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Career change scenario

How to change careers to nursing while you still have a day job

By the LeapSteps team. Updated . Facts checked .

Quick answer

If you already hold a bachelor's degree in another field, the quickest route into nursing is an accelerated program: 11 to 18 months, prerequisites included. Take the science prerequisites while you keep your job, check how recent each school wants them, and plan for the program itself to be full time.

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Where you're starting from

This page is for one situation: you have a bachelor's degree in another field and a full-time job, and you want to become a registered nurse. Here is what that move involves, from the sources.

  • Three routes, one license

    • Registered nurses usually take one of three paths: a bachelor's degree in nursing, an associate's degree in nursing or a diploma from an approved program.
    • Accelerated programs exist for people who already hold a bachelor's degree in another field.
    • Every registered nurse needs a license from the state where they work, which means graduating from an approved program and passing a qualifying exam.
    • Employers, particularly hospitals, may require a bachelor's degree.
    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

  • What an accelerated program asks

    • An accelerated bachelor's program takes 11 to 18 months, prerequisites included.
    • Courses run full time with no breaks between sessions, with the same clinical hours as a traditional program.
    • Programs typically require at least a 3.0 GPA, and students are encouraged not to work.
    • In 2025 there were 340 accelerated bachelor's programs, with 29,421 students enrolled.
    American Association of Colleges of Nursing

  • The job you're aiming at

    • The median pay for registered nurses was $97,550 a year in May 2025.
    • About 180,800 openings are projected each year from 2025 to 2035.
    • Licensing rules beyond the exam, such as a criminal background check, vary by state, and each state's board of nursing sets them.
    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

  • Find a program near you

    • The American Association of Colleges of Nursing's member school directory filters schools by state and by program, including accelerated bachelor's and entry-level master's programs.
    • Your state's board of nursing approves the programs that lead to a license there. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing lists every U.S. board.
    • Each school sets its own application dates and prerequisite list, so check both on the school's own page.
    American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Checked October 23, 2026. Program finders checked October 24, 2026. The Bureau of Labor Statistics pages were last updated on August 27, 2026, and the program figures come from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's 2025 survey. For licensing rules, ask your state's board of nursing; for money questions, ask a financial adviser.

What usually goes wrong

Most plans stall before the first application, in the year of prerequisites. These are the common ways.

  • Old science credits don't count.

    Schools put a time limit on science prerequisites, and the limits differ. California State University, Fullerton wants its four science courses (anatomy, physiology, microbiology and chemistry) from the last five years, with a B or better in each. Marymount University accepts prerequisites from the last ten years, with a C or better. Check each school's window before you decide what to retake.

  • The deadline comes a year sooner than you think.

    Applications open long before classes start. Marymount's fall entry opens on November 1 and closes on the last Friday in May. Fullerton wants every prerequisite finished by the end of fall 2026 for a start in fall 2027. Work back from the deadline, so your last course ends before it.

  • The plan assumes you'll keep your job.

    The American Association of Colleges of Nursing says accelerated courses run full time with no breaks, and it encourages students not to work. Keep the job through the prerequisites, and plan the program months around savings or support. Some schools offer a slower track: Marymount's accelerated program runs 15 months full time or three years part time.

Sources checked October 23, 2026. Admission rules change from year to year, so confirm them on each school's own page.

How LeapSteps helps

LeapSteps keeps the switch on the same list as the job you still have. The goal gets a milestone months out, a next step for the coming weeks and a task for today.

Example goal

  1. Long-termSwitch careers from marketing to nursing
  2. Mid-termFinish the four science prerequisites by next fall
  3. Short-termCheck three accelerated programs' prerequisite rules

Today's taskRequest my transcript from my first college

We wrote this example ourselves. In LeapSteps you write the long-term goal in your own words. Tap Generate on the mid-term or short-term step and AI drafts three options; keep one, edit it or write your own.

The goal screen in LeapSteps with the AI draft as generated. Long-term goal: Switch careers from marketing to nursing. Mid-term goal: Complete one prerequisite nursing course (e.g., anatomy or microbiology) with a passing grade, by Apr 23, 2027. Short-term goal: Research three accredited nursing prerequisite programs and list their admission requirements in a spreadsheet, by Nov 6, 2026.

