Thinking of picking up a minor?

Nursing Students Student Assist

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I am in my first semester of undergraduate studies working toward my BSN and am thinking about adding a minor. It will be a lot of work, but from what I can tell, doable. However I am feeling kind of clueless and I have a lot of questions: What should I minor in? I have always had an interest in sign language and deafness rehabilitation. I also enjoy psychology. But what benefits come from a minor? Is it worth it? What can I do with it? Lastly, how would deciding if and what to minor in be different if I am planning to eventually pursue a graduate degree to become a nurse practitioner (but am not decided on the specialty?) Can I minor in psychology and later go on to become a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner? Like I said I am sort of clueless, and any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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To be completely honest, my minor didn't help me a whole lot. It shows you are a well rounded person and MAY give you an edge with a skill or a specialty, but it doesn't actually qualify you for anything. At my job interview, they were impressed with my minor, but it was one of several things on my resume that showed I was well rounded and had other skills...I would even go so far as to say it held similar weight as my volunteer experience. I don't think it's what got me the job.

If you can do it, go for it (doesn't hurt) but the RN program is extremely demanding. I had a master's in another field before nursing, and I thought nursing couldn't be much harder, but nothing...nothing could have prepared me for how hard nursing school is. See what others say, but it may be better to take on as little as you can academically while in nursing school. Perhaps you can ask the nursing faculty for advice also.

Best of luck to you!

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Slow down a little and take one thing at a time. When you get to nursing school focus on becoming a NURSE. Nursing school is time consuming and deserves your full attention.

To be honest with you, I had classmates with biochemistry degrees, psychology degrees, and mathematics degrees. They held no advantage over me in getting a job as evidenced by me being about the 3rd in line in my entire class to land a position. Some of those with prior degrees have yet to find a position. Maybe they should focus their efforts and shine lights on their nursing school journey and volunteering during nursing school.

Be part of SNA. Volunteer for the ER or local nursing home. Run blood drives. Run flu shot conventions. Be part of red cross. That's the stuff to flaunt... not an extra degree which really only means you sat for a few more hours, read a few more books, and took a few more tests.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I second what everyone else says. But if you're determined, do Spanish. Definitely a resume booster!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I would look at what is already built into your nursing program and add onto that if you want a minor. (Minors are pretty worthless with a BSN actually) Biology is your most likely minor. It would probably take the fewest of your electives up.

If it were me (and it's not)- I'd save those precious electives for something fun, interesting and not too difficult as to boost the GPA.

My nursing programs (AAS/BSN and MSN) had ZERO electives- so take that as you will.

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I second what everyone else says. But if you're determined, do Spanish. Definitely a resume booster!

I was thinking of saying that! :D

OP, I think what StudentofHealing said is spot on. In fact, the only people in my class who had a job advantage were the ones who already were working in healthcare. If I wasn't working in a hospital throughout nursing school, I'd still be looking for a job.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

If you have tons of study time (read: single or at least no kids, minimal to no work commitments, etc.), a foreign language could be good.

Are you considering public health nursing? Large immigrant community(ies) in your area? Studying said group could be good too. If I'd stayed in my hometown and finished my BSN there, and had any interest in PHN, I might have picked up a Hmong Studies minor.

Otherwise, my opinion is that a minor in psychology or a science would be more trouble than it's worth. Nursing school is very time-intensive, especially when you start to throw clinicals into the mix.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

I minored with my BSN. Partly because I HATE history and literature so I didn't want to endure an entire semester of those. Instead I paid out of pocket to take a few from the local community college over a couple of summers. It was fairly cheap ($300 a class) and I was done with the class in a month.

So to keep my scholarship I had to have so many hours each semester. So I already had to take a couple of FACS classes so I decided to fill the gaps with those and wound up minoring there. I was able to take advanced nutrition and some family classes so it was ok. I had actually forgotten I did that until I read this question lol.

It would be nice to go for something more useful like Spanish. After a few classes of that you could probably supplement with a medical spanish book and have a huge edge in the job hunt.

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

I have a BSN with a minor in psychology. Simply put, nobody cares. It doesn't even appear on your diploma. It really has no bearing on my resume, especially since I didn't pursue psychiatric nursing.

Whether you complete a minor or not, being fluent in Spanish will be a huge benefit to you and your patients.

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