Due to high demand for nursing jobs, many people are choosing nursing as a career, including those who already have bachelor degrees in non-nursing fields.  Now the good news is that if you have a bachelors’ degree in any field, you can get a bachelors’ degree in Nursing without having to spend four years at nursing schools, by going for Accelerated Nursing Programs.

You can join a nursing school offering an accelerated nursing program to get either your Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) in just about an year and half, if you have a bachelors degree in some other field.  Direct entry accelerated master’s degree programs in nursing usually take about 3 years to complete.  Let us see the pros and cons of going for an accelerated nursing degree program.

The first advantage of an accelerated nursing degree program is that you can complete your Bachelor of Science in nursing degree in just about 12 to 18 months.  So you get your nursing degree through Accelerated Degree program in shorter period than it takes to get an ASN degree.  This program basically compress full time nursing school of four years into an average of about one and half year.  Nurses with a Bachelor of Science degree normally earn higher salaries that those who have completed the two year associate degree in nursing (ASN).  So, the main advantage in going for an accelerated nursing program is that you can get high salaries without investing four years for a usual BSN degree.  Accelerated second degree BSN gives the credit for non-nursing classes, you already took in college.   It covers a sequence of clinical classes and nursing theory required for NCLEX (National licensing exam for Registered Nurses), and once you pass the NCLEX exam, you are eligible to become an RN (Registered Nurse).

You have to however remember that Accelerated Nursing degree programs is an intensive program which requires full-time attendance and commitment.  This is not something you can take up as a part time course.  You have to attend full-time classes when you take up the accelerated program.  Most of the accelerated nursing degree programs require the students to sign a commitment saying they will not work while attending school.  In short, accelerated nursing program is not something you can do in your spare time.  The other disadvantage of these programs is they are quite expensive – typical program costs are around $35k.

Accelerated nursing programs are available for you in 43 states as well as in the district of Puerto Rico and Columbia.  As of last year, 57 accelerated master’s programs and 218 accelerated Bachelor programs were available at nursing schools all over the United States.  You can get an updated list of accelerated nursing programs here.

Many students prefer Accelerated nursing programs as the waiting lists at traditional nursing schools growing longer and longer.  Even nurses with a bachelor’s degree are attracted towards this alternative of accelerated nursing degrees for pursuing MSN degrees.

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