Thinking of going back to school

[WannabeRNinGA]

Hi! I live near the FL/GA border and I am considering a career change. I have a BA in Business and an AS in Legal Studies. I currently work as a paralegal and would love to go back to school to become an RN. I have read that there are accelerated programs wherein I can earn a BSN in a couple of years since I already have a non-nursing BA. I would need to take most, if not all, of my classes online as I will have to continue to work FT while I make this transition to better myself. I understand the importance of making sure the program is accredited as well. I am having trouble finding information on the best way to approach this and would love to hear any input from others in the medical community. I definitely want the BSN and I want to make sure that I am making the right decisions to set myself up for an easy (as easy as possible) transition for success. Thanks!

[Thanksforthedonuts, MSN, APRN]

You will not find a nursing program (ASN, BSN, or ABSN) entirely online. You will have a clinical and lab portion that are required in person. In general clinical portion is not flexible to your own schedule... they tell you your dates and you GO. Part of that has to do with the institution that they contract with.

Typically ABSN program are so rigorous that most have a hard time keeping up with work on the side. I have heard very few who managed to do both, especially when most jobs aren't willing to remain flexible to your scheduling needs for 2+ years.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Also, your prior degrees likely did not include the science courses prerequisite to nursing (anatomy, chemistry, microbiology) and most programs require these courses to be completed BEFORE applying to the clinical part of the program.

Thanksforthedonuts is correct about the clinical part- and keep in mind that the clinical portions of the program involve hundreds of hours- which must be completed in person and at the time/ place the university specifies.

Just want you to have all the info you need to make an informed decision. I also highly recommend that career changers like yourself spend a shift or two shadowing an RN. That means if they don't sit/ eat/ pee for 12 hours (and it's entirely possible that they don't) - you don't either. See if you even know/ like what the job entails before heading down the path.

Good luck,

[WannabeRNinGA]

Actually, I did take a lot of science courses initially because I did want to go into nursing early on. But I was dissuaded by my father, who has worked in Healthcare my entire life, including as an RN for about 20 years. He didn't want me to have to deal with some of the bureaucracy and administrative hassles, so he encouraged me to work in the legal field instead.... wrong! He isn't really being supportive of my wanting to change careers, and he worked his way up from Paramedic in the 70s > RN in the 80s and 90s > to finally becoming a PA-C in the late 90s and says that things are so different now that he isn't really much of a help.