The screenshot is the app's draft for this goal, with its first option for each step kept as generated. It made one prerequisite course the April milestone and started with a list of three programs' admission requirements. Our example above asks for all four science courses, because a school like Fullerton wants every one of them, and puts the recency rules in the first step, because they decide which old credits still count.

Then link this week's tasks to the short-term step. They sit on Today next to your work tasks, and a task that ends in a weekday, like "Email the admissions office Thursday", is due that day. Late tasks stay on Today and show how late they are, so a busy week at work doesn't lose the plan. When a course is done, tap Done on the step: it moves to Steps achieved, and you can tap Generate for the next one. For the science courses themselves, our plan for studying for finals spaces the review out around practice tests.

Your first week, in seven short tasks

Each takes 30 minutes or less, so they fit around a full-time job. None of them commits you to a school yet.

  1. Request transcripts from every college you attended10 min Programs read your GPA and your old science grades from them, and accelerated programs typically ask for at least a 3.0.
  2. Pick three accelerated programs you could attend30 min Save each one's prerequisite page. The lists differ, so you'll plan against the strictest of the three.
  3. Mark which of your science courses are recent enough20 min One school counts five years and another ten, so the same course can count at one and not the other.
  4. Write down each program's application dates15 min Some open the November before a fall start, and the date decides when your last prerequisite has to end.
  5. Price one missing prerequisite at a community college20 min One course a term keeps the work manageable next to your job. Ask whether its credits transfer to your three programs.
  6. Look up your state board of nursing's license rules20 min Rules beyond the exam, such as a background check, vary by state, so check them before you spend on tuition.
  7. Ask a nurse you know for a 20-minute call10 min Ask what their first year was like and what they'd check before applying.

In LeapSteps, add each one in a few words and link it to the goal's short-term step, so the week's work shows under the goal it serves.

Questions, answered

Can I become a nurse if I already have a bachelor's degree in another field?

Yes. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing calls accelerated programs the quickest route to a registered nurse license for people with a bachelor's or graduate degree in another field. An accelerated bachelor's program takes 11 to 18 months, prerequisites included, with the same clinical hours as a traditional program, and there were 340 of them in 2025. Admission is selective: programs typically ask for at least a 3.0 GPA and screen applicants closely. Accelerated master's programs exist too, and take about 15 to 36 months. Either way you still need your state's license, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics says means graduating from an approved program and passing a qualifying exam.

Can I keep working during an accelerated nursing program?

Plan on not working, or working very little. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing says accelerated courses run full time with no breaks between sessions, and it encourages students not to work because of the pace. The time to keep your job is the year before, while you take the prerequisites. Some schools accept those online: California State University, Fullerton takes online courses for all of them, labs included. If you can't stop earning, look for a slower track. Marymount University, for example, runs its accelerated program in 15 months full time or three years part time. How to cover the full-time months is a question for a financial adviser; this plan gives you a date to save toward.

Do I have to retake science courses I took years ago?

Often, yes, and it depends on the school. Both schools we checked put a time limit on science prerequisites, with different windows. California State University, Fullerton's accelerated program wants anatomy, physiology, microbiology and chemistry from the last five years, with a B or better in each. Marymount University accepts prerequisites taken in the last ten years, with a C or better. So a biology course from 2018 could count at one school and not at the other. Before you sign up for anything, request your old transcripts, list each science course with its year and grade, and check them against the rules of the three programs you'd most like to attend. Then retake only what the strictest of them needs.

Can LeapSteps plan my move into nursing?

It keeps the move going; the decisions stay yours. LeapSteps is our app. Write the career you want as the long-term goal, then tap Generate on the mid-term or short-term step for three AI-drafted options, or write your own. You can give it an area of focus, like "prerequisites" or "applications". LeapSteps doesn't know any school's admission rules, your state's licensing requirements or what's on your transcript, so check those with the sources on this page, and it doesn't recommend schools. What it does is keep this week's tasks on the same list as your work, and move each finished step to Steps achieved, which helps in the months of prerequisites when the switch feels slow.

Plan your move into nursing in LeapSteps

LeapSteps keeps a year of prerequisites moving one evening at a time, on the same list as the job that pays for them. LeapSteps is out now on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows.

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