When you decide to go to nursing school with a family, you’re taking the whole family back to school! Add a job into the mix, and it can seem like a recipe for disaster. But nursing school isn’t for the faint of heart, so chances are you’re up for the challenge! Follow these tips to help reduce some of the stress of going back to school…with a job…and a family. Good luck!
More Career Possibilities
Completing an RN-BSN program greatly increases the jobs available to you in your career. Right now you may love the direct patient care you get to do as an RN. But, what about five, 10 or 20 years from now? If you want to move up to a leadership role, work in a specialty area, become a nurse educator, or take on broader clinical responsibilities in the future, you'll have to earn a bachelor's degree. It's also important to know that ever since the Institute of Medicine released its Future of Nursing report, calling for 80 percent of nurses to have their BSN by 2020, more and more hospitals have been raising the minimum education required for new hires.
Here are just a handful of nursing careers that require a BSN:
Case Management Nurse
Clinical Research Nurse
Geriatric Nurse
Head Nurse at Home Care Facility
Nursing Education Coordinator
Nurse Manager
Nurse Recruiter
Occupational Health Nurse
Research Staff Nurse
RN vs BSN Salary
Beyond the increased possibilities for your career, having more job opportunities also means getting paid more. The higher ranking or niche positions available to nurses with a BSN come with a bigger salary than basic nursing jobs. So while nurses with an ADN and a BSN will earn the same salary for the same nursing position, the BSN will have greater earning potential over her or his lifetime. How much more? According to the federal data site the National Center for Education Statistics, across all industries bachelor's holders earn, on average, 29 percent more than people with associate's degrees!
Going back to school can be hard work. You have to balance your job with coursework and everything else you have going on in your life. While we know your own career dreams and money aren't the only things motivating you to think about earning your bachelor's, they can be great reminders of what you are working toward in your degree program.
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