How to build on my nursing degree?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN). There is a big push to have ADN nurses return to school for their Bachelors, and I’ve just completed my first semester after more than 20 years out of school. (Woot! Go me!)

My company has tuition reimbursement of up to $5,000 a year and I’m pretty sure they will be paying for the large majority of my schooling over the next two years. (Woot! Go them!)

But, maybe I’m tired of nursing after almost 25 years.

Once I get the BSN, I could go on to a Masters in nursing education, leadership or clinical work. I also see a lot about ‘nursing informatics’ as being the new thing, but I don’t really see a lot of job listings for that, and it would also require a lot of computer science education that I don’t have.

Unfortunately (or not!), I’ve gotten very comfortable with my compensation. I can say that this 2 year degree has paid off nicely and that I don’t really see advancing my nursing degree to the BSN or the Masters level as improving my pay situation by much (if at all, really).

What, if anything, can I do to parlay any of these degrees into a better paying, not-running-up-and-down-a-very-long-hospital-hallway-for-12-or-more-hours-a-day position?

Or, how can I use my nursing education to transition to some other related area?

At the Masters level, I could teach but doesn’t seem to pay well. It looks like instructors spend a lot of time cobbling together teaching gigs these days. One of my current instructors has a Doctorate in nursing and she teaches at at least 3 different schools that I know about.

Or I could go into management. That might pay off financially.

Or… actually, I’m not sure how the clinical track would be put to use. I don’t want to be a midwife (all my nursing years have been in OB-GYN, which I do love).

I dunno. Any other nurses have any thoughts?

What’s real estate like?

2

I had a friend who became a Nurse Practitioner, but it wasn’t about the money. She wanted more independence and responsibility than the typical running-up-and-down-a-very-long-hospital-hallway job she was doing.

Since it requires even more training it may not be what you’re looking for, but eventually it did work out to more money for her.

3

Health Information Management. Many nurses and doctors get certified in HIM and can work in or run medical records departments. Excellent salary and no running. :slight_smile:

My university has a one year online certificate program for those who already have a BS in something and the right perquisites (which having an RN would provide). This is very popular among healthcare providers looking to chnage careers.

4

Thank you, IvoryTowerDenizen. I will investigate that option.

5

And, thank you, kunilou. That’s the clinical track. I’m not sure it’s for me, but it is an option!

6

Have you looked into Clinical Nurse Specialist. It’s a masters level degree that prepares you for a wide variety of hospital and out of hospital positions doing things like running hospital programs (think Stroke care or STEMI times etc) or community based program (diabetes education etc).

7

Great. PM me if you want more info.

8

You don’t necessarily need computer science education for a lot of jobs in I.T. I work for the I.T. department of a large medical system and we hire a lot of nurses, pharmacists, radiology and lab techs as system analysts. You need to be computer savvy but the main thing is to have experience with the programs you use to do your job. The main one for nurses is the electronic medical record system. For instance, right now there is a fetal monitor program being rolled out which is something you might work on as an OB-GYN nurse. Nursing Informatics is another growing area in I.T. They also hire nurses to work on data analysis and education.

I.T. in medical facilities is a huge business since everything is being computerized. We’ve been hiring a couple people a month lately. It’s pretty much a desk job and the pay is excellent. You might talk to someone in your I.T. department to get a better idea if you think that might be something you are interested in.

9

In this area, the only jobs offered to RNs with a two-year degree seem to be in nursing homes. The SO didn’t get offers for better positions until she got her BSN. There seems to be a lot more interest if you have ‘RN, BSN’ after your name.

The SO taught Medical Assistants at a local college. She loved the job, but they pared back the program to just a couple of teachers. She’s doing home healthcare now. She likes the job, loves the patients, and loves her boss and coworkers. The pay is good too; about half-again what I make. She definitely wouldn’t mind getting back into teaching though.

A cousin is an RN PhD. She used to be at Johns Hopkins, and now heads up the nursing program at the local university.

10

There is a lot of demand for some of the sidelines - things like Certified Research nurses, Certified Diabetes Educators, and Case Management certifications. For most of these, getting the certifications isn’t terribly difficult and doesn’t necessarily involve returning to school. The CDE and the CM certifications are in particular demand. (Case Management jobs are frequently work-from-home positions, which is also nice.)

11

Thanks! Will investigate these options!

12

Does this bachelor’s degree generally have to be in Nursing, or are they more concerned about having qualified nurses who happen to also have a bachelor’s degree? E.g. if you take your ADN and go and get a BA in French Literature, are they pretty much okay with that because any bachelor’s degree broadly certifies your ability to think logically and do research, or is the BSN effectively the only way?

How easy is it for people with an IT (non-healthcare) background to become qualified in HIM? E.g. if a software developer wanted to become a HIM, what would be some reasonable paths? Go back to school and become a nurse? Enroll directly in a HIM program?

13

The program in my department has specific science course prerequisites (two semesters of anatomy and physiology, one semester of pathophysiology and one semester of medical terminology) in order to enter the certificate program as long as you have any BS degree already. Then it’s one year of full time course work (online) and professional practical experience hours (like an internship) to get the certificate. The certificate allows you to sit for the RHIA credentialing exam. We also have a BS degree in HIM which has all liberal arts courses you need for a BS plus the programmatic courses.

14

I can speak to the real estate portion of your post. I was a loan officer for three years. It’s probably going to be easier for you since you have a network to tap into: other health care workers. Your network will provide you with people who have a decent or even a fantastic financial picture.
Some of the con’s are that it is 100% commission based and it may take anywhere from three to six months to get the ball rolling. You will be getting phone calls at all hours of the day and into the evening as well. You will have to be available for showing homes when your clients are.
You probably won’t be doing any heavy lifting or running tough. There’s potential for great gain or loss. I decided to go to college at the end of three years because I noticed that having a degree gave a sales person more credibility. Your ASN and work experience should serve you well. Best of luck if you take that route.