When is it time??

[CrazyCatLadyRN, BSN, RN]

I guess you could say I'm obsessed with school and love learning. I graduated with my BSN April 2011 and started working on a Surgical-Telemetry unit in June 2011. I've pretty much been thinking about my next step since before graduation. I love my job, but I know it's not the end of my journey. I defintely want to pursue some sort of graduate education. My question is when is it a good time to go back to school? I've considered doing a NP and/or a MSN in education. The CNL degree also seems interesting. I have a lot of friends who went directly into NP programs from their BSN, but that just didn't seem right to me. I am looking at begining fall 2013, if I do it. Is that too soon? Too little experience? After graduating, would anyone hire me with being such a new nurse?

[leenak]

Hello fellow crazy cat lady and lover of learning :)

Have you been able to observe advanced practice nurses where you work? Does anyone seem to have a job that screams to you "I want to do that!"? If you want to work in a hospital, an acute care nurse practitioner may be what you want although other nurse practitioners may also have various roles in the hospital from what I've read.

Although the school I'm looking at indicates that their professors may also maintain a RN position, it seems that a MSN in education is something that most would want after they have been working for a while. Unless you have a burning desire to teach right now, I'm not sure I'd say go for the MSN in education.

I think it may be too soon if you aren't sure what you want to do but if you have a good idea what you want to do, then I don't think it is too soon.