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Accelerated Nursing Programs for Non-traditional Students

Key Takeaways

  • Accelerated Path: Offers a faster route for non-traditional students who want to switch to nursing from another field. 
  • Intensive Workload: These programs pack years of nursing education into just 12-24 months.
  • Career Advantages: Non-traditional students bring diverse professional experiences that enhance their nursing capabilities.
  • Challenges: The fast pace requires excellent time management and may involve balancing work and study.

There are many possible paths that can be taken to become a nurse. Not everyone targets a career in the nursing field right from the start, and that’s okay. Great nurses can come from many different backgrounds, which is why accelerated nursing programs for adults are so widely available.

Through an accelerated program, it may be possible to switch from your career in a completely unrelated field to get started in nursing in the near future. There will be plenty of hard work along the way, of course, but the right program will support you and make it possible to achieve your goals.

As you think about making this move to become a nurse, it’s a great idea to collect as much information as possible. Use the page below to get started understanding some of your options for the best accelerated BSN for non-traditional students, and you’ll be a big step closer to entering the career of your dreams.

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What is a Non-traditional Student in Nursing?

To understand what it means to be a “non-traditional” nursing student, it’s helpful to consider the definition of a “traditional” student. The standard student entering nursing school is coming straight out of high school, enrolling in college, and going into a four-year program to obtain their BSN. That might be the standard path, but it’s certainly not the only one.

Anyone who doesn’t fit into that mold or program is going to be defined as a “non-traditional” nursing student. To be clear, that’s not a bad thing – in fact, there can be some great advantages to taking a different path to wind up as a nurse. Non-traditional student nursing programs embrace what makes these students special and valuable. And it arms them with the skills and knowledge they need to make a difference in the healthcare industry.

Why Enter an Accelerated Nursing Program?

There are many great attributes that non-traditional students bring to nursing school – and to the nursing field – including experience in other professional areas that can translate to their work as a nurse. With that said, many feel that time is not on their side since they have spent some years in other areas and will be older than many other new nurses who are just getting started.

Fast-track nursing programs for older students are able to address this concern by moving students through a program in roughly half the time of a standard program. The traditional track to receive a BSN takes around four years, but an accelerated nursing education for career changers can make it happen in around two or fewer. This is a huge opportunity to make a career change faster than you might have thought possible previously. You’ll still learn everything that you need to know to work effectively as a nurse, and you will be able to get a license and start applying for jobs before you know it.

Anticipating Some Likely Challenges

So far, everything sounds pretty good with regard to quick nursing degrees for non-traditional learners. And, to be sure, there is a lot to like, but we need to highlight some of the challenges that you are likely to face, just so you know what to expect. This section isn’t meant to turn you away from the idea of accelerated BSN options for mature students, but rather it will give you the information you need to plan appropriately and get ready for this exciting challenge.

The primary challenge you are going to face is simply the difficulty of the work that is required in nursing school. Nurses are valuable resources in the healthcare world because they are well-versed on many topics and able to deal with plenty of different challenges. That’s an outstanding asset in a hospital or clinic setting, but building up all of that knowledge and competency is hard work. A traditional nursing track is plenty challenging when spread over four years, so the difficulty is turned up even higher when everything is done in just two.

Another big issue here is the likely situation that you are going to have to work while going to school at the same time. Traditional nursing students right out of high school usually just go to college and spend their time studying. Nursing programs for second-career adults usually target those who are going to keep working to pay the bills while going to school and before transitioning into nursing. Managing to overcome this hurdle and reach graduation day is going to take impressive time management and a commitment to seeing your goal through all the way to the end. Even when your schedule is packed and you have a ton to do, make sure to prioritize some time for self-care to maintain your perspective and well-being.

How to Get Into an Accelerated Nursing Program

A fast-track BSN for non-traditional entrants is going to have some prerequisite requirements that you’ll need to meet in order to get into the program. For starters, this usually means holding a bachelor’s degree in another discipline outside of nursing. It doesn’t particularly matter what area of study you pursued when getting your bachelor’s initially, but you will need to hold one from an accredited college or university before going any further down this road.

When it comes time to apply for a program that you think would be a good fit, make it a point to write a detailed personal statement on why you want to be a nurse and what you see yourself doing with this education in the future. Not only will your passion for nursing need to come through, but also do what you can to highlight how your existing professional experience will translate to both the educational process and your nursing future. These kinds of programs can be difficult and competitive to enter, so including as much impressive information about what you’ll bring to the table can only help your chances.

An Exciting Career Path

Even as you are at the start of this journey and looking up at a lot of schoolwork and learning to become a nurse, it’s helpful to dream about that future and what it will look like. This vision can help provide you with motivation while you are dealing with the long nights studying and the challenge of balancing work, life, and school.

As soon as you graduate and become a licensed nurse, you’ll be able to start applying for jobs in your area – or in an area where you would like to live and work. There are many different types of facilities that hire nurses, including hospitals, clinics, community health buildings, and more. If you have experience from your previous career with things like team leadership and communication, those points on your resume might help you stand out compared to younger applicants who are just getting started.

The other exciting thing about becoming a nurse is there are even more growth opportunities within the field. If you felt like there was a ceiling over what you could accomplish in your previous work life, that won’t be the case in nursing. Once you start to build your career and advance through the ranks, you might even decide to go back for more schooling to add to your resume and make yourself eligible for roles with greater responsibilities and larger salaries.

Don’t let your categorization as a “non-traditional” student deter you from pursuing the career that you feel like you are meant to have. Accelerated nursing pathways for adult learners are available precisely for this reason – many great nurses have started their education during their adult years and have gone on to excellent careers and helped countless patients along the way. We hope the information on this page has been helpful and wish you the best of luck moving forward!