What is the best way to get a nursing degree?

what is the fastest way i can get through school to get a nursing degree ? do I have to go through the whole thing of prerequisites and then credits? or can I just go to something like the university of phoenix ? Being a registered nurse is one of my choices in a future carreer and I just want to know the most productive way to get there. also is it best to have a masters degree or will they hire someone with just an associates degree? Basically I am asking what steps i need to do to get to being a registered nurse.

Wow okay please dont listen to other responses above me, they are wrong
There are two kinds of Nurses and ONLY two kinds a LPN or a RN.
LPN only have certificates, not a degree. A LPN is paid less then a RN and must work under the supervision of a RN. In my area LPN's make aroun 35-40,000 while RN's make 60,000. A LPN also can not work in many varied settings, usually Long Term care, Home health ect while RN's can go anywhere
To be a LPN you need around one year of pre reqs, those are; English 101 Math 99 Bio 101 Chem 101 MicroBiology Anatomy and Physiology and Psych 101 and Nutrition. Then the program lasts 4 quaters once you are accepted to a LPN program. After you get your certificate from the school you sit and take the NCLEX-PN and get your license
A RN is a year and a half of pre reqs, similar to LPN with just a few more to go. A RN can either get an associates degree and a community college or a 4 year Bachelors degree and a university. They both take 2 years in the Nursing program to complete. So you are probably wondering where is the difference? Here it is, "usually" bachelor programs have a more managment focus then a community college, thats not always true. The only difference between a AA RN and Bachelor RN is "usually" bachelor RN are the only ones in management type RN jobs.
Regular RN's either AA or Bachelor are paid the same, i repeat PAID THE SAME. Salary differences are based on years of experience. A AA RN may make more then a Bachelor RN if they have double the experience. make sense?
So which one to get AA or Bachelor? Thats up to you. A AA is cheaper and "usually" easier to get into then a 4 year school, depending on your area. I would HIGHLY recommend applying to both, why? Nursing school is fircely competive, more then you can imaging. Increase your chances, apply everywhere
I would say get your Bachelor degree only if you want to go on and get a Masters degree in Nursing. Of course you must get a Bachelor degree before you can get a masters.
Lets say you have your AA RN and want to get a bachelors RN, its about one year to make up the difference. i know i know its silly, they are both paid the same! Like i said its a stepping stone to a masters
So whats a Masters RN? These are RN's that are more focused in one area like Nurse Practitioners and Nurse anesthetist.
With a masters degree depending on what one you get you can make around 100,000 a year. again depends on what one you get.
I hope this clears things up! Remember there is no difference between a RN AA versus a RN bachelor once they are both working, they do the SAME things and are paid the SAME
Good luck!

wow ,Thank you very much Laura !! that really helps me and that is alot of information . thanks so much for taking the time to type all that out , I appreciate it very much and it has helped clear up some of my confusion about it Thanks again Laura! . thanks everyone for your answers as well :) Report It

I don't think you can be a Registered Nurse with an AA degree. That would be more of an LVN, much lower paid.

You COULD become an LVN and go to school on your off times to get your BS and then become a registered nurse.

Then, if you wanted to get into managing the nurses and be a head nurse you would need to continue your education.

Whatever you do, Nursing is THE job to get into now. For sure!

If you want to be an RN you'll definately have to go to a nursing school and go through all of the prerequisites, courses, and training required. You'll definately need your bachelors degree and the masters degree won't hurt you.

Good luck!

If nursing is a career that you are seriously pursuing, then you should definetly should get your bachelor's degree. There is no quick way to become a nurse and to get your bachelor's degree will take about 4 years (some rare programs offer a fast track and you can finish a semester early). The easiest way to finish is to make sure you get great (not good) grades during the prereqs so you are accepted into a nursing school the first time you apply. If nursing is something you are just kinda thinking about then you could become an RN with an associates degree, but if you like the profession then you will find yourself going back to school again when you could have just done it all the first time. Good luck!