Quote Originally Posted by tongue_tied View Post
Thanks for the tips thus far. I have a friend who's making the same change and he's done a bit more research than I have. He mentioned something about getting a BSN which is a more versatile approach than maybe going right for a RN? Or something along those lines? Anyone know anything about that?
BSN is a four year degree; ADN can be done at a community college (in 2 or 3 years, depending on the program you're in and how much you have to do in the way of prerequisites). Either one qualifies you to sit for the NCLEX exam to become an RN. I think the BSN makes a lot of sense for someone just starting out with higher education--you need it to get into MSN programs required for areas of specialty like being a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist. ADN programs transfer to four year programs to complete the BSN. What I don't know is if you're starting with a BA, do you need to ALSO get the BSN to get into an MSN program? Or does your BA plus an ADN allow you to get into MSN programs? If I were you, I'd check with the schools you're looking at and find out what the requirements are.