Thinking about going back to school. Thoughts?

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · May 24, 2018

There's a third option. Stay in your current role for another year or two, while aggressively paying off that debt THEN aggressively saving. You'll then be able to go to school without incurring debt if you time things right tuition reimbursement-wise.

llg, PhD, RN · May 24, 2018

I agree. Delay a little. You haven't even been in the same job for a full year yet! You've had 2 jobs over the past year. Also, while you are "leaning" in a certain career direction, you don't sound like you have firm handle on the type of nursing you want to do for the long term (-- which is totally normal for someone who is so new and inexperienced in nursing.)

So ... delay a little (not forever). Get some solid experience and become competent as a staff nurse so that you have a firm foundation. Look around a little and decide what career path is right for you. It sounds like you have already done some good thinking about that topic, but it also sounds like you could use a little more time to consider the wide variety of nursing specialties and roles out there. (Do you want to be a rehab specialist? Or work in intensive care? Or what?)

That student loan from your undergraduate is not very big. Get rid of it quickly before it accrues much interest. Once it is paid off, keep making the payment to yourself to save up some money for grad school. With your tuition benefits from work + a little savings ... + a little more work experience .... you should be in really good shape.

JKL33 · May 24, 2018

Agree. ^

You know your other expenses and we don't, but unless there are other major financial things going on you should be able to knock out that $10K in no time. Whatever you do, seriously consider not paying only $100/month on it.

For an example, let's say your interest on this is 8%. At $100/mo you will be paying on that until 2032, and will pay over $16K. If you pay $500/month it'll be gone in early 2020 (!!) and you will have paid ~$750 in interest. This is how people rob themselves on all sorts of things, such as agreeing to certain "affordable" per-month car payments rather than looking at the big picture.

Some would say you're in an enviable position from which to knock out the debt - because you like your job! :)

Good luck ~

Dd04321 · May 24, 2018

Thanks guys! I wasn't planning on going back immediately. I'm thinking about a year or more from now.

Dd04321 · May 24, 2018

And that's because I do want to get the good solid foundation before I go back to school. I'm just trying to think ahead and figure out the smartest way to do it so that I can come out with minimal debt.

Dranger · May 24, 2018

Hi everyone!
As the title says, I'm thinking about going back to school. I graduated with my BSN in May of 2017 and have been working full time since. I worked in post-op Ortho with Med Surg overflow and now I'm working full time in an acute inpatient rehab. I absolutely love rehab. All of my nursing experience is with the adult population.
I want to go back and get my MSN. I'm leaning towards doing the ACNP route because I have no experience working with children and do not desire to treat that population. Don't get me wrong, I love kiddos and want my own in the future, but I just don't have an interest in pediatrics or anything like that. Which is why I don't really want to do FNP, unless I can get in somewhere that only sees adults.
I'm also looking at the financial aspect of things. I currently have $10k in student loan debt from my BSN that I have started paying on, and my payments are $102 a month. The hospital I work at will pay up to $5,250 a year in educational reimbursement. I want to avoid going into any more debt if at all possible, but in order to do that I would have to hope I get some scholarships and completely wipe out my savings account and start over.
Do you guys think I should take out some smalls loans and utilize my hospital's reimbursement and apply for scholarships to help me, or do you think I should use the hospital's reimbursement and my savings to pay for school?

I am a soon to be ACNP grad and here is my 2 cents. Don't do it.

With the rate NP schools are pumping out grads salaries and quality job positions will decline. Ask any floor at any hospital and half the RNs are either in NP school or strongly considering it. We WILL hit a bubble in the next year and new data shows saturation in a large amount of states vs need. Check out the NP forums for more depressing news.

You won't make a ton more as a NP because salaries are dropping, not increasing. You'll see new NPs taking 85k jobs out of school, that is simply not worth it for the amount of work you do