What can you do with a BSN if you decide to leave Nursing?

[nikkir386]

I was just curious...I hope to get into a BSN program, but I am concerned about the high burnout rate of nurses. I know that it is a stressful career, and I also know that people usually change their career several times throughout their lives. Well, lets say I become a nurse, work for a while and then decide it's not for me. I'd have a BSN; would I be able to pursue a career in something completely unrelated to healthcare(Like...say, Public Relations or Journalism?)? Or would I have to get another degree? Am I confined to the healthcare field with a BSN? I am just trying to think ahead as best I can, and make well thought out decisions. Although I do hope I wouldn't have to change my career in the future and that Nursing is best for me. :)

[MissLouda]

I think nursing as a career choice has many options. Burnout with nurses is very common but their are many ways around it from what I was told. I am a new graduate and looking for a job but I do know that with your BSN you have the opportunity to do many things in the medical field. You don't have to work acute care, where a lot of the burn out happens. You can choose to do administrative work, management, ect... If you decide you don't want to do nursing or any medical field for that matter, I would think you would be able to use your credits to something you decide more appealing.

I have an auntie who was a nurse and gave it all up to become a successful real estate agent in California. My family thought she was crazy at the time because she had so many student loans to pay off but she ended up bettering herself as a real estate agent than as a nurse... just an example :wink2:

I think nursing is a great career and I look forward to working my dream job. I hope you find your way. I believe it takes a special person to become a nurse and that someone should not go into nursing for the wrong reasons.

Hope that is a little helpful!!!!

[elkpark]

Well, I'm not aware of any other jobs that specifically call for a nursing degree, but there are lots of jobs/occupations for which employers want you to have "a" baccalaureate degree but it doesn't really matter "which one" (a lot of people over the years have gotten psychology undergraduate degrees for this reason -- it's a good "general purpose" BA).

[damrcngrl95]

In my opinion, one of the easiest cross-over fields would be teaching. You could either teach nursing at a community college or teach elementary or secondary school children. A lot of states have alternative education programs to where you can teach and get your teaching license at the same time. You could become a school nurse. I know that if you like to marketing or selling you could be a Pharm Rep. They get paid pretty good for what they do. You might be able to go into some kind of research with a few more classes added to your current degree. These are a few things that I could think of. This is one of the things I concidered when thinking about becoming a nurse. I am leaving the teaching field because of burn out. I love the medical field, science, and math. I wanted a field that I could change jobs, amount of hours, and amount of days. Basically have a lot more flexibility in my career. It seems to me that nursing has a lot of flexibility.

deAnna