Career change time via Excelsior

I'm a nurse who's registered with Excelsior, as I was working towards my next nursing degree, but the field has lost its luster for me, especially as I now work in a wheelchair and my opportunities have become pretty narrow.

I was thinking about alternate fields I could use my skills in, and librarian popped into view. A friend of mine suggested that I might consider being a medical librarian, and the folks at Florida State University were pretty gung ho about the idea Now I just have to come up with a BA or BS degree.

I was looking at the BA degrees on the Excelsior website, and the BA in English literature looks pretty doable. I have 60 hours in pre-reqs and such, and I see the GRE can give you up to 30 hours, is that right? I'm a reading fool, and I don't see any trouble in passing that exam with a little study.

I'd be really glad of any advice. My copy of Mr. Bear's book is about 5 years old and I'm awaiting my new one from Amazon, but I'm in a hurry!

 

If you are an RN, what about an option of teaching nursing?

 

I can't stand long enough to teach clinical skills; in fact, I'm gonna have some trouble passing the next clinical exam I have to take. They don't cut much slack for the disabled even though I'm a paper pusher now.

 

Hi,

A couple of things to note regarding the Librarian profession:

The majority of Librarians (especially Medical Librarians) have a Master's degree in Library and/or Information Science (MLS) from an ALA (American Library Association) accredited institution. There are many 100% online, ALA accredited, MLS programs available.

If your intent is to become a Medical Librarian, then I would usually suggest completing your undergrad in one of the sciences (biology, chemistry, etc.). This is not a requirement for becoming a Medical Librarian, but it certainly does help to get your foot in the door. Although, since you are a Nurse (presumably with an RN), this becomes less important for you.

I am including below several links that may be of interest to you.

American Library Association - http://www.ala.org/
The ALA is the official accrediting body for MLS degrees in the U.S. There are some MLS degrees out there from legitimate RA (regionally accredited) schools, however the ALA accreditation is almost mandatory at this point if you want a good job following graduation.

ALA Education and Careers Page - http://www.ala.org/ala/education/educationcareers.htm

Listing of ALA accredited MLS programs available 100% online:

1. Clarion University of Pennsylvania
2. Drexel University
3. Florida State University
4. North Carolina Central University
5. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
6. San Jose State University
7. Southern Connecticut State University
8. Texas Woman's University (Conditional)
9. University of Alabama
10. University of Puerto Rico
11. University of Southern Mississippi
12. University of Tennessee
13. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
14. Valdosta State University

The above information may be found by using the ala.org search ((http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=lisdirb&Template=/cfapps/lisdir/index.cfm) The one addition that I added to this list was Valdosta State, since this program was just recently accredited by the ALA.

Medical Library Association - http://www.mlanet.org/

MLA Grants & Scholarships Page - http://www.mlanet.org/awards/grants/index.html

Special Libraries Association - (corporate librarians, working in a variety of settings, including pharmaceutical companies)
http://www.sla.org/


Another option for you if you decide to continue working as a Nurse, is to find a job with a pharmaceutical or medical industry company. You could find work in the customer contact center of these organizations. The company I work for (a major biopharma company) employees numerous RN's in this capacity. If this type of work sounds appealing to you, then I would recommend completing your BSN to expand your opportunities a bit more. Don't let your disability interfere with continuing a career in nursing (if that's still what you are passionate about).


Good luck!
- Tom

 

Getting 30 hours out of a GRE subject exam is not an easy prospect - it'd probably be much less stressful and have higher potential for success to simply plan 30 hours of CLEP/DANTES exams. Try a few GRE practice exams before you commit to that exam - the 30 hours thing isn't for a "passing score" it's for a very high score.

Getting into the MLIS degrees often is not undergraduate major specific - an Excelsior BS in Liberal Studies might be as useful as the BA in English Lit and much easier to complete. Your associates level nursing courses will count in the BS Liberal Studies degree (mine did).

Excelsior is going to require that you get 30 hours upper level - you can do some of this by exam but if you need to do a few courses, look over at Louisiana State Univ. and Brigham Young Univ. (both pretty cost effective for upper level courses).

I'd suggest you take a look at the Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies and see if that wouldn't be an easier wrap-up for you. It's the master's that's going to matter when you want to become a librarian.

 

If you are an RN, then get a business degree and go into hospital administration. It's a cynch, you will be a commodity from day one, and it's not a complete change of carreers, so you won't be starting at the entry level. The CEO of one of my local hospitals is an RN with an EdD. Many (most) of the admin jobs in all three of my local health systems require or prefer an RN license. You will do well.

Good luck.

 

You might want to compare Excelsior College with Thomas Edison State College. Thomas Edison State College does not require a specific number of 300-400-level credit hours and many 200-level courses in transfer map to 300-level credit hours at Thomas Edison State College.

Good luck with your studies and career transition whether into management/administration or library sciences.

 

Good point - another option might be Risk Management.

 

With your background have you consided the insurance business. Lots of opportunities.
Excelsior has a BS in Risk Management and Insurance
https://www.excelsior.edu/portal/page?_pageid=57,446766&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

 

Wow, you guys are full of great ideas. Thanks a lot--you have given me a lot to chew on!

I didn't know about the BS in liberal studies; I'll go look that up right now

I'm used to thinking of administration as the enemy. I'll have to adjust my world view and see if I could fit into their ranks, lol. I don't know much about risk management and some of the other suggestions. I've got my research cut out for me.