How to Become a Nurse With a Bachelor of Arts

Based on your Google search, one might assume you're unhappy with your task and want to be office of something bigger than yourself—and that something is nursing. Sound about right? If and so, we tin evidence y'all how to become a nurse if you already have a bachelor's degree—all within a sixteen-month time frame.

Nursing is 1 of the most rewarding, high-need occupations today. Then information technology'due south no surprise that more than and more people, such equally yourself, desire to exit their jobs and start a new career as a nurse. Nevertheless, many terminate up at a crossroads. The thought of going back to higher and spending more than money and another four years on a 2d bachelor'south degree seems daunting. Only, it doesn't have to be that way.

Our ABSN program in Ohio makes information technology possible to earn a quality Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in every bit few every bit 16 months. In other words, you don't have to commencement your college teaching over from scratch. Our ABSN program builds on your non-nursing bachelor'due south degree, so you can begin professional nursing study on the first solar day of class.

Now that you know you don't have to spend another iv years in schoolhouse, there's still the matter of money. While our ABSN program—any accelerated nursing programme for that matter—requires major financial planning, there are plenty of options available for financing your education. Not to mention, a BSN offers a significant return on your investment. Nosotros'll go into more of that later.

Xavier Students Who Went From BS to BSN

If you've been out of the higher setting for a while, the thought of going back to school as a career changer may seem a little intimidating. But don't worry, you're not lone. Several career changers apply to our ABSN program, from realtors to sales representatives to psychologists. And no affair how far forth yous are in your career, in that location'south probably been an ABSN student similar you.

Greg, who graduated from our ABSN program in Dec 2018, is proof that it'south never too late to become back to school. After spending 30 years in medical sales, he decided to retire and pursue a new nursing career.

---

Accelerated Nursing Plan for Career Changers

Greg needed a nursing program for career changers, making him an ideal candidate for our ABSN programme. He leveraged his biology degree to earn a BSN in 16 months. "I don't take all the time in the world, so I needed to get into a program that would let me to offset nursing as soon as possible."

---

We also get students who entered college knowing full well they wanted to become a nurse, but something happened that made them put their goal on hold. Lauren, who graduated from our ABSN programme in May 2018, is a great instance.

From a young age, Lauren knew she wanted to become a nurse. Nevertheless, she as well had a passion for swimming, with amazing athletic ability to boot. She was a iii-fourth dimension All-American swimmer in high school. And then when it came time for college, Duke Academy invited her to swim for the Bluish Devils equally a Partition I athlete—the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

"Information technology's practically incommunicable to be a Division I athlete and get to nursing schoolhouse at the same time," Lauren told us. "I loved swimming far too much to requite it up."

Lauren graduated from Duke with a degree in evolutionary anthropology and some impressive swimming stats. She was a school record holder in the l freestyle and ready a record in the 100 freestyle at the NCAA Championship. From in that location, she spent some time in the workforce before applying to our ABSN program.

---

Pupil Gets Second Risk to Pursue a Career in Nursing

Our second-degree ABSN program enabled Lauren to fulfill her passion for swimming and her desire to pursue a nursing career. "I never dreamed I'd be starting a nursing plan and be washed in xvi months. I would definitely recommend Xavier. It worked out slap-up for me," she said.

---

Overall, our ABSN cohorts represent a unique mix of students who come from different academic backgrounds. Co-ordinate to Sarah, who earned her first degree in psychology and graduated from our ABSN program in December 2018, she learned a lot from her peers of varying ages. "There's pregnant value in having a various grouping of people contributing to the conversation," she said.

Whether your caste is in communications or biology, you have the same opportunity to accelerate into the nursing profession. That is, once you've completed the ABSN prerequisites. Next, we'll explain what it's similar for students who enter our programme with a liberal arts degree versus a biological science degree.

How to Go a Nurse With a Liberal Arts Degree

As someone with a liberal arts caste, there's a adept take chances you'll accept to complete all iv of our ABSN prerequisites—microbiology, anatomy and physiology I and II, and statistics. Nurses need a strong understanding of math and science to be successful. Thereby, these courses are a fashion to gauge how well you'll do in nursing school.

Our ABSN prerequisites are challenging, and then if you've struggled with science in the by, you might consider taking these courses one at a fourth dimension. You don't want to stretch yourself too sparse when trying to navigate the complexities of the cloth.

When y'all're fix to take these prerequisites, we make information technology user-friendly for y'all to practice so by offering them 100% online through our university. By choosing Xavier to consummate the prerequisites, y'all may authorize for conditional admission into the ABSN program.

