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Second degree in nursing.
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Question:
I have friend with a master’s degree who is interested in pursuing a career as an RN. He was in the Social Sciences.
What options does he have? I hear there are what is called accelerated second degree programs, which reduce the number of credits and time required for completion
Can these be taken on part-time basis?
How much do they cost?
My friend is resident in Maryland State.
Answer:
I've also got a master's in a non-related field (political science) and am now almost finished with an RN program.
I'm not aware of accelerated programs designed just because you already have a degree, but certainly any RELEVANT physical science background would be given credit for those pre-requisites of a nursing curriculum (anatomy and phys, microbiology, nutrition, pharmacology, etc).
I also have an electronics background/AS degree, but no physical sciences above. I was surprised (and dismayed) to learn the only credit they would accept off my transcript for both my BS (Business) and MA (Poly Sci) would be English and Sociology . . .a whopping 6sh!
So . . . I just sucked it up and spent almost a year getting the pre-reqs
out of the way before jumping into the nursing curriculum.
What options does he have? I hear there are what is called accelerated second degree programs, which reduce the number of credits and time required for completion
Can these be taken on part-time basis?
Many schools offer what is called second degree programs for persons who already possess a B.S. degree in another area. These programs allow a person to enter a nursing program directly without taking the pre-nursing sequence providing their previous course work meets certain distribution/course requirements. Depending upon the program one may also be allowed to have certain non-nursing courses waived also once accepted into the program.
In general most programs are looking for: Anatomy and Physiology (one
year), Bacteriology or Microbiology, English, Sociology, Physiology,
Math (Algebra or above) and perhaps other core classes depending upon the college/university requirements for all degree students.
As stated once admitted some programs will accept previous courses for required non nursing courses such as foreign language, physiology, math, other sciences et al. The key is to have taken the required course or a higher level IMHO. In other words if the program requires Bacteriology and you've taken Microbiology then it should be fine. Sometimes the other way around will work, that is if you took a lower level course but can prove it was more difficult/expansive than the course required, it may be accepted. Some schools are rather liberal on what they accept others are not, and it becomes a sit down/drag out battle between you and whatever functionary is evaluating your transcript. It this case it helps to have the college catalogue from your previous school showing course descriptions for the classes you took. You may also need the syllabus too, to convince a reluctant registrar to accept the course.
Some schools also have a time window, that is they will not accept courses taken over X amount of years ago. The person applying may also wish to consider how well they've retained course knowledge on a subject studied 5 or 8 years ago. This is especially true of the science courses which are crucial to understanding everything from pharmacology to nursing practice.
Should point out that while these programs are labeled accelerated one does not finish that much faster just by holding a previous degree. Even if one had all the required pre-requisites/core courses and they were accepted, nursing classes run in a sequence. You cannot take
Med/Sug III before Med Surg I, so one is still going to be in the program for about 2 years. Many schools have begun offering night/weekend nursing classes but the problem is with clinical. There simply aren't enough instructors willing to work those hours to supervise student nurses. Attending part time can be hassle in that again it is hard to sometimes fit one's schedule into what is being offered in terms of clinical time.
As for schools, check with your state board of nursing and or the NLN.
This link is to a list of accelerated BSN and MSN programs it is a little confusing, because it lists both (1) BSN programs designed for students who already have a bachelor’s degree outside of nursing, and (2) MSN programs designed for students with a bachelor’s degree outside of nursing.
Probably the best thing to do is to contact some of the schools directly. There is going to be some variation between them, of course. And the point has already been made, but is worth emphasizing, that most (probably all) of these programs still require completion of many prerequisites (especially sciences) that many people may not have just by virtue of having a BS degree
I have friend with a master’s degree who is interested in pursuing a career as an RN. He was in the Social Sciences.
What options does he have? I hear there are what is called accelerated second degree programs, which reduce the number of credits and time required for completion
I had a previous bachelor's degree in physics, worked as an engineer, fell on my head, took an EMT course, and then decided I wanted to be a nurse. That is my story, and I am sticking to it. I am now in a BSN (bachelor's) program, about a year from completion. Other people have mentioned science courses. It seems to me that there will be considerable overlap between a bachelor’s or masters nursing program and your friend's previous work in social sciences (although it is unlikely that a nursing program would give your friend much credit for it). The exact answers to your questions will depend on the particular nursing program which is chosen and on the applicability (according to the nursing program) of course and work experience.
There are at least six different types of first license RN programs in the
U.S. These are associates degree, bachelor's degree, and generic masters’ degree, doctor of nursing, doctor of nursing science, and accelerated bachelor’s degree. I found this information after a couple days’ search on the Internet and talking with some nurses that I knew. As far as I have been told, the accelerated nursing programs are just as much work, but compressed into a shorter time. I have lately run into a student in a first license certified nurse midwife program (=glutton for punishment: o) and
I'll bet that you could find a first license nurse practitioner program if you looked hard enough.
The thing to do is to start talking to nursing programs in Maryland. In my experience, nursing programs in Colorado are pretty helpful to prospective nursing students.
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