Should associate degree nurses have to go back school to get their BSN if they have already passed the state boards for licensure as an RN?
If they hope to remain employable down the line, yes.The BSN isn’t about repeating skills you learned in your ADN program. It’s about the expanding role of RNs.I already had a bachelor’s degree in another field. If there was one thing I DIDN’T want to do, it was to get yet another bachelor’s degree, so I figured I’d just keep working as an ADN until I was told I had to get the BSN. After all, the word on the street was that experienced nurses would be “grandfathered” in, right?Well, that turned out to be only partly true. When mandatory BSN policy came to my employer (and it tends to come with very little warning), I was indeed “grandfathered’ in, in that I still had my job and expected to keep it indefinitely. However, I could not serve in a charge position, couldn’t apply for any sort of supervisory role, and in fact couldn’t apply for any other job within the organization. So, even though I could still do the same tasks a BSN did, my position seemed less secure. If I ever had to leave my job (of my own volition or being forced out), I would be in trouble.So, even though I’m getting closer and closer to retirement, I went ahead and got a BSN through an online RN-to-BSN program. It really wasn’t bad at all, and I’m glad I did it. At this stage of my career I have no particular plans to climb the clinical or administrative ladder, but I want to work until I CHOOSE to retire——not end up retiring because I’ve gradually grown obsolete.
How hard is nursing school to get an RN degree?
An RN (Registered Nurse) license is issued by a state board of nursing authorizing the holder to practice nursing. It is not a degree. To qualify to apply for an RN license, you must graduate from a nursing school and pass the national NCLEX-RN exam. Three types of nursing schools give this eligibility: universities offering bachelor's degrees in nursing (required by many employers), community colleges offering associate's degrees in nursing, and rapidly disappearing hospital programs offering diplomas (but no degree). All programs are difficult and require much more intelligence than the general public realizes. Don't expect to be a nursing major and succeed while pursuing many of the extracurricular options other majors can handle, because nursing school is more like medical school or law school. Classes are long, you must spend many hours every week in clinical practice settings, nursing skills labs are high tech and nerve-wracking, and the amount of homework is overwhelming. The emotional toll of learning to cope with distraught, even dying, people is significant. For students who have never seen what really goes on in a hospital behind the bed curtains, the shock can be significant.Simple factual knowledge will not suffice. Exams are complex multiple choice tests in which every option may be correct, and you have to apply the facts to discern which answer is best for the scenario given.Many nursing students have an inaccurate view of what nursing is, and face a decision of whether to leave or revise their image of nursing. For those who persevere and succeed, they are rewarded with making a truly important difference to thousands of people over the course of their careers, always being able to find work, and knowing that what they do is a high noble calling.
What is the best way to get a nursing degree?
what is the fastest way i can get through school to get a nursing degree ? do I have to go through the whole thing of prerequisites and then credits? or can I just go to something like the university of phoenix ? Being a registered nurse is one of my choices in a future carreer and I just want to know the most productive way to get there. also is it best to have a masters degree or will they hire someone with just an associates degree? Basically I am asking what steps i need to do to get to being a registered nurse.
What's next after a nursing degree?
After a nurse graduates and passes the NCLEX the next year is the biggest rate of growth you will experience in nursing practice. Be flexible but get a good year of general care, such as adult telemetry which offers a base of med-surg, or a year of med-surg, don't specialize right away, because this first year is an exhausting year of learning. Specialize if you like after that first year. 2-3 years into your career consider the next degree, be it a certification in a specialty,BSN completion, MSN, or Doctoral. Nurses are always always and forever LEARNING. Keep learning and you will always remain marketable, current and dynamic. Static has no place in nursing. If you find yourself static, pursue something new, always keep evolving. Good luck to you!!
I have a bachelor's degree in sociology, but now I want to become a nurse. What is the best way of going about this?
It depends on the requirements of your state and which classes you took for your sociology degree. I considered pursuing a nursing degree after getting a bachelor’s in sociology a few years ago.I went to a local college and found that I wouldn’t actually need many additional classes before I could enroll in clinicals. If I remember correctly, it was only like 14 additional credits, mostly in science , plus clinicals, to complete the two-year RN program.I didn’t pursue it because there was a 3-year wait for clinicals and the job outlook for nurses where I lived wasn’t good. Talking to nurses in my area and reading forums like allnurses | Community For Nurses And Students helped me figure out that there was no nursing shortage and that the available jobs were mostly part time and in home care or senior facilities, which I didn’t want.Also keep in mind that nearly every hospital system now wants a BSN, which requires a lot more than the 2-year RN track. And there is a lifetime limit on federal student loans, which you may have reached during your first degree. You might have to pay for the nursing degree out of pocket.Long story short: you might not need as many classes as you think to get an RN and it’s worth talking to a college advisor. If nursing is your passion, go for it. But if you’re underemployed and are looking for a job field that has more openings, I’d recommend doing more research first.
What do you do after getting your associate’s degree in nursing (RN)?
