I’m confused on the meaning of RN-BSN. Does this mean that when you are a registered nurse, you go get your bachelors? That dosen’t make sense to me because I thought you needed your Bachelor’s to become an RN.
I’m graduating high school this year and interested in becoming an RN(hopefully an NP later on in the future) but I’m confused on how to go about this.
I hear some folks say that nursing school IS a 4-year college, but some say that you go to a 4-year school, complete your pre-reqs THEN apply to a nursing school. Which is it?
I know my questions seem pretty simple to some but I really want to try to make the best desicions and take the best routes to help me in my future career.
Registered Nurse (RN) Degrees Career Profile, Salary, & Education
Nursing in general is an applied science that combines aspects of medicine, biology, pharmacology and even psychology in the delivery of health care to individuals in physical distress. Nurses assist and complement physicians, and work in all the same areas and specialties as doctors, while retaining a professional identity separate from doctors and unique to their own occupation.
Of the several types of nurse, by far the most predominant is the Registered Nurse (RN), a highly trained health care professional who possesses the education, skills and competency to practice all aspects of the care and recovery of the sick and the maintenance of well-being in the healthy. RNs ensure that patients receive care that is appropriate, timely, and professional, in a variety of settings.
Registered nurses perform a number of essential and basic functions, including treating and educating patients, recording symptoms and medical histories, performing diagnostic tests and analyzing the results, and administering treatment and medications under the supervision of a physician.
RNs are not limited to employment as bedside nurses in hospitals. Registered nurses are employed by physicians, attorneys, insurance companies, private industry, school districts, ambulatory surgery centers and fire departments, among others. Some registered nurses are independent consultants who work for themselves, while others work for large manufacturers or chemical companies. Research Nurses conduct or assist in the conduct of research or evaluation (outcome and process) in many areas such as biology, psychology, human development, and health care systems.
There are three major educational pathways that lead to a Registered Nurse certification. These paths begin with an associate degree in nursing (ADN), a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing (BSN), or an RN diploma.
Associate of Science Degree in Nursing (ADN)
The quickest and most frequent educational path to an RN degree begins with a two-year Associate of Science in Nursing. About 846 community and junior colleges currently offer ADN programs.
Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN)
There are currently more than 674 accredited nursing programs that offer a four-year course of study culminating in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.
RN Diploma Program
Also referred to as a “hospital diploma,” these specialized programs last about three years, with a strong focus on core studies, intensive nursing classes, and clinical training and internships. Until about a decade ago, most RNs in the U.S. were initially educated in one of these diploma programs.
Although requirements vary from state to state, licensed graduates of any of these three programs qualify, generally speaking, for entry-level positions as staff nurses. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, once the student has graduated from an approved nursing program, he or she must then pass the NCLEX-RN, a national licensing examination, in order to obtain a nursing license. Most states also have their own additional qualifying requirements beyond these national requirements. There are also numerous opportunities to move beyond these basic degree programs, as about 417 nursing schools currently offer master’s degrees, and 93 offer doctoral degrees in nursing.
To find out more available certificates and degrees that can lead to a RN degree, visit the Nursing Degrees and certifications page.
Explore Career Opportunities in Registered Nursing
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2004, about 2.4 million people were employed as registered nurses, making this the single largest occupation in the healthcare field. Nearly 60 percent of RNs were employed in hospitals.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of registered nurses is expected to grow “much faster than average for all occupations” during the upcoming decade. Due to the large number of nursing jobs that will be created, registered nurses are predicted to create the second largest number of new jobs among all occupations in the U.S. Job opportunities for registered nurses will be excellent, to the point that the industry is even now experiencing difficulty attracting and retaining an adequate number of RNs.
U.S. Department of Labor figures indicate that the median annual salary of registered nurses in 2004 was $52,330, with a range running from less than $37,300 to a high of more than $74,760. The highest median wages were paid by employment services ($63,170) and hospitals ($53,450).
Numerous specializations lie within the scope of the RN, including:
* Forensic Nursing
* Geriatric Nursing
* Home Health Nursing
* Legal Nursing
* Medical-Surgical Nursing
* Midwifery
* Occupational Health Nursing
* Pediatric Nursing
* Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing
* Public Health Nursing
Other popular specializations for Registered Nurses include:
Emergency Room Nurse
Medical emergencies requiring immediate treatment can occur at any time. Emergency room nurses work with emergency room physicians and with paramedics to ensure timely care in crisis situations.
