When we go off to university to fulfill our dreams, we’re not always on the correct path. Sometimes, our first choice of specialism isn’t suited to our needs. Maybe our minds aren’t stimulated, or we need to work with people. No matter what the reason is, there are plenty of people who change careers midway through. Luckily, there are accelerated degrees to save you from studying an entire degree. In particular, if you decide that you’ve got a budding Florence Nightingale inside, you can complete an accelerated BSN and torpedo your life into the wild but rewarding world of nursing. Below, you can find out what an accelerated BSN program has in store as well as its benefits.
What Is an Accelerated BSN Program?
The Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ASBN), it a distance course designed specifically for those who already hold an unrelated bachelor’s degree. As an ABSN student, you get to utilize your existing credits to get ahead of the game. Typically, you will finish the ASBN within around 16 months. As well as being accelerated, your second degree in nursing will be offered online, like this ASBN from Wilkes University, which means you don’t need to worry about traveling to a campus. Despite being completed online, the courses are still demanding and led by a fully professional faculty.
Why Is a BSN Important?
You may be asking why you need to do a second degree when you can become a registered nurse (RN) without one. However, there has been a growing demand for RN applicants to have an ABSN. The reason for this, as noted by Nurse.org, is that potential nursing employers place value in the deeper development of research skills, leadership, and critical thinking taught by the ASBN. Outside of traditional hospitals, if you were to enter the U.S. military as a nurse, you will need to have an ASBN.
The Benefits of an ABSN
As mentioned previously, there are many reasons people choose to enter nursing as a second career. Being a nurse takes a special type of person, and other work may not fulfill them. Whether for personal or professional reasons, there are plenty of advantages to taking the ABSN route into nursing. Below, we will discuss six of these advantages.
Enter Practical Training Earlier
Traditionally, a bachelor’s nursing degree would take around four years to enter the field. If you choose to complete the ABSN, you will cut this time considerably, allowing you to enter practical work within 16 months. Once you’ve passed your second nursing degree, you will be able to sit the RN nursing exam – the final assessment before achieving registered nurse status.
Use Current Skills
You may assume that nurses come from technical fields, including technology and science. However, it’s been found that the majority of ABSN students have backgrounds in literature, sociology, and business. Although the majority of nurses who took the ASBN route completed unrelated degrees beforehand, it’s been demonstrated in a study by the American Nurses Association that these people draw experience from their personal and professional lives. When nurses come from different career paths, they will already have experience of keeping schedules and working as part of a functional team. Therefore, when they make the change, they will already be accustomed to the world of work.
Increase Earnings
The average salary for a nurse is around $73,000 per year, which is generous compensation for filling the demand for RNs. In addition to this, registered nurses with an ABSN can look to make £15,000 extra per year. This is just a starting point, and depending on your experience, specialisms, and location, you can look at earning a lot more.
Receive Higher Level Training
When students are armed with the academic skills from their first degree, they can focus on nurse-related learning. Therefore, the ABSN focuses its coursework on nursing-based education. Once a student has completed any pre-course requirements, they can take nursing by the horns and torpedo themselves into the field. Typically, a student will need to complete a minimum of 600 hours of clinical time and 60 hours of coursework. With traditional nursing degrees taking 4 years to complete, it pays to decide on nursing as a second career than decide nursing isn’t for you in the first instance.
Fill The Gap In Employment
We see it in the news all the time. There is a constant shortage of nurses, which was highlighted more than ever throughout the pandemic. Owing to this shortage, there has been a push for qualified nurses that hold an ABSN. This is because they have a higher understanding of critical thinking and management skills. On top of the shortages already found in the US, The Bureau of Labor Statistics has made predictions that the need for nurses will grow by a staggering 7% by 2029. Currently, there are around 3 million nursing jobs unaccounted for, with the 7% increase adding around 225,000 jobs onto this figure. If you complete an ABSN, it will put you in the perfect position to walk into almost any RN position of your choosing.
Learn New Technology
Entering the nursing profession at this time is exciting. Although the work will be stressful, new technologies are being introduced all the time. You will be part of the future, being able to learn the new technology ahead of your peers already in the field. At the moment, exciting tech to the field includes telehealth and electronic medical records.
To Sum
We don’t always know what we want to do when we first head to university, which can lead to seeking a career change. Those that wish to pursue nursing can do so through the ABSN, which is tailored towards current degree holders. Using your academic skills, you will skip half of the training and complete the course within two years. You help fill the demand for nurses. Graduating with an ABSN will put you ahead of your competition because you will have a deeper understanding of critical thinking. A fruitful nursing career is at your fingertips, so what are you waiting for!