Hello, I currently work in corporate security for a large hospital system, and earned my Associate in Criminal Justice in the spring. I am thinking of continuing on for my Bachelor, but am unsure if I should continue in the Criminal Justice track (I only need 57 credits to finish the degree) or consider changing majors to business. I am afraid that staying in CJ will pigeonhole me and should I wish to branch out I won't be able to do so. I appreciate the advice in advance.
Nothing inherently wrong with CJ...but I rather agree that the business degree has greater utility. I would strongly consider the more general business degree and, if you plan to stay with the hospital, work to learn the emergency management, risk, and compliance sides of the business. I started out as a Medic, transitioned to emergency manager/environment of care (EOC) guy, then made the switch into practice management/administration. It's likely I could have accomplished all that with a CJ degree...but I think it would have been harder. I'd further urge you to start thinking of a masters...everyone has a BS/BA these days, a bachelors just isn't the ticket to ride that it once was.
One of the nice things about hospitals as employers is that there are many different types of jobs available. Healthcare is a big employer of business managers, IT people, etc. You're own HR department might be able to help you make some of these decisions as I've heard that hospital systems like to hire/promote from within.
Before I make some recommendations, is this something you'll be paying for out of pocket, or will you have the GI Bill, tuition assistance, employer reimbursement, etc.? The reason I ask is there are several programs that I think would be a good fit for you, but can be very expensive. For but one example, the B.S. in Occupational Safety from Eastern Kentucky University would (IMO) nicely complement your CJ Associate's degree, and would appeal to the always liability-aware corporate world.