I went back an did what you are looking into. About 8 years after I finished my history degree I realized it was time to make a change, so I went for a BSN. I did an accelerated/second degree program, which was basically Sophomore, Junior and Senior years crammed into 15 months. It was grueling and had a high attrition rate, but it was definitely worthwhile.
If you do a traditional program there is really no way to speed it up because the classes are sequenced. Health Assessment has to come before Med-Surg I and II, and so on. I would not recommend the LPN idea that someone suggested. To me it is a different career path, I think anything other than going straight for a BSN would be a waste of time and would only distract you from your real goal. Nursing school is not easy from a workload perspective, and a lot of it is ticky tack busy work. I would love to tell that three years later I see the point of all those med sheets we filled out, but I don't.
I think some of the dollar figures in this thread are a little batty. I could get to that $70,000 point or have a 4 days a week off, but I can't do both. The real money comes when you pick up extra shifts. Where I work we get a pretty nice per hour bonus plus time and a half overtime after 40 hours. I could make around $50 an hour in that 4th 12 hour shift. Personally I generally value the time off more. As far as ease of finding a job as a new graduate, I think that it is often overstated. There is a lot of regional variation. Where I live it can be somewhat difficult for a new grad, as there are a ton of nursing schools. Having said that I found a job at a ranked hospital within a couple weeks of passing the NCLEX.
The reason I chose nursing was because there were so many different options. Not all involve caring for the elderly or the terminally ill. That is not the area that I work in. Good luck with it and I'm sure you'll find something you enjoy.