ABSN prerequisites are dissever from the 16 months it takes to complete our accelerated nursing program. You lot must earn a minimum 'C' grade in each prerequisite course and maintain an overall cumulative GPA of ii.7 to enter our ABSN program.

Once you become a educatee in our ABSN program, yous'll consummate a rigorous blend of online and on-site curriculum that prepares you to enter the nursing profession with confidence.

How to Go a Nurse With a Biology Degree

A good number of our ABSN program applicants have a biology caste. If that'southward your background, you've probably completed most, if non all, of our ABSN prerequisites. Past having already completed these prerequisites, you can enter nursing school quicker than someone with a liberal arts caste.

Withal, you lot must show successful completion of these courses inside eight years of entering our ABSN program. Why? Science is consistently evolving, with researchers making new discoveries all the time. Thereby, your science knowledge needs to be upwardly to speed so y'all tin grasp today's complex nursing concepts.

If you have to take one or more of these prerequisites, y'all can practise so 100% online through Xavier University. And by taking your prerequisites through our university, you may qualify for provisional access into the ABSN plan.

Once you're an accelerated nursing student, you can look to complete a rigorous blend of online and on-site curriculum. It's a full-time, fast-paced learning path that will prepare you to enter the profession every bit a practice-ready nurse.

How to Pay for a Second Bachelor's Degree in Nursing

No matter where you go, nursing school is a major expense. And unfortunately, second-caste ABSN students are often ineligible for academy grants or scholarships, and many don't authorize for land or federal grants. The skilful news, however, is there are several ways to finance your education, including the following 3 options:

1. Federal Direct Loans
2. Private Didactics Loans
3. Third-Party Scholarships

More than likely, y'all'll need to use a combination of federal and individual loans to cover the cost of your nursing school tuition. But first, nosotros recommend looking into the different low-interest federal direct loan options available through the U.S. Section of Education. Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Assist (FAFSA) to know what type of loan you're eligible to receive.

Federal student help typically doesn't cover the total toll of attending an ABSN program. Then be on the spotter for banks and credit unions that offer private loans with depression-interest rates and expert terms. Because private loans are credit-based, information technology'due south important to know your credit score. If you have poor credit, you lot're likely to pay a higher involvement charge per unit than you would with a federal loan. You lot may even need a co-signer on your loan.

Sarah – Xavier ABSN program graduate

I found the price of the Xavier ABSN program a lot more reasonable than other nursing schools.
-Sarah, a 2018 ABSN plan graduate.

While nosotros practice not offer Xavier grants or scholarships for our ABSN program, we encourage yous to pursue laurels-based funding through a tertiary party. Each scholarship follows different criteria, usually reflecting the values of the donor or founder of the award.

Outset your national scholarship search at FastWeb and the Nurse Corps Scholarship Program. On the local front, nosotros recommend looking into the Nurse Didactics Assistance Loan Plan (NEALP) created by the Ohio General Assembly in 1990 to assist in the country'south nursing shortage.

NEALP provides financial assistance to Ohio students enrolled for at to the lowest degree one-half-fourth dimension study in an approved Ohio pre-licensure nurse education program. To qualify for loan cancellation, recipients must work total-fourth dimension as an RN or LPN in the Land of Ohio for at least five years after graduation.

Value of a BSN Degree

Going dorsum to school for nursing requires you to do some serious financial planning. But every bit you run the numbers, keep in mind that a BSN caste is a smart investment in your futurity. Just be aware that our ABSN programme is a rigorous, full-time learning path that requires dedication and hard piece of work to succeed. Thereby, we don't recommend working while in accelerated nursing school.

At present let'southward get into some of the reasons why a BSN is worth its weight in gold. For starters, nursing is a loftier-need, fast-growing profession rife with reward and opportunity―especially for those who concur a BSN degree or higher. After all, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recognizes a BSN as the minimum educational activity requirement for professional practice. Therefore, many wellness-care employers now require their registered nurses with an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) to become back to schoolhouse and earn their BSN within a specified fourth dimension frame.

Past earning a BSN caste, you'll:

• Become noticed by health-care employers. More and more employers now realize the value of having more educated nurses on staff, so they prefer hiring nursing graduates with a BSN.
• Provide competent, empathetic intendance. Research shows the more BSN-prepared registered nurses a health-care facility employs, the meliorate the patient outcomes and the lower the mortality rates.
• Earn a college wage. Nurses who hold a BSN accept greater earning power than those with an ADN.
• Accept more career opportunities. A BSN opens the door to work in a variety of inpatient and outpatient health-care settings. It too paves the fashion for earning a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and achieving advanced practice certification.
• Lead the accuse for alter. A BSN, which includes direction, leadership and public wellness courses, plays a pivotal role in helping nursing students develop the competencies necessary to advocate for patients and the profession.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) conducted a survey in August 2018 that asked 627 nursing schools about employer preferences regarding education levels. Of the schools that responded, 45.half dozen% of wellness-intendance employers crave their new nurses to accept a BSN, while 88.4% had a strong preference for BSN programme graduates.

