What kind of nurse are you?

CANRN, MSN, RN · May 20, 2009

I have not practiced in any of those areas. I have had my ADN for 15 years. I am currently taking classes for my BSN and I will be done in October. It is an online course. All the schools in this area do the BSN completion online. I attend Indiana Wesleyan University and love it. It is Christian based education and the instructors and staff are amazing.

PAERRN20 · May 20, 2009

Online classes can be either legit or shady. It's important to do your research before deciding on a school. I plan on getting a master's degree and I am 99% sure I will be going to online route. I have taken online classes before and love them.

Pros: can do the work anytime day or night, work at your own pace, able to spend time with family while continuing your education, keep your job, don't have to pay for gas/car/parking to get to class. (I really really like online classes! :yeah: )

Cons: have to be self motivated, miss out on face to face time with professor/classmates, sometimes difficult to contact the professors, difficult to work on group projects, the basic computer/internet issues as always.

My advice for you is to get a rough list of schools you would like to attend and then start narrowing it down. I did online classes with a reputable university that has a regular brick and mortar school. That is probably one of the biggest things with online classes. The schools that have online classes as well as brick and mortar schools tend to be more widely accepted- schools like Florida State and Michigan State. Even local state schools and community colleges have online classes which I think would be well accepted. I would stay away from University of Phoenix and the like. This is just my thoughts- I have no experience with these schools. However, they seem gimmicky, over advertised, and I imagine you may be taken less seriously with a degree from a school like this. Hope that helps!

Keepstanding, ASN, RN · May 20, 2009

school nurse :yeah:

praiser :heartbeat

CANRN, MSN, RN · May 20, 2009

Good pros and cons! Your right, having a brick and mortor school is important especially if they have established nursing programs. Indiana Wesleyan Univesity has a wonderful campus in Marion INdiana and outreach locations as well and then the online versions. Some Master programs are not offered online but the Master in Education and Nursing Administration are online for obvious reasons.

The University of Toledo in Ohio, is the closest local school in my area and the nursing portion of the BSN is all online. Electives, if needed, are taken at the school.

I searched for a long time before I chose IWU. I am glad I did. The support is amazing.

PAERRN20 · May 20, 2009

CANRN- I'm curious...what other schools did you consider? IWU was one I was looking at as well. You can PM if you want to.

CANRN, MSN, RN · May 20, 2009

You have a PM

Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN · May 20, 2009

A retired one!!!!! All critical care and ER was what I did before retirement. Sometimes I miss it though. I dream about work about once a week. Mine was a forced medical retirement so I wasn't entirely ready to retire yet. :sniff:

roser13, ASN, RN · May 20, 2009

At first I was a Med/Surg nurse (at age 40 - was a late bloomer). Then I transitioned to an Ambulatory Surgery Center, scrubbing for procedures, admitting, building on knowledge gained on Med/Surg.

Then I became a private RN to an orthopod. Used my knowledge/skills gained in the ASC and my ability to accurately assess patients (gained on the Med/Surg floor) for optimal surgical outcomes.

Went back to an Ambulatory Surgery Center setting, where I utilized my Med/Surg skills, previous ASC knowledge and orthopedic experience to be quite successful in the ASC setting.

Bottom line: ya never know where you'll end up. But you will always know that every experience will be useful and will contribute to your future. That's the beauty of nursing.

travel50 · May 21, 2009

I have been an RN for 26 yrs. Have been in nsg adm for 3+yrs. I didn't want the job, but was the only one immediately available qualified to take the job. Mostly it has been good. I had an ADN for 18 yrs, then got my BSN. Now I am doing a master's program online through Walden University. I highly recommend it. Yes, it is reputable. One of the assistant professors at the local university got her master's there.

RNMariposa · May 21, 2009

Thanks everyone. I guess I am just having problems with determining where I want to go. I want to go back to school and do my RN to Masters but I don't know what area I want to be in now.

I know there are programs but there isn't really information about how you can try it out and see if that is what you like. I also don't want to go through school and then figure out I don't like it.

Take Pharmaseutical trial nurses... how do you get started with that field?

I would just really like to talk with someone who is in these fields so I could determine in which direction I should go.

Maybe I should just go for my BSN now until I figure it out?

PAERRN20 · May 22, 2009

Maybe I should just go for my BSN now until I figure it out?

One of the best decisions you'll ever make....go for it!