What to do after ADN?

tero · Jan 11, 2015

You write " As a retired teacher, the thought of being able to combine teaching and nursing is very appealing to me."

I live in Wisconsin and there is a huge shortage of nursing teachers. If you retire with even a bachelor's degree and some years of experience, they will hire you to teach at some level. So, that's an option if you want to only semi-retire.

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · Jan 11, 2015

I would say that your decision should in part be determined by how long you intend to work. If you go into teaching after retiring from floor nursing your years of employment may very well make it worth the added expense of the higher degree. If on the other hand you plan to fully retire at a younger age it may not be worth it for you to take on a ton of extra debt. That personally is my reason for not furthering my education at this point. I too am almost 50 and I wouldn't make enough extra money from an advanced degree for it to pay for itself before I retire.

I'd like to fully retire at 65, so in 17 years (Lordy that seems like a long time!). I only owe a few thousand dollars from my ADN (which will be paid off in the next 6 months) and I won't owe much for my BSN since the hospital offers an education allowance every year. But yes, I wonder if the time, effort, and expense is worth going for anything higher than that.

klone, MSN, RN · Jan 11, 2015

Not all RN - MSN programs award the BSN. After I get my ADN I was looking into getting my CNM, Frontier had a distance RN to CNM program, but does not award a BSN

I would highly recommend getting your BSN first, then enrolling at Frontier (rather than doing the bridge program). It will be cheaper and possibly faster, depending upon the program you choose. And, you'll have your BSN.

klone, MSN, RN · Jan 11, 2015

I'd like to fully retire at 65, so in 17 years (Lordy that seems like a long time!). I only owe a few thousand dollars from my ADN (which will be paid off in the next 6 months) and I won't owe much for my BSN since the hospital offers an education allowance every year. But yes, I wonder if the time, effort, and expense is worth going for anything higher than that.

There are many MSN-Education programs out there that won't break the bank. You could get your MSN for well under $20,000, and I imagine your employer would offer some tuition reimbursement.

PMFB-RN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

Why would you do the BSN when you can do a MSN in the same amount if time? I suggest the University of Arizona's ADN to MSN. It's 44 credits and I know a couple nurses who finished in two years or slightly less. It's expensive though.

nursejl1 · Jan 12, 2015

Yup! What PMFB-RN said! There's a shortage of graduate level nurses, so if you have a bachelor's already there are plenty of ADN-MSN bridge programs. Without a master's in education, you will be able to teach clinicals, but not in the classroom environment.

Ozzy84 · Jan 12, 2015

Why would you do the BSN when you can do a MSN in the same amount if time? I suggest the University of Arizona's ADN to MSN. It's 44 credits and I know a couple nurses who finished in two years or slightly less. It's expensive though.

As you said! Super expensive. While there is affordable programs after BSN.. I don't think so she is in rush to get MSN-Ed , as I understood

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

Thank you to everyone who has responded; I truly appreciate the different points of view! I guess I need to figure out what path I'd like to take and go from there. There are so many options!

AlexwoodyRn · Jan 12, 2015

american Sentinel university has a great rn-msn in edu

PMFB-RN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

Yup! What PMFB-RN said! There's a shortage of graduate level nurses, so if you have a bachelor's already there are plenty of ADN-MSN bridge programs. Without a master's in education, you will be able to teach clinicals, but not in the classroom environment.

Just wanted to point out that there is no requirment ot have ANY bachelors degree in order to get a masters degree. The U of A RN to MSN program does not require a bachelors degree in nursing, or anything else, and does not grant a BSN as part of the program.

If the OP already has a bachelors degree in another field she can get a MSN in much less than the 44 credits required by the U of A program.

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · Jan 12, 2015

If the OP already has a bachelors degree in another field she can get a MSN in much less than the 44 credits required by the U of A program.

Unfortunately I don't have a bachelor's degree. I taught early childhood and had my certificate but never finished my degree.

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 12, 2015

I agree with you (the OP) completely that you should wait to decide until after you have a better sense of what type of career you want to have. Good decision.

But I also want to point out a path you may not have thought of: Nursing Professional Development (NPD). NPD is the official name of the specialty that does Staff Development. We do things like .... orient new staff, teach annual safety updates, teach CPR, teach new equipment and procedures, etc. Once you start working in a hospital, you will see that there are a lot of nurses doing education there, keeping the staff up-to-date on the latest developments, helping them transition into new roles, and generally helping them to develop in their careers. It's a role that combines nursing and education -- and it might appeal to you. In most places, a BSN is sufficient to enter the field (and that is all that is required for the NPD certification exam at present)... but to advance beyond the entry-level, an MSN is preferred.

If you want to explore that specialty a bit ... you might want to check out the following resources:

1. The Association of Nurses in Professional Development (ANPD website)

2. The Journal for Nurses in Professional Development (the ANPD journal)

3. Continuing Education in Nursing (another journal)

Welcome to nursing!