ABSN Program Admissions

If yous have a non-nursing bachelor's degree and a cumulative GPA of at least 2.vii, you can brainstorm the admission procedure for our 16-month ABSN programme. But before we tin can admit y'all into the nursing program, you must consummate the four ABSN prerequisites within the specified requirements.

Nosotros have 3 ABSN Learning Centers in Ohio—Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus—with each location offering three start dates a year—January, May, and August. Given these options, we tin enroll a high number of students annually. In other words, in that location'due south no waitlist for our ABSN program.

While getting into nursing school tin can exist a lengthy process, our ABSN counselors are bachelor to help you every step of the way, from your kickoff access phone call to your starting time day of class. As a prospective ABSN student, we'll pair yous upward with a dedicated admission counselor who will champion your entry into nursing school.

Nosotros can also provide you with an admission decision within a few weeks of submitting your application. We procedure ABSN program applications on a rolling ground, meaning we review them equally they come in instead of waiting for the submission deadline to pass. And then, the earlier y'all submit your application, the improve your adventure of securing a spot in your preferred term.

Xavier ABSN graduate Ayana using stethoscope

Working with my Xavier admission advisor was great. She sealed the bargain for me. I wanted to nourish a university with a sense of community and where I was going to be supported.
-Ayana, a 2020 ABSN program graduate.

ABSN Program Curriculum

Our ABSN curriculum enables you to turn your non-nursing degree into a BSN in 16 months. During the total-fourth dimension, iv-semester ABSN program, you'll complete a full of 63 credit hours fabricated up of online coursework, easily-on nursing labs, and diverse clinical rotations. How we sequence these three learning components prepares you to sit for the NCLEX-RN® with confidence.

• Online coursework lays the foundation for your education, teaching you the fundamentals and theories of professional practice. You can learn anytime, anywhere. Consignment deadlines still apply.
• Nursing skills and simulation labs develop your applied skills and clinical judgment in a mock infirmary setting. Yous attend these hands-on labs at your location of enrollment.
• Clinical rotations provide real-globe patient care experience in diverse areas of nursing practice. Your clinicals accept place at health-care facilities virtually your location of enrollment.

For all intents and purposes, you learn fundamentals and theories of nursing practice online. Yous convert this knowledge into psychomotor skills during your nursing labs at our ABSN Learning Centre. From at that place, you larn how to pull everything together within the scope of diverse practice during your clinical rotations in local health-care facilities.

Labs and Clinical Disclaimer

Please be aware that due to COVID-19 restrictions and limitations, our labs and in-person clinicals could alter at any time without prior educatee notification.

ABSN pupil Erin Celesti

Everything with the ABSN curriculum flows actually well. You learn a skill online, apply it in lab, then go to clinical to see how that skill plays out in real life.
-Erin, a 2018 ABSN program graduate.

Clinical Partnerships in Ohio

Whether y'all enroll for our Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Columbus location, your clinical rotations start during semester one. We schedule your clinicals for you. All the same, we can't guarantee placement in a specific hospital or facility. Nosotros partner with some of the best health-intendance providers in Ohio, including Mercy Health, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Ohio Health, and the Cleveland Clinic.

ABSN Program Faculty

From your first to your terminal day in the ABSN programme, our nursing faculty go far their mission to see you through your goal of becoming a nurse. Not merely practice they implement effective teaching strategies, but they also provide high levels of support.

Xavier ABSN graduate Brianna continuing in classroom

I love the Xavier nursing faculty. They are in your corner and want to come across you succeed.
-Brianna, a 2018 ABSN program graduate.

Every bit an ABSN student, you also take admission to an academic success coach who serves as your advocate. This person can connect you with a variety of resources to enhance your overall nursing school feel. Whether information technology involves an academic question or fourth dimension management advice, your academic success coach is a one-cease resources.

Gear up to Use Your Bachelor's Degree to Get a Nurse?

Now that you lot know how our 16-month ABSN program works, your adjacent step is to contact our access team to prepare your nursing education in move. Once yous've satisfied the access requirements, you tin enroll for a spring, summertime, or fall term at our ABSN Learning Heart in Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Columbus.

harpersincen.blogspot.com

Source: https://acceleratednursing.xavier.edu/blog/become-a-nurse-if-you-already-have-a-bachelors-degree/

Share this post