Hospice Nurse
Hospice nurses work for hospitals or services evaluating and providing care and emotional support to the terminally ill. They also provide grief counseling to critically ill patients and their families.
Rehabilitation Nurse
These registered nurses specialize in restoring physical functionality to patients who have suffered from some form of physical disability, due to illness, stroke, or accident.
School Nurse
Many elementary and secondary schools, and most colleges and universities, are required to have a registered nurse on site to provide immediate care to students suffering from illness or a medical emergency.
You can become an RN by attending either a community college that has a nursing program, or by attending a four year university. If you attend the four year program, you would get your Bachelor’s degree also. Thus, you would be a “RN-BSN” as opposed to just having your RN from a community college. Most community colleges require about a year and a half of prerequisite courses before you even enter their RN program, which lasts an additional two years, so you are basically spending 3.5 or 4 years at a community college’s nursing program anyway, so why not just go to a four year school and get your bachelor’s degree in four years anyway? The major difference is cost; a community college will be substantially less expensive, but if you ever want to get into nursing administration at a hospital, you will probably need your Bachelor’s degree anyway. And yes; even if you go to a four year school you have to complete your prerequisites, but those only last about 2 years and then you’d have two years of nursing school after that.
Yes; if that school has a nursing program that you are granted admission to. Most colleges are pretty standardized as far as prerequisites, although one college’s course description for, say, Anatomy and Physiology, might be different than another schools. If you take your prerequisites at one college and have to go to another to get into a nursing program, you would have to have your transcripts evaluated for acceptance of credits. If you apply to the nursing program at the school you did your prerequisites at and aren’t accepted, you can always apply at a different school.
You can be licensed as a RN with either an Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) or with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or a Bachelor of Arts in Nursing (BAN).
If you want your BSN, you must first be admitted into a university, preferably one that has a nursing program so you don’t have to change schools later. When you are accepted to the school, you start taking general education (non nursing) courses and your pre-requisites in biology, chemistry, etc. Usually you will then apply to the Nursing Program at that school during your sophomore year (or any other school that offers a nursing program, provided that your courses will transfer equally to another school).
Once you are accepted into the nursing program – and you should know that admission is tough and very competative, so keep a high GPA, etc. – you start your nursing courses in your junior year. They will take you two years to complete, because they are sequenced courses.
Many people choose the ADN route because tuition is cheaper, and if you get your pre-reqs done quickly you could graduate in as little as 2.5 years, meaning you get to work as an RN a full 1.5 years sooner than if you did the BSN. Also, when you have your ADN, you can later go to school to complete your BSN, and most employers will pay tuition reimbursement for you to finish your degree.
Either way, you take the same exact licensing exam and as a new staff nurse you will make roughly the same amount of money. There is no benefit in having the BSN if you’re just doing staff nursing. My hospital only pays $1 per hour more for BSN RNs. But later, when you have more experience, the BSN comes in handy if you want to move up into administrative or leadership positions.
The difference in the ADN and BSN in terms of education is that you have many more general education courses / electives to take, and the extra nursing courses you will have as a BSN include Public Health (BSNs can be certified as Public Health Nurses), Nursing Research, and Nursing Leadership – these are the courses that make you more qualified for those leadership positions.
You’re always better off with the BSN in the long run, but there is nothing wrong with starting out as an ADN.
I would suggest looking into several schools and their programs. Important questions to ask would be how many students apply to their nursing programs vs. how many they admit into their program. Find out their admissions criteria – how do they select students for the program? Do they weight the GPA most heavily? ACT / SAT scores? Number of completed general ed courses, etc?
Good luck.
Im in the nursing program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Its a 4 year bachelors program, some schools offer 2 year programs but you only will get an associates degree, same amount of work for less money, go for the bachelors. When I applied to the school I didnt get in to the nursing program but was admitted into the school with a Prenursing major, I did my prereqs for a year and reapplied and got into the program, now I am doing my second year of pre reqs mixed in with my nursing courses, total of 4 yrs when i graduate. good luck, its a great choice!