Earning a BSN allows you to pursue many bachelor’s in nursing jobs, from emergency room and pediatric nursing to nurse educator and school nurse. Earning a BSN also primes you to pursue high-paying advanced positions, such as nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife.
The nursing degree you earn matters. While there are multiple pathways to becoming a registered nurse, most employers prefer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) for a good reason. Earning a BSN can open many doors for your career, from specialties to advancement opportunities.
If you are a career changer with a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or a transfer student with at least 60 college credits, you might be able to earn a BSN degree on an accelerated timeline. At Felician University in New Jersey, our Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program allows students to earn their BSN in as few as 16 months.
What can you do with a BSN? You can pursue many bachelor’s in nursing jobs both at and away from the bedside, from fast-paced specialties, such as emergency room nursing, to work-from-home opportunities like telehealth nursing.
Why Pursue a Bachelor’s in Nursing?
Is it worth it to get a BSN? While nursing school is a financial and time investment, earning a BSN can be beneficial to your career. A BSN is the minimum requirement for graduate programs, which you will need to enroll in to advance your career and become, for example, an advanced practice registered nurse.
Earning a BSN can also present more career opportunities right after graduation. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, a recent survey revealed that 25% of healthcare facilities require new hires to hold a BSN, and 69.8% of employers strongly prefer BSN graduates.
Read more to learn the top 10 benefits of earning a BSN.
What happens after you earn a BSN? Before practicing as a registered nurse, you must earn your nursing license by passing the NCLEX-RN. Your program will help prepare you for the exam, but it is still recommended that students start independently preparing by reviewing practice questions and completing practice exams at the start of their first semester.
Read more to learn ten tips that can help you pass the NCLEX.
While earning a BSN through a traditional program can take four years, it’s possible to earn a BSN on a faster timeline. Second degree and transfer students can start their nursing education sooner through Felician’s ABSN, which offers three start dates a year, no waitlist and can be completed in as few as 16 months. Our curriculum is founded on Franciscan values and prepares students to holistically treat their patients by emphasizing patient advocacy, communication and leadership.
Our comprehensive nursing coursework establishes core nursing and science concepts, which students apply to hands-on practice in nursing skills and simulation labs. These hands-on labs allow students to practice key nursing skills on high-tech manikins and develop their clinical judgment by navigating simulated medical scenarios.
All the above ultimately prepare students to provide real-world patient care during clinical rotations. Over the years, Felician has fostered partnerships with leading hospitals and providers throughout New Jersey. This is where students, under close supervision, can experience what it’s like to work as a nurse for the first time.
Bachelor’s in Nursing Jobs: Popular Career Paths for BSN Graduates
What can you do with a bachelor’s in nursing? A BSN program provides nursing students with a comprehensive education that enables them to pursue a wide range of nursing specialties. From emergency room nursing to hospice care, many jobs are available to nurses with a BSN.
Emergency Room Nurse
Emergency room nursing is a fast-paced specialty that requires nurses to exercise a wide range of skills. One minute, you could be performing minor wound care, and the next, life-saving measures on a patient experiencing a heart attack. ER nurses must be quick to adapt and remain calm under pressure. If you thrive in fast-paced environments, ER nursing may be right for you.
Labor and Delivery Nurse
Labor and delivery nurses care for women and their children during and after childbirth. They assist the care team of physicians and midwives by monitoring vital signs, managing electronic medical record systems and providing additional support to mothers and newborns.
Pediatric Nurse
Pediatric nurses work with children of all ages and their families. Your patients can range from toddlers to teenagers, and your duties range from treating illnesses and injuries to performing routine assessments. If you choose to pursue pediatric nursing, there are many subspecialties you can explore, including pediatric ICU and oncology nursing.
Geriatric Nurse
Geriatric nurses work with elderly patients, helping them navigate the aging process. Geriatric nurses must have an in-depth understanding of how aging affects the body and common conditions that afflict elderly patients. Geriatric nurses can work in hospitals and nursing homes, where they administer medications, follow treatment plans and assist patients with activities of daily living.
Cardiac Care Unit Nurse
Cardiac care unit nurses specialize in the cardiovascular system. Their patients can experience a wide range of cardiac conditions, from recovering from cardiac surgery to managing coronary artery disease. Cardiac care nurses must be strong communicators, think quickly and calmly respond to medical emergencies.
Medical-Surgical Nurse
Medical-surgical nurses prepare patients for surgery and assist in their recovery. This specialty requires nurses to be quick on their feet and adaptable, as patient conditions can sometimes change rapidly. They must also be compassionate and strong communicators, as patients undergoing surgery will likely have questions and anxieties about the procedure.
