<p>I know that so many of you were very helpful to applicantmum with her question last year.</p>
<p>It would be great if I could get some insight for a male friend who is making a difficult decision between two nursing programs.</p>
<p>This person is a mid career changer (age 48) with a BS in a non-science field. The BSN program is a 12 month accelerated program for those who already hold a bachelor's degree. The diploma program is a 15 month hospital-based accelerated program. Costs are comparable. The diploma program is an established program with a great reputation. Its pass rate for NCLEX is excellent. </p>
<p>Will the BSN provide broader opportunities than the diploma would? My friend is very interested in a staff/hands on position in a hospital/inpatient facility and in his prior career never had a desire to enter management.</p>
<p>I have a BSN. It does offer more opportunitities for different jobs, esp. administrative, and management types and the starting pay may be a little more for the degree. My first job out of college was at a Catholic hospital that had it’s own sch. of nursing. I will say that the students who went through the hospital sch. came out with way more hands on clincal experience than what I got in the university program. </p>
<p>If your friend is convinced that a staff hospital position is where he wants to be, then the hospital program might be best in order to get the most “hands on” training in a short time. However, if he becomes tired/disillusioned with his hospital job and wants to work as a nurse in another sector, the BSN would provide more options.</p>
<p>agree with above poster. The diploma will afford more clinical experience/expertise at the start, but 90% of bedside nursing in on the job training.Diploma schools do as well as Associates have almost 95% or greater NCLEX pass rates, though I would do the BSN it is shorter, he already has a BS, so a double would be good flexibility. He may decide to go further on as a NP, and the BSN will work better for that in the long run. </p>
<p>Hospital work is extremely stressful, and honestly, not many can hack it for more than 10 years without some type of change or specialty either ICU or ER. Not good to restrict yourself.</p>
<p>noooooooooooooooo!!! Go to the BSN program unless you are positive that new grad diploma RNs are being hired in your area.
My local community hospital is only hiring 10 new grads this year. There are 40 (!) in-house candidates. The first criteria? Do they have BSN? This is an institution where about 75% of the RN staff have a diploma or ADN education and they have 6 community colleges using the hospital as a clinical site. In this economy hospitals can be selective. They have monthly open houses for nurses. Usually about 10 people show up. 100 came last month.</p>
<p>Another vote for the BSN. While it is true the diploma program will offer more clinical hand on experience during training, there are many hospitals who like to hire only those with a BSN. And should your friend decided to pursue any type of managerial career, a BSN is a must. There are many opportunities in nursing that successfully combine bedside and managerial skills; your friend will not be qualified to even pursue these without the more advanced degree.</p>
<p>BSN. I think that one of the best things about nursing is the flexibility with which the degree can be used. If I were younger, I would go to school for a BSN, work for awhile, then work as a consultant helping people negotiate the system, or something like that. Or serve as an advocate for young patients in educational settings. Or work with a medical device company and do patient education in homes. You get the picture. There are so many paths. And 48 is not so old- I wish I were still that young!</p>
<p>My answer, as a master’s prepared RN, is…it depends.
Does this person intend to stay in the same geographic area?
If so, a quick survey of regional institutions hiring could help with decision making.
Another question is cost?
Take the program with the least debt.
Also, I think I’d like to know what the earlier BS is in.
There are non-nursing fields which could be ‘related’. Many pay scales (for entering RNs) do not differentiate among majors…A Bachelors is a bachelors; a masters is a masters.</p>
<p>I agree that the BSN is the best choice for all the reasons mentioned above. However, the accelerated BSN programs are highly competitive with many prerequisite courses that must be completed before application. When my DS looked closely at the prerequisites for the accelerated BSN program he found that many programs are only open to recent graduates - earned the degree within the past 5 years. Nearly all require a full year of anatomy and physiology (A & P) with lab and typically, a full year of biology with lab is a prereq to enrollment in A & P! Also, many programs require a microbiology course, but to take that you may need a full year of chemistry with lab. Also, nutrition, human development, statistics are common pre requisites. These courses must be completed before application.
PS- Nursing is a great field - I have a BSN MSN</p>
<p>You guys are great! His degree is in computer science and management (double major). Plans to stay in same geographical area for at least 7-10 years. All prereqs are taken care of for both programs.</p>
<p>Wow!
If he has any inkling toward the growing field of informatics, either RN program would be fine; and he could write his own ticket as institutions transition to EMR (electronic medical records).
If he wants to stay at the bedside, either program will work.
But if he might consider an advanced nursing career, I agree with the others, the BSN is the way to go.</p>
<p>BSN would be ideal, but to be safe your friend should apply to both programs–with healthcare being a comparatively stable field in the downturn applications have increased, and a nursing educators shortage means schools can’t increase the number of spots or open new programs, so nursing programs have gotten even more competitive. A friend of mine with a stellar GPA and a masters in biology was waitlisted from our university’s accelerated BSN program! She did eventually get a spot, but you can’t be too careful. Better to apply to all the options and make the choice when decisions come back.</p>
<p>Diploma nurse (graduated way back in '77), still doing bedside work (albeit in ICU) but feeling the wear and tear that some have mentioned.</p>
<p>First off, congratulations to your friend for wanting to become a bedside nurse. He’ll be welcomed into the field from either program. However, even though I had many valid reasons for choosing my diploma program, I must agree with those who endorse the BSN. There are many more options available to degreed nurses. The first year or two of work will be challenging…he might want to look for a nurse internship. What he won’t want is a first job that expects him to be a functioning staff member with only minimal orientation, as that is a recipe for both burnout and disaster.</p>
<p>And what mominva said about infomatics is completely accurate. Even though he’s sure he wants bedside nursing, many others have felt the same way and left the profession within a few years.</p>
<p>Just wanted to thank everyone for taking their time to lend their expertise and advice. I, unfortunately, have an update from my friend. While he had been already been accepted by the diploma program, he received a rejection letter today from the BSN program. As Pseudonym stated, it’s pretty competitive out there. </p>
<p>The informatics idea sounds promising, and he said he will look into that. </p>
<p>Tell him to go to the ASN program - it’s quicker and much cheaper.</p>
<p>Devil’s advocate here –
Why get another Bachelor’s degree? Isn’t a BSN basically a ASN with liberals requirements for a bachelor’s degree?</p>
<p>I asked this very questions many years ago to the head of a BSN program and she said get the ASN - with a Bachelor’s one can still rise to management, same as a BSN.</p>
<p>I don’t think a BSN per se is required for a’ MSN. One can get into an MSN with a BS and an ASN.<br>
BTW - hospitals in our area were hiring graduate nurses (ASN - not yet registered) last summer beginning in the mid-40’s. can’t get enough of them.
Is there a Nursing glut anywhere?</p>