Second career in nursing.

Question:
I've recently begun considering nursing as a second career. I have a lot of questions but before I get into any of them I have some questions about the various degrees -- I already have a Bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing related field so am considering an accelerated BSN program. Does that make more sense than doing an
Associates? I would think so since I've already done a bachelor’s general requirements. If I do the BSN, I need to fulfill about 5 undergraduate pre-requisites. Does anyone know if I can just do those at a community college/local school before applying to a BSN program?

Answer:
Different schools have different requirements about where you take undergraduate pre-requisites. Some will take a C or better if you take them at their college, but will only accept a B or better if you transfer. Others will take transfers at C or better no matter where they are taken. If your local community college/school offers the science courses at better times/ is convenient for you, then go with it things being equal. Just make sure you understand the nursing program’s transfer policy.

Since you already have your bachelor's, it makes sense to go for the BSN and get it over with. Most if not all nursing programs run 2 1/2 to 3 years, the difference comes mainly from how much undergraduate work (credits) required. You are going to be in school for about 2 years either way, so why not take the higher degree?

I find that the ADN/BSN debate (especially among returnees) largely turns into one of finances: can afford to spend the extra time and money? If you can afford to go the longer time (assuming it is longer and in real life it usually is by the time you get the
pre-reqs done) then go the BSN route. If not, make sure that the place you go to has a ADN->BSN route that is seamless (some don’t count parts of the ADN toward the BSN although that scam is getting rarer).
As for the pre-reqs. You will have to ask the school itself.
Some schools won't accept all of your credits from another school (a scam that ISN'T getting rarer). It (literally) took an act of the
Legislature to get the big Nursing schools in the state to accept the ADN credits from the community college.
If you really are keen and want to get the ball rolling, start looking
ASAP at brochures from various nursing programs. Most are back in the
Fall semester mode now, so you should find someone around to speak with. Should you really want to get started you may wish to consider taking Anatomy & Physiology I and maybe Microbiology I during the Fall semester (if you can find classes to get into).

I make the above recommendation because right now it seems everyone and their grandmother is entering nursing school or trying. Nursing programs have a finite number of places per each incoming class, if there is a large pool of qualified applicants you may not make the cut for the semester you wish to enter, pushing your estimated graduation date back.
All nursing programs no matter what the degree or diploma will require the science courses mentioned above and in my previous post. Getting them over with will lighten your load somewhat when you start your nursing courses. Nursing courses always run in a set sequence that cannot be altered; in other words you cannot take Med/Surg III unless you have completed and ped Med/Surg I and II, so there is pretty much no way of doubling up and speeding your way through a program. However you can get any science and other pre-req's you lack out of the way.

Finally you may wish to consider applying to more than one program in your area. Again with the renewed interest in nursing, many programs have more applicants than they can admit for each new class. If you are accepted by more than one school, you will get started and thus finished sooner. As I stated before, nursing programs run in a sequence, and if you miss one entering class, it may be one semester or even a year before a particular school has another entering class, as some schools only admit new students in the fall.

Oh, one last finally; researches your choice of school carefully. You want to pick a nursing program that has a high board ping rate (NCLEX). A high board ping rate (90 percent or above of nursing students ping the exam on their first attempt), is one of the better indicators that program does a good job in preparing you for your new career. You can ask the nursing school's recruiter for the number, or the NLN (National League of Nursing). Also if possible speak with nurses who graduated from a program you are considering attending to get their views about the school.

Do not see where you get the idea an ADN program is going go be any shorter for an second degree student than a BSN.

Most if not all associate/diploma nursing programs run 2 1/2 to 3 years, usually with 1 semester for pre-nursing (some hospital based programs dispense with pre-nursing and students begin nursing classes from the start).

Allowing for a college or university 2 year ADN program a second degree student still has to have to take the required science and or math courses in addition to any other pre-requisites needed to enter the program. So one is still going to be in nursing school for two years regardless.

Let's examine the College of Mount St.Vincent School of Nursing second degree programs:

The College of Mount St.Vincent (which absorbed the St. Vincent's
Hospital of Manhattan School of Nursing) offers a traditional four year BSN program, transfer and second degree.

First there are the transfer applicants, who are waived from the
College's core courses with exceptions:

Transfer Applicants
Transfer applicants with an associate's degree or completion of more than 60 credits are waived from the College’s core courses with the exception of nine credits of the Core Enrichment courses. The basic nursing program may be completed in two years if the student has completed the following science pre-requisites: Chemistry I and II, Anatomy and Physiology I and II and Microbiology.

Next Second Degree Students:

Second Degree Transfer Applicants
Transfer applicants with a bachelor’s degree in a discipline other than nursing may receive up to 75 credits in transfer. The College’s core courses and Core Enrichment courses are waived. The basic nursing program may be completed in two years if the following science pre-requisites have been completed: Chemistry I and II, Anatomy and Physiology I and II and Microbiology.

The difference between Second Degree students and Transfer (those with only Associate degrees/60 or more credits), is that lacking a bachelor’s degree, the college requires Transfer students to take the College’s core curriculum.

What the college is saying and most others seem to do also is that they will accept your bachelor's degree and waive any undergraduate course requirements except the sciences required for the nursing program.

Of course not everyone has the time and or brain power to take Chem. I, A& P I, and Micro in one semester, then do the same next semester for the second half. This would delay entry into the program and thus turn 2 years into 2 1/2 or 3, or 3 1/2 or even 4.