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Nursing with an ABSN
Nursing with an ABSN – Most of us need to work in a job to earn money, survive, and enjoy our lifestyles. However, working in a job that you are no longer satisfied with is no fun for anybody. Whether your current line of work is something that you have since lost interest in, you got into it because of somebody in your immediate family and was never truly passionate about it from the beginning, or it’s a role you found yourself in to make ends meet, it might come a time where it’s worth thinking about moving on into something that’s more fulfilling for you.
If you feel called to a career path where you can use your time and energy to help others and make a real difference in the world, there are many reasons to consider changing your career to nursing. Along with being a career where you can make a serious difference to the lives of others and have an impact on every person that you work with on a daily basis, nursing is a career path with several other benefits including high demand, competitive pay, and plenty of opportunities for career advancement and progression.
Here are some of the core benefits to consider changing your career to nursing and why an accelerated bachelors of science degree program might be the best option for you.
High Demand for Nurses at Nursing with an ABSN
When changing your career, one of your main concerns may be related to the kind of demand that you can expect in your new career path. It can be scary for anybody to come out of a career path where they already have reliable work and are familiar with into something new and different. The good news about nursing as a career is that you will not need to worry about finding work once you are qualified. With a shortage of nurses currently impacting the US in many different ways, finding meaningful work as a nurse will not be difficult, with most newly qualified nurses landing a role within six months of getting their BSN.
Career Advancement and Progression for Nursing with an ABSN
If one of your main reasons for thinking about changing your career is that you don’t feel like it’s getting very far and there are not very many opportunities for moving up the career ladder and taking on more responsibility, nursing could be the perfect career choice for you. Nurses have more opportunities than most when it comes to career advancement and progression with so many different options to choose from when it comes to where you want your career to go. As a nurse, you can choose to work in a wide range of different specialty areas whether you want to work with a certain patient population or focus on working with patients who are suffering from certain health conditions. In addition to this, there are several options for climbing the nursing career ladder whether you are interested in working in a more advanced nursing role such as a nurse practitioner, or prefer the idea of taking on management, leadership and education roles in nursing.
Earning Potential
With the large number of professional opportunities that are open to nurses, it’s no surprise that this can also be a career path that offers a high earning potential. While many individuals who decide to pursue a career in nursing are not really in it for the money, it’s always nice to know that you will have the chance to improve your earnings and your financial situation with the career that you are in. Nurses today earn a very competitive salary that is set to increase in the near future due to the growing demand for nurses and the need for new nurses to join the profession to mitigate the problems caused by the shortage. Registered nurses earn an average of $80k per year, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and there is the chance to increase your earnings even further as you move up the career ladder, with nurse practitioners earning around $30k more annually.
Further Education Options
If you enjoy studying and learning new things, you will be glad to hear that there is a wide range of options to choose from when it comes to your further education as a nurse. In nursing, you can now study online for a wide range of advanced qualifications which can be very useful if you decide to get a master’s degree, doctorate of nursing practice or a postgraduate nursing certificate to qualify you as a nurse practitioner or another type of advanced nursing professional. Studying online is now much more accessible for nurses who need to juggle improving their qualifications alongside working full-time, with a wide range of programs to choose from offered by hundreds of colleges and nursing schools around the country.
Different Working Environments
As a nurse, you’re not confined to working in the same environment in the same way that you would in many other careers. In this line of work, you have the option to choose from a wide range of different environments based on your interests and where you feel that you thrive best. For example, some nurses prefer working in busy, hectic environments where they are surrounded by chaos, like the ER, as this is where they are at peak performance. On the other hand, some nurses prefer a quieter and more structured type of day-to-day work and are more suited to working in a doctor’s office or a school where they can enjoy business hours and more predictable work. With the range of different environments for nurses to work in also comes flexible working hours, giving you the chance to truly tailor this career path to your needs and choose from a range of different options to create a career for yourself that fits you best.
