to BSN or not to BSN - that is the question

College Majors Nursing Major
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<p>So I've been a nurse for 10 years now, with an Associates Degree in Nursing and I would like to go back to school. The thing is - I don't want to be a nurse anymore!</p>

<p>I'm 36, divorced, 3 kids and I have to work full time while I'm going to school. What I'd really like to do is get my Masters in Public Health and do epidemiology work or something like that. I've always wanted to do that. I wanted to 10 years ago when I graduated but the necessity of finding a job and raising my kids made me get my Assoc Degree in Nursing and start working. </p>

<p>So now I don't know what to do, and I have a few dilemmas about it. </p>

<p>1 - I need my Bachelor's Degree. Admittingly, getting a BSN online would be somewhat easier than getting a Bachelor's in Biology or another science field. I could do it at home, I would <em>maybe</em> not need as many classes, and I could probably do it faster. However - I wonder what the point of getting a BSN is if nursing isn't my passion and getting a Masters in Nursing isn't what I want to do.</p>

<p>2 - My grade point average isn't good. My first time in school (right after HS) I was a (don't laugh) theater major and I didn't do well/dropped several classes. When I did my nursing classes I was working and raising my kids and was single - my GPA is a horrible 2.2 and I have 160 credit hours done. I live in Central IL - so unless I want to go to some no-name college out of state, the reputable places here in my area (IL State Univ, U of IL) require a 2.7 to do their online program.</p>

<p>3 - if I can't get my BSN online, I might as well just do the Biology degree or something else right? </p>

<p>4 - I'm making quite a good salary right now - if I go through all that schooling, there's a good chance that at the end, I'll be making $20K a year LESS than I make now. </p>

<p>5 - My daughter is a junior in HS - maybe I should save my resources to send her to school instead of myself. Maybe I should just suck it up and do a job I don't particularly like - but really? I have another 30 years to work - I dread going to work every day - if there's another option I really really want to consider it.</p>

<p>So what should I try for? BSN? Biology degree? Accept my fate in life?</p>

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<p>[Thomas</a> Edison State College](<a href=“http://www.tesc.edu/]Thomas”>http://www.tesc.edu/)</p>

<p>Look into Thomas Edison State College in NJ. They offer online degrees including a BSN option. I was going to look into this for my daughter, but she ended up getting her BSN at another college. Also, this is an affordable college (well, as college’s go).</p>

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<p>For now, I’d take some classes part time that would count towards either degree. Keep your options open until you are ready to make a decision.</p>

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<p>I think it will be a lot harder for you to get a BS in Bio than just to get your BSN. Plus I think it looks better to have a BSN in nursing with a MS in Public health in terms of selling yourself to get work.</p>

<p>I imagine with some searching you should be able to find an online BSN program. You should look into what prereqs you will need to get into a MS degree and work on those while you are deciding. When I was getting my BSN, I was told to take statistics if I thought I would want to go to grad school. I did and it was helpful. </p>

<p>BTW, I have a Masters in Health Services Administration. I also did not want a Masters in just nursing. Most in my program were not nurses but I was glad that I had my background to apply to this degree which is less close to providing patient care than Public Health.</p>