Question For Nurses

[XMcShiftersonX]

And adding on to what Crankin has said, by the time you finish college in 2-4 years, things will most likely be looking better in the economy department, so you'll probably (and hopefully) have better opportunity. It is a risk though I suppose. At least you have another career you could always fall back on.

[sfa]

Two or three years ago nurses in our program (I work at a community college) were being offered signing bonuses to take jobs and they had their pick of locations and shifts. Now they are still getting jobs, but it is taking longer and there aren't the same incentives there were a few years ago. This is a short term thing, though--the long term outlook is still very good for employment for nurses.

It doesn't matter if you do a BSN or an ADN program to become a nurse--the qualifying exam is the same. Where it matters is if you want to move forward for a master's degree or PhD in nursing. Since you already have a bachelor's degree, though, that combined with the ADN might qualify you for admission into a master's program. If it's something you are thinking about, you might want to check on that before you get started. Most ADN programs are also transfer programs to four year degrees, so you can start with the ADN and transfer to a BSN program if you choose that route.

Sarah

[Jolt]

Since you already have a bachelor's degree, you could look into accelerated BSN programs. The BSN does give you more options than the ADN. As far as the job outlook, I think it depends on where you are--as Crankin already said, it's horrendous here right now for new grads (that's how I ended up working in that nursing home when I finished the RN portion of my program...I tried everything to get into a hospital but just couldn't) but other parts of the country may be different. The economy right now doesn't help, but health care is supposedly one of the less affected areas.

[FlyingScot]

Heck...get your BSN whether the traditional route or accelerated. Hopefully by the time you graduate the pendulum will have swung back the other way (and it always does) and there will actually be some jobs for new grads. It's bad pretty much everywhere. Worse in the "desirable" areas of the country (read warm and beachy) or major metro areas (NY, Boston). Critical access hospitals are hiring but they are often in very small, sometimes isolated, rural areas.My friend works at one in Texas. They keep a ball bat at the nurses station but it isn't for the patients. It's for the snakes (usually venomous) that sneak in through the EMS doors. Her count so far is 5. I got lucky. I changed jobs and hired in to a huge hospital system (unionized) literally 4 weeks before the bottom fell out of the economy. The nursing openings there went from over 200 to 4!!!! Yes 4 openings in a matter of a few weeks. If you want to do ADN go for it though. I don't have my BSN but that hasn't kept me from doing anything from NICU to flight nursing. I'd rather have nails pounded into my eyes than do any type of management anyways.

[Chicken Little]

Get the two year and make the hospital pay for your BSN. It's good economics. It doesn't matter anyway. We all take the same test, and no matter what's after your name, every patient poops.

[sundial]

Aggie, if you have a BSN you will have the qualifications for being a nursing instructor at a junior college. Just another career option....

[Crankin]

There's probably a regional difference here. The ADN just is not valued as much here and there is a pay differential.
Also, I had an acquaintance awhile ago (actually when I lived in AZ) who had a degree in some field and then went and did an accelerated RN program, without the degree. Even though she passed her boards and stuff, she was having a terrible time getting a job.

[Catrin]

Get the two year and make the hospital pay for your BSN. It's good economics. It doesn't matter anyway. We all take the same test, and no matter what's after your name, every patient poops.

This is what my sister just did. And I am very pleased to report that she is finally taking her state boards and is considering it an early celebration of her 45th birthday In her case the pediatrician's office she works for reimbursed her for all of the assorted testing-related cost. I had no idea there were such expensive tests before her state boards!

I am very proud of my little sister for doing this, she has worked so hard for so long because she was only able to take 1 class at a time.

[BikeDutchess]

Seems requirements vary by region but perhaps this is an indication of future trends: North-ShoreLIJ-Requires-New-Nurses-to-Have-BSN

I also read another article recently (can't find the link right now) that said new nursing grads are having a difficult time finding hospital jobs right now because so many experienced nurses are either putting off or coming out of retirement due to the economy. New grads are looking to SNFs and such for jobs. But as the economy improves (whenever that may be), that situation will probably change again.