Highly Rewarding Work
Often people decide to change their careers because they want to feel like they have more of a purpose in life and want a type of work that allows them to achieve this purpose and fulfilment. If you’re currently working in a career like business or finance, for example, where you feel like your daily life is consumed with making money for other people and you’re not making much of a real impact in the lives of the people that you work with on an everyday basis, nursing could be the ideal career choice for you. People from all upbringings and walks of life can get into nursing; all you need to get started is the desire to help others, a compassionate nature, a lot of empathy, and a willingness to be committed to continuously learning new things and improving yourself.
Why Change Your Career with Nursing with an ABSN?
If you already have a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing subject, you may have heard of the option to get an ABSN qualification to change your career to nursing faster. The ABSN is a specialized type of BSN degree program that is designed specifically for students who have already gained a bachelor’s degree in a different major. It is designed to help you build on the knowledge and skills that you already possess and apply them to nursing while learning more nursing-specific skills and knowledge in order to become qualified and prepared to work in this important, fast-paced career. If you’re looking for a career change but do not like the idea of going back to school for an additional four years to get a second bachelor’s degree to prepare for your new career, getting an ABSN could be the ideal choice for you. These are some of the main benefits of changing your career to nursing with an ABSN:
· Qualify Faster
One of the main reasons why an increasing number of people are deciding to get an ABSN when changing their career to nursing is that it allows you to get qualified as a nurse much faster. Compared to a traditional BSN program which will take around four years to complete, the ABSN takes around half that time, meaning that you could be qualified as a nurse in just two years’ time. This makes it an perfect choice for those who are looking to change their careers sooner rather than later and want to get started in their new line as work as quickly as possible.
· Save Money
In addition to getting your BSN in a shorter time-frame, studying to change your career to nursing with an ABSN means that you can also save a significant amount of money. This is because, for the most part, tuition fees are charged by the year. Since getting an ABSN only takes two years compared to the four years that you would expect to spend getting a BSN, you can usually expect to pay around half the tuition fees, making this an attractive option for anybody who is currently still repaying student loans from their first degree program and does not want to get into any more student debt than is absolutely necessary when it comes to the career change.
· Study Online
Many programs such as this online ABSN program from Wilkes University are available through distance learning, which can make it easier for those who are looking to change their careers to nursing while continuing to work full-time. Juggling full-time work while taking an intensive nursing degree program is not always easy, and if you want your career change to be as seamless as possible, an online nursing degree is often the best option. This is because studying online is typically much more flexible and self-led compared to on-campus degree programs making it easier to fit around your current commitments. In addition to this, changing your career to nursing with an online ABSN program can often be even cheaper as not only will there be lower tuition fees overall to pay with a two-year program but you will also save on many of the associated costs of studying such as commuting or relocating, in addition to being able to earn more money during your time as a student.
· Better Nursing Opportunities
While you can get an associate’s degree in nursing in around the same time as it takes to get your ABSN, it’s often a much wiser decision to go into nursing with a BSN. Today, more and more employers are actively seeking to employ more BSN-educated nurses as it has been proven that they have a very positive effect on the healthcare environment and patient outcomes. In fact, studies have found that patient mortality rate, reinfections, and readmissions to hospital all drop when just 10% more nurses have a BSN. In addition to this, New York State is currently leading the way with the new BSN-in-10 regulation which means that nurses must earn a BSN within ten years of entering the profession, and other states are likely to follow suit meaning that in a few years’ time, having a BSN might be a legal requirement for you to continue working as a nurse.
· Straightforward, Focused Learning
Since ABSN degree programs tend to move at a faster pace and are more intensive compared to regular BSN degree programs due to cramming so much into a shorter period of time, you can usually expect them to be more straightforward, focused and to the point. This makes them an ideal choice of degree program for anybody who is already working healthcare or a health-related field, for example, and simply needs to focus on the knowledge and skills that they need to develop in order to work as a nurse in the future.
If you are tired of your current career because you feel called to do something more meaningful or want a career with better demand and advancement opportunities so that you can develop yourself professionally, changing your career to nursing could be an ideal route to consider. Not only are nurses in very high demand right now, but there are several great opportunities that make it easier than ever for you to facilitate a career change including the ABSN.
