Thinking of going back to nursing school....

[oneflyLPN]

Hi everyone! I'm ready to go back to college soon and finish my bachelor's degree, but I have a few questions about the LPN-ADN/BSN route. Let me give you guys some background info about me first. I entered nursing school after completing 2 years toward a BA in Business at a 4-year university. I graduated my prgoram in 2008 and have been an LPN for 2 years, but only gained experience in psychiatric nursing for about a year when I left the facility due to poor nursing administration and being asked to do things that could have jeopardized my licensure. The economy was already bad and with my area (I'm in DE-PA) being so oversaturated with nurses, I've been unable to find another nursing gig since last year as an LPN.

So now I'm considering the LPN-BSN but I'm seeing so many new grads say they're having just as hard a time finding jobs due to lack of experience. I'm wondering if those of you who haven't been LPNs that long and went back for your ADN or BSN, are/did you have difficulty finding a job after graduation?

My second concern is about nursing school in general. I hated almost everything about nursing school and all the nonsense we were made to endure, and I vowed to never come back until things changed. (Well we see how long that's lasted, lol). Anyway, I want to know if the BSN programs are any less stressful, less life consuming, etc. I'm a single girl with no kids so I won't have the family/home life thing to worry about and most of my friends don't live in the same state as me, so spending time with them won't really be a biggie either. But I'm not really excited about the fact that I may not have a life and get some more of the college experience (joining clubs/orgs, making lifelong friends/networks, impromptu road trips, exploring the city on weekends) I missed out on when I left my first university. Are these things I'm going to give up once again while pursuing a BSN? And am I going to be subjected to all the excessive anxiety of my fellow classmates over every test/lab/clinical and the constant sorority style pledging/induction rights/rules by my instructors?

[Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN]

Hey onefly! Do you plan to stay in psych nursing? I'm asking because I'm currently in an LPN/BSN bridge program. I've been working in hospice for the past 10 years. I'm planning to stay with my current employer after graduation. See if your employer will work around your school schedule. My employer is awesome...I'm working 16 hrs/wk and get to keep my bennies. Good luck!

[oneflyLPN]

Hi Hospice Nurse! No I don't plan on staying in psych. I need more hands on then psych is able to provide, although I'd like to work in an eating disorders setting like Renfrew Center. And I'm not worried about the work schedule. I'll either be going to a school out of state if they offer me a full tuition scholarship or living with my godbrother while I finish and he works, and then we'll switch places with me working so he can finish his degree too.

[isshin]

no kidding nursing school sucks, seems they actively try to make you fail, like you I vowed never to go back, but I'll be there in the winter and I'm sure it still sucks.