I am not sure which program I should pursue. I already have my BS in Business and I decided to go back to school to become an RN. I have been looking in to schools for BSN and MSN programs. There are quite a few programs here in S. Cali that I have looked into, but I’m so confused about which to pursue.
What would be the main difference if I go into and ADN vs. BSN or an MSN?? Is there a big pay difference, career advancement?? Which would be better to pursue first??
Lots of questions I know, but I would really appreciate any response and help!!
Thanks a bunch 
Ok well an ADN is an associate’s degree (associate degree nurse), a BSN is a bachelor’s degree (bachelor of science in nursing), and a MSN is a master’s degree (master of science in nursing). Before you go on to MSN, you need a BSN.
With an ADN (or ASN-associates of science in nursing, basically same thing) or a BSN you can take the NCLEX (licensure exam to become an RN). So if you are looking to save time and money, an ADN program might be right for you. The down side to having an ADN degree is that you typically get payed less and there is very little room for career advacement. I don’t know of any hospital that doesn’t require at least a bachelor’s degree to become a nurse manager or higher. And if you want to move higher than nurse manager, a lot of places are now requiring a masters degree (MSN).
If you are an RN with an ADN degree and do want to move up, you can go back to school in a RN-to-BSN program, which typically takes a year. The biggest difference between an ADN and BSN (besides time; ADN is usually a 2 year program, BSN usually 4 years) is that a BSN program includes more nursing theory and research classes. You get the same basic “how to care for patients”, but BSN programs go into it a little more, they do a little more pathophysiology and pharmacology, and they do nursing theory and research.
Now another thing you may run across that might confuse you is that some BSN programs are 2 years long. That is because that program is only the “upper division” or nursing courses; you have to first take all your prerequisite courses (anatomy and physiology, microbiology, psychology, english, chemistry, etc.) at another university or community college and transfer. This happens a lot around medical centers that are in cities far away from the main university campus. For example (and I’m going to use the University of Texas) UT’s main campus is in Austin, Texas, but there is a major medical center in Houston. So UT has a Houston campus (University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston) with a nursing school but because it is so far from the main campus, all they offer is the “upper division” courses and you have to take your prerequisite courses somewhere else. You take your prereqs at another college, apply to UT Houston’s School of Nursing, go through all the interviews and application things, then once excepted you start in the fall for a two year program that ends with a BSN. So altogether it takes 4 or 5 years, depending on how long it takes to finish your prerequisites.
Now my recommendation to you is to go ahead and do a BSN program since you’ll need that bachelor’s degree to get a better paying job or for any career advacement. But if you really don’t have 4 years right now, and want to start working as soon as possible, you could always do the ADN program, take the NCLEX, become an RN, start working to get money and gain experience, and when you are ready go back to school for a RN-to-BSN program. Many employers, particularly hospitals, pay for their nurses to go back to school to get the BSN, or they do tuition reimbursements or giver bonuses or some other incentive to go back to school. Health care providers are looking to have as many highly educated and highly trained nurses as they can get, so they really do all that they can to encourage RNs to further their educations.
Hope this helps clear the muddy waters a bit. If you have any more questions, send me a message and I’ll do my best to help out.