Online Nursing Degrees

Health care workers, especially those with a nursing degree, are some of the most sought after employees in clinics, hospitals, and care facilities around the world. The need for various types of nurses is at an all time high right now and will only continue to grow. The population of the world is growing at an amazing rate and as the population increases, the need for specialists to take care of many of those people also increases. Many people don't have time to attend a traditional school to obtain a degree because the economy is in rough shape and they either can't afford to cut their work hours or have children to take care of and can't afford day care. Online nursing degrees make it easy for you to keep a full-time job and/or take care of your family and still earn that degree that can lead to a rewarding career with great benefits and salary.

Where To Start

The first step to getting your online nursing degree is deciding which school is right for you. Each online school is different and they all have varying levels of tuition, scheduling, and the amount of time it will take to get your degree. Different schools also offer different degrees. If you check an online program through the University of Phoenix, for example, you'll see that they offer a whopping total of 19 different nursing and health care classes. These range from associates degrees all the way up to a doctorate. DeVry University, on the other hand, offers just a couple associates degrees and one bachelors.

Each online school will offer you something to sign up. If you are lucky, this will be a free laptop or some type of discount on your first few books. The best thing you can do is make a list of the schools you like and contact each one to ask about details. Make sure to ask about tuition, how long until you get the degree, workload of half-time vs full-time, and if you can take breaks between semesters without being penalized. You never know when something unexpected happens and you are unable to attend for a semester or two.

Different Types Of Online Nursing Degrees

Nursing degrees come in many shapes and sizes. The basic degree levels can be broken down into: Certificate/Diploma, Associates, Bachelors, Masters of Science and Ph. D. Something nice about this setup is as you gain a new degree and decide to get a job with it, you can work towards your next degree. This means a significant salary jump every 2-4 years until you have the degree you are truly shooting for.

A certificate or diploma only takes about one year to complete and you will usually become a Licensed Practical Nurse or LPN. An LPN makes around $14-$24 per hour depending on where you live and what kinds of facilities are operating there. This is a great first step for anyone who wants to continue on the path to an RN or specialized degree. The extra wages you make as an LPN might allow you to cut down on your total work hours so you can really focus on further education.

Associates degrees typically take about 2 years and is the next step to earning a bachelor's degree should you choose to pursue it. With this degree, you will graduate as a Registered Nurse or RN. Registered nurses are in extremely high demand all around the world.

Bachelor's degrees in Nursing, commonly called a BSN, is the most preferred type of degree that hospitals and specialized facilities will look for. This degree takes 4 years but if you are an RN, you can find a bridge program so you can complete this gradually. RN's have an extremely busy schedule so many online schools are extremely flexible with your class scheduling. Many hospitals will cover some if not all of the expenses to complete your BSN.

Masters Degrees, commonly called MSN, will take an additional 18-24 months after your BSN but will allow you to pick a very specific specialty area to work in. This could be advanced clinical training, administration, oncology nursing, and many, many more fields. This really lets you put all of your training and passion into one area.

Where Can You Work With An Online Nursing Degree?

With a nursing degree, you can work in almost any type of facility that could need a nurse. A short list of these facilities are: Hospital, group home, mental health facility, developmentally disabled facility, home health services, schools, prisons, research labs, and much, much more.

Every level of nursing degree, from certificate to Master's, will offer you the chance to work with the public and be a very helpful member of your community. The entire population is getting older and this is putting pressure on the nursing community so the demand for nurses of all credentials is extremely high.