The demand for good nurses today is higher than ever before, leading to an increase in the number of nursing educational programs available. With the gender gap in nursing closing and more men moving into this caring and well-respected career, there are now more ways to become a nurse than ever before.
Online study has become a popular option with student nurses since it offers a wide range of benefits compared to studying on campus, especially if you are changing your career. Online nursing students have more flexibility and freedom, which often allows them to continue working full-time while studying and helps them save money while getting their education. Here are some of the main reasons why online nursing degrees are becoming more popular.
Various Programs Available
When it comes to the range of options that are available to study nursing online, you have a wealth of different programs to choose from. Whether you are just starting your journey and want to achieve a BSN or are already a nurse and want to advance your career with one of the DNP FNP programs from Baylor University, there are countless options available and many different ways to take advantage of online study. Some student nurses prefer a blended program option where they spend some time on-campus and the rest studying online, while others do better on completely flexible online programs where they can take charge of how and when they would like to study.
Fit Studying Around Your Lifestyle
An online nursing degree is a perfect choice for anybody who has a busy lifestyle and lots of commitments. Whether you’re already working full-time and want to change your career by getting your nursing degree, or you’re juggling family commitments and more, an online degree gives you the freedom and flexibility to fit it around your life rather than having to adjust your life to make room for studying.
Save Money
The idea of being in thousands of dollars worth of student debt, plus the cost of everything else associated with going to college to get your nursing degree can be quite off-putting. The good news is that although online nursing degrees might not be free, they can be a good way to save money. Even if the tuition fee that you pay is the same as attending college, there are definitely fewer expenses involved when you decide to study online. There is no need to consider relocating to go to the college or school of your choice, and since you are able to study from home, you won’t spend a lot of money commuting. If you are currently working full-time, studying online means that there’s less need to reduce your hours as you can fit studying around your job.
Stress Less
Getting a degree while working and dealing with other commitments can be difficult and stressful. With an online degree, there is definitely less stress involved since you are in charge the majority of the time. When you take an online nursing degree, you can work at your own pace and study at the times that suit you best, allowing you to put together a unique schedule that works for you and keeps your stress levels down by providing a way of doing things that fits your lifestyle.
Learn New Skills
There are definitely plenty of skills to be learned when getting a degree in nursing, but when you study online, you can pick up and develop even more transferable skills that you can take to the workplace in the future. In order to succeed, online students need to become very skilled at managing themselves and their time, staying organized and communicating effectively with their tutors and peers in order to stay on top of the workload, group projects, and more. As you study online and are given all the responsibility of figuring out what works best for you, it’s important to grow your self-awareness and self-motivation skills.
Socialize
Many people mistakenly believe that getting an online degree is a very lonely experience, but the good news is that this is usually not the case. In fact, online schools and degree programs have a lot of social aspects to them, too. Many will have chat rooms where the students can get to know one another before, during, and after online classes, and some will set up social media groups that students can use to make friends and build relationships. One of the best parts of learning online is that it is open to students from around the world, so it’s a great way to make friends from a huge range of different places.
Improve Employability
Today, online degree programs have gone from qualifications that many employers were once skeptical of, to programs that tend to be well-respected. By getting your nursing degree online, you can demonstrate to future employers that you can be trusted to work well alone and as part of a team. People who study for their degree online tend to be capable of keeping themselves motivated, coming up with strong solutions to problems and have a lot of integrity – all of which are very much sought-after traits in nursing.
Career Options
With an online BSN in nursing, there are so many further career options available to you. Once you have achieved your degree, you can go on to get a master’s in nursing, become a nurse practitioner, specializing in a certain type of patient or disease, become a nurse educator, work in research, and much more. One of the best things about getting your nursing degree online is that along with being flexible and self-led, it is a degree that truly improves your career outlook in a way that’s hard to match. The field of nursing is highly diverse and constantly evolving, giving you the opportunity to take your career in any direction once you graduate.
If you’re considering getting an online degree that will provide you with countless career opportunities, help you learn new skills and provide you with a qualification that you can use to make a difference, it’s definitely worth thinking about getting an online nursing degree.
