One of my adult kids followed his interests in college and ended up with a degree in geology. He had and has no interest in a career in academia or working for energy companies. His after college life career wise has been a hodgepodge of using his mapping software skills in a job that bored, various internships and Americorp style gigs, vet tech, a stint substitute teaching, and gig work sufficient to fund the traveling he loves to do. Most of the geology related jobs that appeal have not required advanced degrees but always get filled by someone with one.
He’s now in the initial consideration of becoming a nurse while he is working at other things. He thinks ER nursing would be a good fit.
He’s done lots of science classes already.
He’ll do his own research of course but anyone with personal experience? Associates degree? Accelerated nursing BS then grad program?
I’ve heard that most physicians have a bachelor’s degree in something not directly related to medicine. If doctors can do it, I don’t see why nurses couldn’t.
My wife just finished nursing school. She got her AS. She enrolled in an online BSN program. She will work full time while finishing. There is no clinical requirement for the additional schooling. Seems to me whatever route gets you working quickest is the best. I found it amazing how much of the job is OJT and how little is done in school. Going to graduate school immediately would mean he has more schooling than his peers but no knowledge about how to do the job. My wife had finished all her prerequisites before going into the nursing program so she only had to do the nursing classes. Sounds like your son will be in the same boat as long as the school cooperates with transfer credits.
No personal experience, but I teach at a university where the BSN is far and away our most popular degree program, and we have a lot of older, returning students. Most of them do it the reverse of the way your son is looking at, though – associate’s degree, work as an RN for a while, then enrolling in our RN-to-BSN program, which mostly covers the general education courses they need for a bachelor’s degree and can be done entirely online. (We also have a two-year ASN program, but I gather it’s much better to have the BSN, both in terms of salary and employment opportunities.) I would think anyone who already has a bachelor’s degree should be able to transfer in enough credits to cover most of the gen ed requirements for a BSN, but it does look like it would be a little more challenging than doing it the other way around, especially if you’re trying to work at the same time. Pretty much all of the nursing courses are face to face and have to be taken at specific times and in a specific order.
Looking at our curriculum, I think the trickiest part to fit in would be Human A&P I and II, which are four-credit courses with labs and have to be taken in sequence, not concurrently. We have those listed as prerequisites just to enter the ASN program (so, in a sense, it isn’t really a two-year program), and they’d typically be completed during the first two years of the BSN degree, before students start taking nursing courses in earnest. Assuming other programs are similar to ours, I’d suggest a good starting point would be taking those two courses at a community college, along with any other specific courses that the program he wants to transfer into requires in the first two years of the BSN curriculum (for us, that’s Nutrition, Microbiology With Lab, and Pathophysiology, but other programs may vary). At that point, he’d be well-positioned to jump right in to the last two years of the curriculum, which are pretty much all-nursing-courses-all-the-time.
Ask him if he’s considered surgical technology. As a certified surgical tech he would be a part of the OR team prepping the room, maintaining the sterile field working closely with surgeons and nurses.
Usually a two year program, but I think it pays fairly well and might be a good way to go further in a health field if interested. Maybe once he’s working as a CST the employer would provide tuition reimbursement for qualified candidates.
I’m going to assume this is similar throughout the country although not necessarily exactly the same. Since my wife is currently going through the process I see how it works. Hospitals are requiring a BSN however they are hiring ASNs to do the same jobs with the understanding that they have to complete their BSN within a set number of years. It’s a requirement but the salary isn’t much more. Once she gets her BSN the pay jump is only $2-$3 an hour more. Someone who never gets their BSN is limited and will get jobs that are the equivalent to LPN. The program my wife is going to do is accelerated and will take about 9 months.
She is also taking the time to do other courses like phlebotomy which that don’t teach in nursing school.
It’s tough to switch careers when your previous efforts never landed in a real career. Going back to school for an intensive program can be really hard even if you make it in the door.
I know three kids mid to upper 20’s who decided to back to school to learn a new career.
One with a journalism degree went back to get a teaching certificate and she taught 2 years at a magnet school. Left because of stress, now is settled in a technical writing position.
Another with a marketing degree decided to pursue her dream of being a physical therapist. She took science prerequisites at the community college applied at schools up and down the eastern seaboard. Finally accepted, moved across state enrolled paid and dropped out after one semester. Now teaching at a charter school in Fl. License not required iirc.
This one was a med tech decided to go for a PA program. Applied and applied. Got accepted at an out of state school she moved and started classs. Dropped out after one semester. Living with parents in Fl working as a med tech.
This is a very common trajectory for new teachers especially, both those fresh out of college and those transitioning from other careers. Teaching isn’t for everyone, and if it’s not for you, you’ll burn out quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if your second example, the one now at the charter school, burns out, too, because burnout is especially high at charter schools, especially the sort where a license isn’t required.
All that said, I don’t have any personal experience, but I strongly suspect that nursing is another field that has a high burnout rate, from people who get in and then realize that it’s not for them.
Not necessarily. An ASN takes two years, but that is after you’ve completed the pre-reqs (as mentioned-might be Org. Chemistry, might be A &P, varies by program) Then, at some point you go back and do the RN to BSN, often another 2 years, a mix of general liberal arts and management/leadership/nursing theory. It can be done on-line because you’re not doing much, if any, hands on clinicals-it’s all theoretical. That would be pre-reqs+2years+2years.
I’m a retired nurse. I’ve watched lots of colleagues do nursing school. Being able to work while doing a 2 year ASN program in 2 years is nearly impossible. The time demands are relentless, crushing and brutal. You have no control over your schedule when trying to work around clinicals.
He’s already done the bulk of the undergraduate hours he’d be doing in an ASN to BSN, especially if his bachelor’s is a BS rather than a BA. Don’t reinvent the wheel. He’d have some lab skills, he’d have some research training already.
He should go for an accelerated BSN right off the bat-2 years and he’s done. That I have seen done while being able to work part time. If he takes an 80 hour CNA course at a community college and then does that part-time CNA work at a rehab facility, nursing home or hospital, those employers will often pay a hefty potion of the nursing school tuition and turn themselves inside out to work around his school schedule.
Surgical Tech isn’t a bad idea. They are very in demand. Veterinary Techs can write their own ticket too.
This here. Don’t even consider an ADN at this point. Some accelerated BSN programs have you finish in just 13 months.
Source: 40 years in nursing taking the long way around (LPN > ADN > BSN).
mmm
ETA: The positive side of my path is that my nursing education cost me a grand total of $800. After I paid for the LPN, employers paid for all the rest.
My school was in the '90s so take that into acc’t. Depending on how much applicable courses you’ve done, an ASN can take 4 years and teaches you just as much actual bedside nursing.
Depending on where you apply your prior general education and your grades may or may not help.
Back in the day, ASN programs gave you more clinical hours, which was no bad thing. I’d be cautious of any route that scrimps on clinical time.
ER is not for everybody, esp. straight out of school.