Earning a Nursing Degree

February 22, 2005
By Charity Shumway
charity.shumway@hqpublications.com

Nursing is a challenging and rewarding profession. By embarking on a nursing degree program, you can begin the preparation necessary to earn your nursing license and begin your healthcare career.

What can I do with a nursing degree?

Nursing is the fastest growing profession in America today, and demand for new nurses is quickly out-pacing the number of individuals earning nursing degrees. As a result, with a nursing degree and passing scores on your board examinations, you can expect a great job market in which employers work hard to win you over, providing high wages, great benefits, and terrific job security.

With a nursing degree, you will be prepared to hold a range of different nursing jobs. You might take a job in a hospital, a health clinic, a nursing home, or in a variety of other arenas, from home health care to public health. The profession is flexible, so that you can use your nursing degree to move between types of nursing practice. Chrissy Tailler, an in-patient pediatric care nurse who completed her nursing degree just a few years ago, chose to work in a hospital after earning her license. Even though she loves her current job, she appreciates not being tied to it forever. "One of the great things about nursing," she says, "is that you can do so many things with it. I could leave the hospital after 25 years and go take a job at a clinic without a problem."

In addition to the flexibility in the positions you can hold with a nursing degree, a nursing degree can also provide you with flexibility of schedule. Tailler works three 12 hour shifts per week at her hospital, and arrangements like hers are common. Hours vary in different settings, but since nursing is an around the clock profession, you can often choose which of those hours best suit you.

Good salaries are another benefit of earning a nursing degree. Individuals who hold nursing degrees and work as registered nurses typically earn between $40,000 and $57,000, with some nurses earning more than $70,000.

What types of nursing degrees are available?

There are a few basic ways you can earn a nursing degree:

a bachelor's of science degree in nursing (BSN)
an associate degree in nursing program (ADN)
a diploma program
a graduate nursing degree program

BSN nursing degree

Earning a nursing degree through a BSN program usually takes four years and involves taking science classes, nursing-specific classes, as well as some general college courses.

ADN nursing degree

Earning a nursing degree through an ADN program typically takes between two and three years to complete. This type of nursing degree program doesn't include some of the science and liberal arts courses that a BSN program does.

Diploma program

Diploma programs are administered by hospitals themselves rather than by educational institutions, and they typically take around three years to complete. These types of programs are on the decline.

Graduate nursing degrees

If you have already earned a bachelor's degree in another field, you can pursue a graduate nursing degree to give you the training you need to pass state board examinations and become a registered nurse. If you have already earned a BSN nursing degree, earning a graduate nursing degree can prepare you to work as an executive-level nurse, overseeing the work of other nurses and healthcare professionals.

No matter what type of nursing degree you pursue, you will receive the training you need to take and pass the board exams and become a registered nurse.

There are abundant reasons to earn a nursing degree, but Tailler puts it well when she says of her career in nursing, "it can be stressful because certainly there's a lot at stake, but it's incredibly rewarding."

You can find out more about nursing and earning a nursing degree by visiting the American Nurses Association online at www.nursingworld.org.

About the Author

Charity Shumway works for the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, a not-for-profit in New York City. Her previous experience includes programming for a business news radio station in Boston and serving as the director for several educational programs for at-risk youth. Charity holds a B.A. in English from Harvard University.

Sources:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-05 Edition, Registered Nurses, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm

Healthcare Programs Article