Should You Pursue an Accelerated BSN or MSN?

Key Takeaways

Accelerated BSN programs offer a faster path to becoming a Registered Nurse, suitable for those with previous experience.
Accelerated MSN programs require more time and education but open doors to higher-level roles and significantly higher salaries.
Weigh time and financial investments carefully; an MSN offers greater long-term benefits but at a higher upfront cost.
Both degrees have distinct career pathways and advancement possibilities. Your choice must be based on your personal career goals and situation.

Nurses are incredibly important in the modern healthcare landscape. If you’ve been working in or around healthcare in a related field, you may have observed the work that nurses do and decided that you’d like to join their ranks. That could prove to be an incredibly rewarding decision, and accelerated nursing degree options are available to make it happen. But should you choose an accelerated BSN or an MSN?

Specifically, you will want to consider pursuing either a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, known as a BSN, or a Master of Science in Nursing, known as an MSN. Below, you’ll find an in-depth assessment of these two options and what each looks like in practice. If you have been looking for an accelerated BSN versus MSN comparison, the content on this page should help. In just a few minutes, you should have a much clearer picture of which path toward a nursing career is right for your plans.

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Overview of Accelerated BSN and MSN Programs

Before you can even consider an accelerated BSN or MSN for career advancement, you’ll need to understand the basics of what they are and what they’ll do for your career.

Let’s start with a BSN. This is an undergrad-level degree that typically requires four years of education when starting from scratch. However, an accelerated BSN can be completed faster if you have relevant experience in the field that can be turned into credit toward your degree. So, depending on how much experience you have in the field already, you might be able to complete your BSN quite quickly, which will both save you money and allow you to secure a new position as soon as possible.

As you might imagine, an MSN has more educational requirements attached. This is a graduate-level degree that will usually take one or two additional years beyond what was required to secure a BSN. There will be more time, work, and cost involved in getting a Master of Science in Nursing, but the rewards can be significant (more on that later).

Academic and Professional Requirements

At the heart of a BSN program is going to be a wide-ranging nursing education that will prepare students for what they will face once they are employed in a real-world healthcare setting. Those fundamentals include an education in physiology, pharmacology, ethics, patient care techniques, and much more. Any nurse who makes their way into the field is going to need a solid foundation of knowledge across this range of disciplines.

Additionally, further skills will need to be developed in the BSN program, such as abilities like critical thinking, leadership, and teamwork. These aren’t as easy to define as the hard skills that nurses need to hold, but they are essential just the same. Also, a BSN program will need to thoroughly prepare students to successfully pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, as that is the exam that dictates who can become a licensed registered nurse.

As a graduate-level program, it’s not a surprise to find that the coursework faced when pursuing an MSN is going to include additional challenges and topics of study. There are more specializations available in an MSN program, such as paths that will lead to becoming a nurse educator, administrator, and more. Extensive clinical training is also often part of the MSN experience, as is further development of leadership and management skills.

Career Pathways and Advancement Possibilities

While pursuing a BSN or MSN can both leave you holding the position of nurse at the end of your education and training, these are different pathways with varied possibilities for the future. You’ll want to consider specifically what you want to get out of your career before deciding which way to go.

Opting for accelerated nursing pathways like an accelerated BSN program is a reliable path to becoming a Registered Nurse. As an RN, you’ll be able to offer care directly to patients in many different settings, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics, and more. It’s also possible for RNs to specialize in certain types of care, so you will have the potential to pursue something that is important and meaningful to you. For example, if mental health is a topic that you relate you, you might seek out employment in that area – or, you could become a pediatric nurse if you want to care for kids.

There are many possibilities that are opened up when you secure a BSN and become a Registered Nurse. And, there is the potential for promotion in the future, with charge nurse and nurse supervisor just a couple of the potential titles you could hold.

Speaking of promotions and advancement, that’s the primary reason you might want to consider committing to the additional education required for an MSN. At this level, you can still become an RN, but many more possibilities exist beyond that level. BSN vs MSN salary potential is strongly tilted in favor of the MSN, as here is significantly more earning potential for those with this title, including becoming Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives, and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists. If any of those positions sound like what you want to pursue in your professional career, it’s going to be necessary to study at the graduate level.

The Investment of Time and Money

For any educational opportunity, there are two primary investments that need to be made – time and money. Overlooking either of these key factors could leave you in a less-than-desirable position in the future.

First, let’s talk about the time factor. You need to lay out a timeline for your education and what that would mean for your career moving forward. If you are early in your career and are just getting started in adult life, you might not feel much of a time crunch – you have plenty of space to invest time in your education and open up greater career potential. So, in that position, going after an MSN could make sense, and you might not be worried about the additional years that it will take to get there.

On the other hand, someone who is making a career switch a bit later in life might have a different feeling about the number of years they want to invest in pursuing a nursing education. Getting an MSN for the potential of future promotions and advancement may not be appealing if the individual doesn’t plan on working long enough to reach those levels. One of the biggest benefits of accelerated BSN programs is that they speed up your timeline and allow you to get to work as soon as possible.

Of course, we can’t ignore the role that money is going to play in this discussion. There is a cost associated with going to school, and the longer you go to school, the more it is going to cost. So, while one of the big advantages of MSN degrees is the greater earning potential, it is going to come with a higher upfront cost, meaning some of those future earnings are going to be offset by the investment made in the education.

While weighing the costs of nursing school and deciding which track is appropriate for you, be sure to think about any scholarship opportunities that might be available. If you can secure some financial aid, including grants that you might be eligible to apply for, that can change the math that you do regarding the cost of your education, and might make it more viable to enter an MSN program. Loans are always a possibility, as well, but remember to factor paying those loans back into your calculations when you think about what you may be able to earn down the line.

Which Nursing Degree is Right for You?

So, what’s the best nursing path: BSN or MSN? It would be misleading to suggest that one of these pathways is “better” than the other. The reality is that both can be viable options for achieving a rewarding, stable career in the nursing profession. Do you have to take the step of going after an MSN if you want to have a great career? No. Can you do everything that you might want to achieve in nursing if you hold a BSN? Again, no. There are certain parts of this profession that will only be unlocked if you have an MSN, but that doesn’t mean going after that level of education is going to be the right choice for everyone.

Getting Started

Which nursing degree is right for you? Choosing between accelerated BSN and MSN programs can be tricky. Take a little bit of time to think about what you have learned on this page to make an informed, logical decision about your future in healthcare. Once you’ve weighed the pros and cons from both sides, you may want to take steps such as reaching out to academic advisors or attending open houses to get even more insight.

Once you make a decision and formally start a new educational path, you want to be fully convicted of your choice. Information is the foundation of confidence, so learn everything you can about these two options and you’ll soon be able to make your selection without any lingering doubts. Good luck on this journey!

Accelerated BSN vs MSN: Which is Best for Me?