA exam - most CC nursing programs will qualify you for this after completing your first semester.

A final word of caution: Be certain that you really want to go into nursing. The job market for new RN's in the Phila area is really, really tight. There are many schools and programs in the area and they produce far more new nurses than the anemic economy can absorb. I'll spare you the really gory details (I've looked pretty deeply into the data on this) but you need to be aware that there on average, there are over 25 newly graduated RN's competing for every new nursing job. Those are tough odds but those numbers don't even take into account experienced RN's who are also competing for those jobs.

You should also consider some of the other factors that will be part of a move to nursing. These include loss of vacation time, the need to do shift work and loss of retirement and possibly health benefits. For the first several years at least, you are likely to work many undesirable shifts (evenings, weekends, holidays) and will have very little vacation time (probably no more than 2 weeks). This is certainly a change from teaching. In my experience - and I have several friends and family members who are teachers - the benefits provided by most health care companies are far inferior to those for most teachers. This means possibly higher out-of-pocket costs coupled with inferior coverage. And unlike most teachers, most nurses do not get medical benefits upon retirement. While your pension as a teacher will not let you live like royalty in you retirement years, consider that you are less likely to get a pension as an RN, and if you do it will likely be far less generous than those for teachers. Absent a reasonable pension, you are going to need to put aside a considerable portion of your salary, probably something at least 15% of your pre-tax income. The bottom line is that any increase in income that may experience as an RN is likely to be largely offset by these factors. This is stuff that the nursing school recruiters should be telling prospective students but don't, for obvious reasons.

None of this is meant to discourage you from nursing, only to get you to be realistic. So if, after all of this, you're still interested in becoming an RN, and if cost is not an issue, both Penn and Villanova have good RN programs, though I don't know if either has an accelerated second-degree program. While the programs themselves are probably not appreciably superior to most others in the region, both schools are nationally known, which may make finding a job somewhat easier. I know that Jeff has both accelerated RN-BSN and RN-MSN programs and they are another highly-regarded institution. If you decide to go the ADN route, DCCC (I'm an alum) has a very good program though admission is quite competitive.

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you need more info.