First, let’s work on terminology.An Associate’s degree nurse is a Lisenced Practicing Nurse (LPN), while a Bachelor’s degree nurse is a Registered Nurse (RN) and a Master’s degree nurse is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) or a Nurse Practitioner (NP)(depending on the license, I believe).So, after you get your associate’s and LPN, you can go on for another 2–3 years and get your Bachelor’s and RN license, then another 2–3 years for your Master’s and APRN/NP. You can also stop at Bachelor’s and get sepcialty certificates, like ER nurse, surgical nurse, operating room (OR) nurse, Pediatric, Labor and Delivery, etc.That’s the beauty of nursing as a carreer; you can go so many ways, and just because you went one way doesn’t mean you can’t go another later on. For instance, you can start out as an LPN, advance to RN, get specialty training in the ER, decide 5 years later you want to do OR, then decide it’s not for you and try Peds or Oncology (cancer), go back to ER, then get your Masters and practice as an APRN.Wonderful, right? :-D
Can I get a Masters in nursing with a bachelor’s degree in something else?
That is a great plan actually. A degree in higher education is desirable and not everyone wants it or plans it. You have plan, I could see.The problem with that plan is that in order to get a master’s degree in nursing, you have to be a nurse first, RN.There are ways to get an RN:Enroll in an ADN program and take the RN licensure exam. An ADN is short for Associate Degree in Nursing. This is a basic nursing program where successful students who pass, may take the NCLEX exam in order to obtain an RN license.When you get your RN license:You may want to work as an RN to gain some experiences. While at it:Enroll in a BSN program to complete the four year degree in nursing. BSN is a required degree to enter the master’s program. It should be easy by then. Not that kind of easy, though.Or, enroll in a BSN-MSN program which is a bridge program that will award you the MSN diploma when you finish.If you have a bachelor’s degree in other fields and they are not related in anyway with healthcare, then you are pretty like me when I joined nursing. We are both degree holders but not nursing degree holders.We don’t have the degree in nursing yet.Either some of the courses you have taken will be credited in the nursing program or none of it. In my case, it was none of it. Wait, I have to debate with the dean for requiring me to take chemistry and math and all kinds of stuff like that. I ended up teaching math and chemistry and even speech/communication subjects as a part time instructor while a student. I was a chemical engineer with a master’s degree in public administration. It was ridiculous to be taking classes in math 101 or chemistry 101 but I could have taken them anyway. I was that desperate.My advise:Consult with the school where you plan to enroll. Present your intentions and bring your school records.Discuss, don’t debate.Don’t insist either.Just present your side and discuss.The MSN, being the higher educational degree in nursing requires far more dedication than the BSN. It also assumes you have mastered all the basic and foundational theories of the nursing body of knowledge.If you are up for this, there should be a way to get to where you wish to be.Explore and have fun.
Can a Registered Nurse with a bachelor's degree become a physician's assistant?
There really isn't that much difference in what a PA can do versus an NP. A Nurse Practitioner cannot really practice "independently", although there are plenty of people on Y!A who remain under the delusion that an NP can do more than a PA..... Since you will be spending the next 4 years learning things from the "nursing model" of care, I would strongly encourage you to consider becoming a Nurse Practitioner instead of a PA. Physician Assistants are educated and practice within the "medical model" of care; which is what makes it an appealing career advancement for Medical Technologists, Respiratory Therapists, and other medical professionals who themselves were educated in the "medical model" instead of the "nursing model". Also, keep in mind that a Bachelor of Science in Nursing does not have the higher math and science courses need for admission and success in a PA program. You'd have to take those classes after you finished your BSN if you went that route. Next, Nurse Practitioners don't usually start IVs. They examine, evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients....just like a PA does, and that includes "treatment" includes writing prescriptions, if needed. They don't need a doctor to write out a prescription- that sort of defeats the purpose of being a practitioner, doesn't it? Keep in mind that you will likely need a minimum of a couple of years of primary care nursing (bedside nursing) in the area relevant to what you plan to earn your Masters in before you apply to a Nurse Practitioner program.......just like PA applicants are highly recommended to have some kind of previous health care experience in a "decision-making capacity". EDIT: Here's a sample Duke University's PA program's prerequisites: http://paprogram.mc.duke.edu/Admissions/... I would compare that to what your BSN includes, along with the health sciences program, and also check it against the PA programs in your area or where you'd like to attend. Again, it really makes more sense to set your goal on becoming an Advanced Practice Nurse (NP, CNM, CRNA, etc) if you are going to earn the BSN. Best wishes in your career goals!
How can I get an MSc. in nursing with a BSc. in zoology?
Since you already have a BS in another field, Google ‘post-baccalaureate nursing programs.’ Many large universities have post-bacc nursing programs especially for people just like you!Post-bacc nursing programs are especially for people with undergrad degrees who now want/need nursing credentials.At the university I worked at, post-bacc nursing was a grad school program. You will quickly take whatever is left of your science prerequisites, and then go directly into your clinical courses and rotations. In a little more than a year, you'll be able to take your RN board exam (NCLEX) and work as an RN. At this point, you are about halfway finished with a masters in nursing.Post-baccalaureate nursing programs.Welcome to nursing!