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I am considering getting into the field of nursing as a second career. I hold a bachelor's degree in psychology and I am considering 2 options going the associate degree route, or to go with an accelerated bachelor program. ADN are generally done at CC which means they are much cheaper, on the other hand accelerated BSN are at universities, many program being private and expensive.
Which programs do you think is academically harder?
A BSN will be be superior in depth and breadth which generally increases the rigor (depending on what school you chose). An accelerated program is normally "harder" than a standard CC curriculum.
A BSN will lead to a higher starting salary than a associates in nursing.
I agree with LBTRS regarding the BSN. My wife has been an RN for over thirty years. She got her BSN back in the 80's. At that time you could become an RN with just an associates, pass your boards, and get hired. And maybe you still can in some places. Now though it's more important than ever to get your BSN. Also you want a school that will be thorough in clinicals. Even though there is a supposed shortage in nurses, there are a lot of nursing grads that cannot jump right in and do the required job, hence a lot of hospitals will not hire fresh grads. The student nurses just didn't get enough hands on experience with patients to justify hiring. But hey, somebody is going to have to take over for all the older nurses. So once hired, you will start out as a floor nurse. And when you've got your foot in the door, you can apply for other positions as they come up. Best of luck.
Go the accelerated route. It will be academically harder, but you will have far more opportunity for advancement. Many public colleges have nursing programs. See this post, especially the links.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katarina Witt
I'm not so sure it did. I worked in nursing for 45 years, retiring this past August. I have a BSN as my first degree, and I strongly support the BSN degree. However, I have seen no evidence that the AAS programs are being phased out, nor have I read anything about that professionally. Currently more than half of the new entrants to nursing education are in AAS programs. In Historic Shift, More Nurses Graduate with Bachelor It is my personal opinion that it is better to get the BSN right off if you can; however, if finances or other factors prohibit that, getting an AAS and then going on to a BSN program, which a lot of people do, is a viable alternative.
I am a second degree student in the same boat as you. Leaning more towarda the ADN for myself and walking out with 0 debt. However, leaning to the BSN because no where in my state do they rarely hire ASN nurse's any more.
I mean I am eligible for Stafford Loan's, but I am not sure how much. Been looking into scholarships to help alleviate the financial burden.
The other flip side is I be done a year quicker with an ADN.
For myself letting the chips fall where they do. Applying to 3 ASN programs, 3 BSN program's, and one ABSN program.
I heard nurse's in my state have their ADN not find work for a year return back for their BSN just to work as a nurse they scrap by doing per diem work.
If I do end up doing the ASN I probably will skip the BSN do a RN to MSN program. It takes about the same time as a RN to BSN program.
I think you can find out how much student loan money you qualify for by talking to the financial aid people at a college. I generally recommend going for the BAN.
I just got done working with a major medical group. The BSN's were starting at $65,000/year, the ASN's started at $39,000, BSN's with 5+ years of experience were in the 100K range, ASN's top out at $68,000......now this is one group, employs about 45,000 workers (not all nurses but a good portion of them are), your results may vary.
A BSN will be be superior in depth and breadth which generally increases the rigor (depending on what school you chose). An accelerated program is normally "harder" than a standard CC curriculum.
A BSN will lead to a higher starting salary than a associates in nursing.
This. In addition, the national trend is towards BSNs. One of our local two year degree programs (which was run by a hospital) shut down recently because the local hospitals no longer hire nurses who don't have a BSN.
This. In addition, the national trend is towards BSNs. One of our local two year degree programs (which was run by a hospital) shut down recently because the local hospitals no longer hire nurses who don't have a BSN.
Hospital I worked at in hopes of going into the program shut their program down. Think maybe only 5 or 6 hospital's hire ASN/ADN out of the 25 in our state. We seem to be a factory of churning put ASN/ADN with a wait time of 2 year's into the program's with very few job prospects. Many are fortunate to work in a nursing home/rehab facility. Some however have to travel hour or more for work.
A bachelor degree in nursing would logically be expected to be academically more challenging and more thorough than an associate degree, however both ADN and BSN prepare students for the exact same state board exam, and there counter-intuitively many associate-level programs have higher passing rates than baccalaureate-level ones. How would you explain that?
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