Maybe it hit you in the school pickup line, or during that week your youngest had the flu and the urgent care nurse was the only calm person in the building. You’ve got a bachelor’s from what feels like another life, you’ve been home with the kids or stuck in a job you’ve kind of outgrown, and there’s this nagging thought that you’d be good at nursing. Or it’s your college sophomore who came home for fall break “thinking about switching to nursing,” and you’d like to know if that’s smart before you pay for it.
The quick answer is that Ohio really does need nurses, and if you already have a degree there’s a faster way in than starting over. It’s just not an easy one with a family, so let’s be honest about both sides.
Does Ohio actually need more nurses?
It does, and a lot of it comes down to age. The latest Ohio Board of Nursing RN workforce report, built on 214,709 nurses who renewed their licenses in 2023, found 27 percent of active RNs in the state were over 55. That’s close to 58,000 people, and you can guess what happens as they retire.
Then there are the ones nowhere near retirement who want out of the bedside anyway. In the Ohio Nurses Association’s 2026 workforce safety survey, released in April, more than half of direct-care RNs and LPNs said they were considering leaving direct care, mostly over staffing and safety (workplace violence included). ONA is pushing for staffing legislation, so keep that in mind, but nurses have been saying this for years.
State projections on O*NET have Ohio averaging about 7,190 RN openings a year from 2024 to 2034, even though total RN jobs only grow around 2 percent, so most of that is just replacing people who leave.
What does the job pay around Cleveland and Akron?
Less than the national headline. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median RN wage at $97,550 as of May 2025, with about 180,800 openings a year nationally. Going by O*NET’s 2025 wage data, Ohio’s median is $82,510, and it’s $83,940 in Cleveland, $80,770 in Akron and $79,610 in Canton-Massillon.
That’s still steady money where the cost of living isn’t brutal, and after a few years out of the workforce, knowing employers keep hiring might matter more than the exact figure.
Can you really go from a different degree to an RN in about a year?
You can, if you’re up for a very intense year. These accelerated programs (people usually call them ABSNs) are built for folks who already hold a bachelor’s in something else, so you skip the general education classes. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing counted 340 of them in 2025 and says they take 12 to 18 months, prerequisites included.
Here’s what parents need to hear, though. AACN says the coursework is full-time with no breaks between sessions, you do the same clinical hours as a traditional student, and you’re encouraged not to work. The upside is that AACN describes the typical accelerated student as older and motivated, and employers say these grads are more mature and pick things up quickly, which sounds a lot like someone who’s been running a household.
So who’s watching the kids during clinicals?
I’d answer this before you apply, because clinical rotations don’t care about pickup time. A shift might start before the bus comes or land on a Saturday, and you usually don’t get much say.
If you have a partner, talk through what that year looks like for them, because plenty of it lands on their plate. Line up grandparents early, and that friend who keeps saying “let me know if you need anything” (this is when you take her up on it). It also helps to know that under Ohio’s publicly funded child care law, a parent in an education or training program can qualify, not only working parents, though income limits apply. That matters when Child Care Aware put average center-based infant care in Ohio at $13,780 for 2024.
How do you make the money work without a paycheck?
Carefully. Some programs flat out don’t let students work, so I’d sketch a twelve-month budget with your partner, tuition and childcare right next to the gas money for clinical drives, so nobody finds out in month three that it doesn’t add up.
What should you look for in a program?
Start with accreditation and first-time NCLEX pass rates, since that exam is what gets you licensed. Ask exactly how clinical placements get arranged, because chasing your own sites while parenting is a lot. And check whether the program even takes students from your state. If you’re comparing accelerated BSN programs, Baylor University’s Distance ABSN through the Louise Herrington School of Nursing shows what a strong program looks like.
What if it’s your college-age kid asking?
Then I’d mostly listen. She could finish the degree she’s on and still take the accelerated route later, so switching majors tomorrow isn’t the only door.
Whoever’s asking, maybe start with one coffee with a nurse you know. You’ll probably walk away knowing whether this is a someday idea or a next-fall one.
