Travel nurse? NP? DNP? So many choices! Help!

[jallen5]

I am just getting into nursing school, but this is a career that I am choosing at age 39 with nearly grown children, and I am overwhelmed at the variety of choices for nurses. I already have an BSA, and at first I thought I wanted to be an NP or administrator, but that was before I had ever heard of travel nursing (wow!) and now I hear that the NP is going to be required to be a DNP, which sounds great, but does that mean I still need to get a master's degree? If I went into travel nursing, would I be better off staying an RN? What kind of RN should I be? There is just too much to think of and I hate having things so up in the air. I appreciate any thoughts on the subject. Thank you!

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

...perhaps doing pre-reqs and getting into a 11-16 month duration accelerated BSN program for 2nd degree students.

You can then get experience.. find out what you like / dislike then apply to a DNP program (most will work for BSN to DNP)

become a travel nurse (you need a bit of exp prior to this anyhow)

or become something else...

or move within the realm of RN into new areas

[jallen5]

Thanks for the reply. The abundance of options is just overwhelming.

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

also - you could do a local and inexpensive ADN at this time... it might seem counter intuitive.. but you can then do a DNP or MSN in the future - since you already have a previous bachelors... some require a few additional courses to transition. I would say don't do a masters or doctorate simply because it is the next typical degree progression. Do what provides you the most flexility of future jobs, is economically feasible and supports your lifestyle.

v/r