Factors to Consider for a Nursing Degree

By Jamaica Willson

Earning nursing degrees is far from being easy. For one thing, admission to nursing schools and programs has always been competitive, but in the past ten years or so it has gotten much more so. There are a few reasons for this. One of the biggest ones is that America is experiencing a severe shortage of nurses.

A nursing career presents several benefits and top on the list is good pay as well as the opportunity to get employment within a short timeline. Some of the things you need to consider therefore include the following.

Money -Going through nursing school is expensive and for this reason, it is important to determine how you intend to fund your education. At any given time, you have several options to choose from and for this reason, it is important to settle on a payment plan that works well for your needs. For instance, you can rely on scholarships. There are different types of scholarships offered on the basis of the nursing program been pursued or the specific needs of the student. Alternatively, you can get education loans and fund your education. Regardless of what you choose, it is important to ensure you settle with an option that perfectly addresses your needs.

Part of the blame also lies with government, at both the state and federal level. These entities knew decades ago that the huge wave of Baby Boomer retirements would lead to a massive burden on our nation's health care system, and would require many more trained health professionals to deal with, and they knew exactly when it would happen, yet they've done little or nothing to address the problem. Government should have gone about funding the creation of many more nursing programs and medical schools to gear up to meet these shortages, but they didn't. Now it's a bit too late to start addressing the problem, as it takes years and years to commission, design, build, fund, accredit and staff such schools and programs.

Does this mean that you can't get into nursing schools unless you're a member of Phi Beta Kappa? No; not at all. So don't despair; while nursing schools admissions are competitive, they're not exactly cutthroat yet, or at the level of schools like Harvard and Yale.

More importantly, before pursuing any nursing degree, it is important to ensure that you have an interest in the selected field. This is important as it gives you the tenacity to complete the program and acquire the degree.

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You may find here more information about available options in RN to BSN Programs in Illinois and RN to BSN Programs in Indiana