Whether you are already working in healthcare and want to fast-track your way into a nursing career or are considering a complete change of career from a different field into nursing, an accelerated nursing program could be the ideal way to meet your goal of becoming a nurse sooner. With the right combination of dedication, hard work, and commitment, ambitious aspiring nurses can use accelerated programs to compete their BSN and qualify as a registered nurse in less than two years. Regardless of your professional background, if you have decided that nursing is the right career choice for you, there are many benefits of taking an accelerated nursing program to consider.
Healthcare Experience Isn’t Required
Accelerated nursing degree programs are often a popular choice with people who are currently working in healthcare and want to switch to nursing, which has led many to believe that you will need to have previous experience in this field or possess a relevant degree in order to be eligible. However, while some healthcare experience can be beneficial, you can certainly qualify as a nurse with an accelerated BSN program regardless of your experience or professional background. Many accelerated degree program options allow anybody with a bachelor’s degree in any subject to enroll and put their previously earned credits towards becoming a registered nurse.
Qualify Faster
If you’ve decided on a career change into nursing and want to hit the ground running as soon as possible, an accelerated degree program option is likely going to be the best choice for you. Unlike regular BSN programs that can take up to four years to complete, an accelerated BSN degree can earn you the same qualification in around half the time or less. There are also flexible options available that allow you to choose how long you would like to take to qualify to get your nursing degree, allowing you an easy way of changing if the workload becomes too much or your situation changes at any point.
Study Online
Due to the flexible nature of online degree programs, it is no surprise that this is often the top choice of delivery method for online programs like the Marymount accelerated nursing degree. Studying online is a great option for anybody who is considering changing their career with an accelerated nursing program since it allows you the flexibility to design your own personal study schedule and even fit your education around working in your current job.
Save Money
If the cost of attending college to qualify as a nurse is your main concern right now, the good news is that an accelerated nursing program could provide you with the ideal way to save money. Since these programs will often take half the time to complete compared with a traditional BSN, that means half the tuition fees to pay. And, many accelerated nursing programs are offered online, giving you the chance to save even more money in many further areas of your study. For example, studying online means that you get to save on transport costs, relocation, study materials and much more, making it often significantly cheaper compared to traditional classroom learning even if the tuition fees do not differ.
Learn Valuable Skills
Using an accelerated nursing program to qualify as a registered nurse gives you the chance to learn a variety of important skills in an exciting and fast-paced environment. Throughout the program, you will need to learn how to manage your time well and improve your skills in areas such as organization and efficiency in order to get everything done on time. You’ll also need to become skilled at researching and improve your communication skills so that you can effortlessly get your point across to others, clearly understand instructions and work well as part of a team.
Range of Program Options
With the current nursing shortage inspiring many people to change their career and work as a nurse, the range of options available for training and education is getting better and better. Today, aspiring nurses who want to qualify quickly and get into the workforce as soon as possible have many options to choose from, including online and campus-based study. Whatever your goals and needs for the present and the future, you are sure to find an accelerated nursing program that is a good fit for you.
Earn Respect
An accelerated nursing program is no easy task, cramming what most nurses take four years to learn into half that time or even less. As a result, you know that in your career, you are going to earn the respect of your colleagues and future employers. Studying for an accelerated nursing program could provide your resume with an instant boost, particularly as healthcare employers know just how much hard work has to go into this program in order to be successful.
Why a Career in Nursing?
Along with the high demand for nurses leading to a multitude of different training options to help anybody get into this profession, there are several reasons to consider choosing a career in nursing. As one of, if not the most caring profession in the world, nurses have a job that is highly rewarding and fulfilling in so many different ways. Some of the main reasons to consider pursuing a career in nursing with an accelerated nursing degree program include:
Highly Rewarding Work
As a nurse, it is hard to have a day on the job where you are not having a positive impact on others. You will often be on the front line of healthcare and the first friendly face that people will see when they are going through a tough time. At the end of the day, you might be tired from working so hard, but you can go home with a smile on your face and feel warm inside after being able to help so many people all day long. Nurses are remembered and respected for their kindness, and often provide light and love to people during some of the hardest days of their lives.