Intensive Care Unit Nurse
Intensive care nursing, sometimes called critical care nursing, focuses on patients experiencing severe medical conditions and injuries. These patients must be closely monitored, as catching changes in condition early can save lives. Because of the severity of patient conditions in the ICU, nurses must be highly emotionally resilient, as this department can be emotionally challenging to navigate. That being said, it can also be one of the most rewarding.
Hospice Nurse
Hospice nurses provide care to patients nearing the end of their lives, focusing on improving their comfort and quality of life. This specialty is not for everyone; it requires nurses to be emotionally resilient and empathetic. It also offers the opportunity to forge meaningful nurse and patient relationships. Nurses in hospice care can work in long-term care facilities and patient homes.
Common Bachelor’s in Nursing Jobs Away from the Bedside
If the hustle and bustle of a hospital is not for you, what can you do with a BSN degree besides nursing? Earning a BSN prepares you for various nursing careers, even careers that allow you to help others without directly working one-on-one with patients. Consider the following non-bedside nursing roles:
Nurse Educator
Nurse educators are critical to nursing; they help lead the next generation of nurses. With a national shortage of nurse educators, the demand is high. To become a nurse educator, you must have years of clinical experience and a graduate degree. While this is not a career you can immediately step into after graduating with a BSN, it is still a rewarding healthcare career you can pursue.
Telehealth Nurse
Telehealth nurses treat patients remotely over videoconferencing or the phone. These remote roles have recently grown in popularity because they reduce the spread of infectious diseases and provide easier healthcare access to patients in remote communities or with limited mobility. Of course, telehealth nurses cannot treat every condition virtually, so the types of patient care they can offer are limited.
Forensic Nurse
Forensic nurses treat survivors of violent and traumatic crimes, which requires them to have an empathetic and trauma-informed approach. As a forensic nurse, you would treat patients, collect and document evidence, consult on medical aspects of the case and possibly provide testimony.
Nurse Recruiter
Nurse recruiters help fill open nursing roles for hospitals and healthcare facilities. When nurses go on leave, or staff shortages occur, nurse recruiters are essential in ensuring organizations continue to provide patient care without a lapse in quality.
Many recruitment agencies prefer to hire recruiters with nursing experience, as they are familiar with the unique demands of working in healthcare and have first-hand experience in what it takes to be a nurse.
Nurse Writer
Becoming a nurse writer is one way nurses can still utilize their robust nursing and healthcare knowledge without working in a clinical setting. Nurse writers typically work freelance for healthcare organizations or industry publications, allowing them to set their hours and design their workdays to fit their unique schedules.
Some nurses go on to become medical writers whose work includes medical journal abstracts and educational materials. While not required, some medical writers might benefit from becoming certified in medical writing from the American Medical Writers Association.
Informatics Nurse
Nursing informatics combines nursing, computer and information science to help inform nursing practice and improve patients’ and providers’ clinical experiences. An informatics nurse’s role can vary depending on the facility but will typically focus on improving efficiency and quality of care, optimizing systems, educating staff and managing projects.
School Nurse
School nurses treat children of all ages who are feeling sick or injured. As they work in schools and universities, they have limited resources and must be able to gauge whether a child’s injury or illness requires more intensive care. School nurses also administer prescription medications to the children who have them.
Public Health Nurse
Public health nurses work to promote population health and prevent the risk of disease and disability. Their approach utilizes nursing knowledge, historical health trends and social sciences to identify public health needs, risks and solutions.
Public health nurses work in various settings, such as federal agencies, schools and community health centers. They can work one-on-one with individuals and families but always with a broader focus on community outcomes.
Salary Potential for BSN Graduates
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the 2023 median salary for registered nurses was $86,070. The BLS does not distinguish between salaries based on the degree earned, but employers typically offer more competitive pay to BSN-educated nurses to attract them to the facility.
If employers typically offer more competitive compensation for BSN nurses, then what type of BSN nurses make the most money? The highest pay for registered nurses is reserved for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), including:
- Nurse anesthetists
- Nurse midwives
- Clinical nurse specialists
- Nurse practitioners
According to the BLS, APRNs had a 2023 median salary of $129,480. To become an APRN, you must enroll in a Master of Science in Nursing or Doctor of Nursing Practice program in your chosen specialty.
Earn Your BSN with Felician University
Earning a BSN can give your career the boost it needs. At Felician University, our ABSN program is designed to thoroughly prepare students to become leaders and agents of change in healthcare. Students can choose between our hybrid program in Parsippany, NJ, which combines online coursework with hands-on labs and clinicals, or our entirely on-ground ABSN program at our main campus in Rutherford, New Jersey.
Contact an admissions counselor today to learn more about our ABSN program and the benefits of earning a BSN with Felician University.