Question For Nurses

[Aggie_Ama]

I am considering going back to school to be a RN. After seven years of office work I found it is okay but it doesn't completely fit me. After much soul searching and talking to friends that are in the nursing program I have determined it is a career I would like to have. They have told me all the horrors of dealing with hospital administrators, the bad days (one works the NICU) and the good ones. There is a community college that has an Associate's Degree program which allows you to take the RN exam. We also have a local University that has a Bachelor's Degree program. I already have a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism so to complete a second degree I would mostly need the science prerequisites and then the Nursing program classes.

Is there a benefit in having a Bachelor's over an Associates? Is the job market as open as the media would have you believe? We are considering eventually moving (probably to the northwest) so my hopes are it won't be as hard to find a job as just having a communications degree. Here it seems fairly healthy but I am worried it is hard to get a job straight out. Both programs have a heavy clinical rotation for two years.