Earning Your BSN in 2016

If you’re looking for a career with stability, nursing is the career to go into as it is a rapidly growing field with many opportunities for advancement.  Most colleges and universities are looking for students who show the potential to succeed in college by having earned their high school diploma or completed their GED.  The majority of BSN degree programs require incoming students to have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

During the course of a BSN program, some students decide to also take on some part-time work in the nursing field.  Although you don’t have your credentials yet, finding a company to start working for while you earn your BSN degree will make it much easier to find a career once you have completed your degree and passed the NCLEX-RN exam.

Advantages to Having a BSN

• Some positions are only open to RNs with a BSN degree.  In fact, some of the highest paying nursing jobs such as nurse practitioner and nurse anesthetist require you to have a BSN.
• A BSN program will teach you more than just the basic clinical skills. You will also gain communication, critical thinking, and leadership skills in your studies.
• A nurse with a BSN is eligible for 88% of jobs, while an ASN is only eligible for about 50%.
• Nursing is a field that will never be short of jobs. With technology and medical care advancements, there will always be a need for nurses.

Careers with a BSN Degree

There are many careers a prospective nurse with a BSN can have, here are just a few that you may want to look into.

Emergency Room Care – The emergency room may be one of the most fast-paced specialties in nursing which will teach you a variety of different skills.  The emergency room deals with everything from trauma to delivering babies, and you will provide care for people of all ages in a myriad of situations. The average salary for an RN in the emergency room is $61,500.

Pediatrics – If you think that you may want to work in a pediatric facility, after receiving your BSN you can take a few more credits and become a CPN (certified pediatric nurse).  As a BSN in pediatrics, you can work in hospitals, or a doctor’s office.  The average salary for an RN in pediatrics is $53,000.

Hospice and Palliative Care – After earning your BSN, you may decide you want to work with patients and families who are reaching the end of their lives.  As a hospice nurse, your duty is to provide comfort and care to patients and their families in one’s final days. The average salary for an RN in this area is about $60,000.