Unemployed and considering RN to BSN bridge, but not sure how to proceed

Prudi · Sep 26, 2013

Rad 10,

I recently found myself in similar situation. I am an experienced ASN, RN, 12 years, plus another 10+ years in the medical field as a Paramedic, Dialysis Technician, and as an ED Tech. Yet this past May I left a job at a Residential Treatment Facility for Neurological and Neuro-Behavioral patients, due to the level of aggressive behaviors many of the residents displayed and without the appropriate type and number of staff, and lack of facility resources, numerous staff members were getting seriously hurt, including myself.

As you can probably tell from my years of experience, I am not a spring chicken anymore and I was concerned that if I remained in that job and continued to receive injuries, I could end up permanently disabled. So I started looking for jobs three months before I left, and now another 4 months later, I still have not found a new job. I have wanted to get my BSN for the last few years, yet it seemed like I never really had the time. Therefore, I figured since I now had time on my hands, I might as well use it to pursue my degree. I have noticed as I have applied for jobs, here in my state anyways, that the demand for BSN vs ADN/ASN, is growing rapidly and if you have read any Nursing Journals or online articles, you will probably see that there is a huge push on for all RNs to become BSNs all over the country. So to answer your question, yes, definitely, getting your degree would help you to become more marketable in your career.

I am currently attending Colorado Technical University's online program, and yes I did have to apply for loans and grants to pay for it, but what I have received in return, is an accelerated program of study, each "semester" or term lasts only 5 weeks, and despite having started in July of this year, my expected graduation date is December of 2014, so roughly only 18 months to complete the program.

Now I am not saying you should go to CTU. Research various colleges that appeal to you on some level and contact their Admissions Dept. and see if they will let you audit a class. One, to see what they expect of the students in a class and two, to see if that particular school is right for you. The other important question to ask is, do they provide Career Counseling service to their students at all levels, not just those on the verge of graduation. My school does this and has helped me tremendously by showing me how to rework my resume to highlight the experience I have and how it applies to the job I am applying for. They are also helping me to practice writing cover letters and my interviewing skills.

Other areas to consider are joining your state and national nursing association, if you can afford it, many employers look for these memberships when considering an applicant, also there is a professional networking site known as Linked In, here is the link, World's Largest Professional Network | LinkedIn, it is free to join at the basic level, but even at that level you can network and connect with people you may know from school or at the facilities you may want to apply to. Explain your situation and ask for advice. If you manage to find schoolmates that have found jobs, ask them what they did, how they set up their resume/cover letter and how they interviewed. If you can find people that work for the same facility you are attempting to apply to, ask them for advice, find out who is the person that will actually be seeing your resume first and address you resume, application or cover letter directly to that person, that way you know it will end up in their hands.

I could go on with more Ideas, but I see this is getting pretty long, so I will try to stop here but there is one more link I would like to give you, it is to a resume site that has been very effective for many people. They give you samples of resumes based on experience and career field, and will review and comment on your resume, either the one you currently use or if you chose to create a new one, they will go over it and show you areas for possible improvement. This is their link https://www.optimalresume.com/, you may want to check and see if the school you graduated from has an account with this company, my college does and it helps with my converations with my Career Coach.

One last suggestion, go back to your former school, see if they have a Career Services Dept. and ask them for help, and look for your former instructors, particularly those that you got along with or that you found especially helpful during your classes or clinicals, on Linked In and ask them for advice too. However, most importantly, I would say yes, go back to school, wherever and however you feel the most comfortable and start on you BSN. Like I said , I can offer you more advice based on the advice given to me, and if you are interested, please feel free to contact me directly.

Best of luck on on your search,

Prudi

PMFB-RN, RN · Sep 26, 2013

I can not imagine what you were thinking waiting so long to take the NCLEX. That was a huge mistake. I could easily see why that would raise huge red flags with a potential employer.

In order to set yourself apart you should considering doing an RN to MSN instead of BSN.