How do I crunch these numbers???

[Twix4890]

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Definitely want to be in a healthcare profession, 100%. But at 27 with substantial undergrad debt, I need to be reasonable.

I was leaning towards an accelerated BSN since one of the major pro's is the length of the program, and also the ability to pursue the NP route afterwards. I have all pre-req's complete and CNA experience in LTC and pediatric home health. Could potentially start this program next fall but I don't know if the additional debt (around 40k) is feasible. I make around 40k now and could NOT take on additional loan payments with a similar salary as a new nurse. Of course an NP salary would be able to support a bigger loan payment but I'm not sure I could out from under the pile of debt to get there

ADN nursing programs are cheaper, but could I find a full-time job right away? Also, what about length of program and lost income potential? I hear a lot about that but am not quite sure how to factor it in to my decisions. If i'm going to spend an additional 2 years in school it logically seems like I should use those two years to pursue PA or PT as careers. Higher starting salaries and better job market for new grads, but also more in loans, and it would take me an additional year to be able to start a program IF I got in on the first try.

I think I would have a better shot at getting into PT school vs PA, based on my lower level experience and the fact that some additional PA pre-req's are not offered in night or weekend course where I am.

Apologies if this post is all over the place, but I would appreciate any insight from people working in these fields; I'm more than a little worried about making a VERY expensive mistake and either being stuck with a salary that doesn't support my debt or wasting years of lost potential income just trying to get into a program. I've done my shadowing, gained some experience and done lots of research. I can see myself working in any of these professions so it may realistically come down to logistics

Thanks everyone!

 

[pamac]

Definitely want to be in a healthcare profession, 100%. But at 27 with substantial undergrad debt, I need to be reasonable.

I was leaning towards an accelerated BSN since one of the major pro's is the length of the program, and also the ability to pursue the NP route afterwards. I have all pre-req's complete and CNA experience in LTC and pediatric home health. Could potentially start this program next fall but I don't know if the additional debt (around 40k) is feasible. I make around 40k now and could NOT take on additional loan payments with a similar salary as a new nurse. Of course an NP salary would be able to support a bigger loan payment but I'm not sure I could out from under the pile of debt to get there

ADN nursing programs are cheaper, but could I find a full-time job right away? Also, what about length of program and lost income potential? I hear a lot about that but am not quite sure how to factor it in to my decisions. If i'm going to spend an additional 2 years in school it logically seems like I should use those two years to pursue PA or PT as careers. Higher starting salaries and better job market for new grads, but also more in loans, and it would take me an additional year to be able to start a program IF I got in on the first try.

I think I would have a better shot at getting into PT school vs PA, based on my lower level experience and the fact that some additional PA pre-req's are not offered in night or weekend course where I am.

Apologies if this post is all over the place, but I would appreciate any insight from people working in these fields; I'm more than a little worried about making a VERY expensive mistake and either being stuck with a salary that doesn't support my debt or wasting years of lost potential income just trying to get into a program. I've done my shadowing, gained some experience and done lots of research. I can see myself working in any of these professions so it may realistically come down to logistics

Thanks everyone!

40k for an accelerated bsn is a lot, given your situation, especially if you can get into an ADN program. Many places are preferring bsn's these days, so find out if you are in one of those places. When I started with my ADN, nobody cared where I am. We have several bsn programs in the area, and even with them flooding the market, pretty much everyone in my program got a job within 2 months... Most of them in their preferred department. A good thing to help you would be to get on as a cna at a hospital before school starts, and that might get you an in. I was able to work through school, and my hospital paid for school as well. You can do a fairly quick bridge program to go from your ADN to bsn, and do so fairly cheap (and often have that paid for by the facility). But 40k for a bsn doesn't seem like a good deal unless you are absolutely certain that you won't have a prayer of gettin hired without the bsn.

I make well over 40k, and get as much overtime as I'd like to pick up. Usually, I plan for one extra shift (12 hrs) at time and a half. Differential for weekend, night, or evening kicks in as well when those circumstances apply. I'm too new to charge, but were I to do that, I'd get a significant increase there. If I get a call asking me to come in and pick up a shift, if I need some urging, they will sometimes throw in a pretty fat gift card to sweeten the deal. I've only had this offered once and I couldn't take them up on it because I was truly tied up, but my friend who did help out said it was for 100 bucks to a retail store. So that particular shift for a new nurse garnered them 100 bones+night diff+weekend diff+overtime @time and a half. If management wouldn't have given the nurse the gift card, they would have sent them home early at 7 hours due to the census lightening up, but went ahead and had them stay (and worked thier butt off). Not bad for a person working retail before they got their associates degree. It's not PA style wages, but they aren't in PA style debt either. I bought most of a house with a healthy chunk of what I didn't pay to attend PA school. I'm looking at starting NP school next year.

I'd look at your situation and factor in the local variables. The thing that I think will make nursing safer is the fact that you don't have a bird in hand as far as PA school... In other words, you have no idea how long it will take to get a PA school to pick you up. You'll have to sink more money into it just to get in position to apply (which may be the case for nursing for all I know). But I had the choice to re apply to Pa school when I didn't get I to my most logical choice school (ie most reasonable economically), and instead of wait a year, I went to the nursing school I applied to at the same time. I don't look back. If I want to, I can go to PA school or NP school now. Sure I'm out the two years of the difference in Pa wages minus what I now make, which in my area comes to about 15k based on how I've been working, but I can do np school at much cheaper than PA school.

Numbers played into my decision fairly heavily, especially when combined with my desires to stay as local to where I am as I could. In your case, with 40k on top of PA school debt and lost income, you'll be heavily invested if you go PA. But my current job is definately different than what a PA or NP does, and it can be a beast. I am a go getter, and you don't find me sitting around much. Not every path to becoming an NP involves working your guts out, though. I'd make sure you are fine with the nursing world before you go to school to become one. And shadow a nurse if you can. The cna's I work with might think they know what I do, but they don't quite get the planning, paperwork, and time management involved in pulling off a really successful shift.