Financially Rewarding Work
For many nurses, the biggest reward is knowing that they have made a difference to their patients. But money is important no matter what job you do, so you will be glad to hear that nurses will often enjoy a very generous salary, with Licensed Practical Nurses starting at an average of $45k per year and registered nurses earning even more. Along with the salary, nurses also typically enjoy great career benefits including generous insurance packages that offer coverage for themselves and their families.
Career Progression
If the idea of working in a career where there isn’t much room to grow and progress sounds like your worst nightmare, you will be glad to hear that nursing could not be any different. As a nurse, you will have an endless array of options in front of you when it comes to what you would like to do with your career. As you gain experience as a registered nurse, you may find that you have more of an interest in certain aspects of nursing than others and choose to focus heavily on these areas to become a specialist nurse.
On the other hand, there are multiple options to consider if you want to progress through the ranks and earn promotions. Many nurses are becoming nurse practitioners; a role that offers more autonomy and responsibility, including the authorization to diagnose and prescribe medication in many states. Many career-minded nurses have gone on to become nurse leaders, managers, and executives of hospitals and other healthcare companies, while nurses who want to make an impact on the next generation of healthcare professionals move into teaching and mentoring.
High Demand
Finding work as a nurse is never going to be a difficult task. Wherever you go in the country, the nursing shortage is having an impact everywhere. As a result, nurses have a lot of freedom when it comes to where they would like to work. With such high levels of demand everywhere, you could easily pass the board exam in any state and find work very quickly. This makes nursing the ideal choice of career for people who enjoy moving around or are considering relocating in the future. Unlike many other career choices, you don’t have to worry about the possibility of not being able to find work once you move.
Travel Nursing
Another great option for nurses who want to see more of the world is travel nursing. As a travel nurse, not only will you be paid more than traditional nurses, but you’ll also get to see more of the world as you do your job. In this position, you will typically be working with an agency that will send you to various different locations around the country or even worldwide. This could involve helping out at hospitals that are currently under a lot of pressure from a shortage of nurses or offering your caring services in places that have suffered crises such as natural disasters.
Different Work Environments
When most people think of nursing, they will usually picture the traditional job of the nurse in a hospital. However, hospitals are certainly not the only workplace setting that you can choose from in this career. Nurses have a variety of options to work in a wide range of different places. They are often vital parts of doctor’s offices and clinics, pharmacies, nursing homes, prisons, schools, and other places within the communities that they serve. Some nurses will work directly with patients within the community offering care and support in homes. Other nurses who prefer to work behind the scenes rather than directly with the patients might play a key role in healthcare administration, policy, management, and research.
Flexible Hours Available
Since nurses are needed around the clock, it’s fair to say that many nurses have their pick of hours. While there are always going to be the needs of the hospital or healthcare institution to keep in mind, many nurses are able to specify which hours they would prefer to work in line with their family commitments or other items on their schedule. This flexibility makes nursing an excellent choice of career for parents, students, or anybody else who needs to fit lots of other things around their professional life.
It’s a Social Job
If you like the idea of working with people from all different walks of life and getting the chance to meet and get to know new people every day, nursing could be the ideal choice of career for you. After graduating with an accelerated BSN program, you will be working with patients of all different ages, races, backgrounds, and more. It is the perfect job for anybody who likes the idea of working with a hugely diverse group of people on a day-to-day basis and getting to know more about the society that they live in.
Lifelong Learning Opportunities
The career of a nurse is one in which you will never stop learning new things. From training programs and advanced degrees that you can use to further your career or focus on your area of specialty, to keeping up with the ever-evolving healthcare industry today, nurses always have the chance to learn new things on a day-to-day basis. In fact, ongoing education for nurses is so important that some states have made it mandatory for nurses to take annual exams to ensure that their knowledge and skills are up to date. There are always going to be new diseases that you will need to learn how to treat, new techniques and practices in patient care, new policies, new machinery and tools, and new guidelines to follow; this is a career that certainly keeps you mentally stimulated and allows you to foster a love of lifelong learning.
If you want a career where you can help others and make a real difference, an accelerated nursing program might be for you. If you already hold a bachelor’s degree, you can use these programs to get into nursing and enjoy all the benefits of this career even sooner.
