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RN to Social Worker: 7 Questions to Ask Before You Make the Transition
Discover a new way to make a difference for those in need
As a registered nurse, you already know what it means to care for people during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
You have listened to patients, supported families, coordinated care, and seen how health is shaped by more than symptoms alone.
That experience may be one reason you are considering social work.
Going from RN to social worker is not simply a career change from one helping profession to another. It can be a shift in how you support people, advocate for their needs, and help them navigate personal, family, community, and healthcare challenges.
Social work offers a way to stay connected to patients while focusing more deeply on community resources, counseling, care planning, advocacy, and long-term support.
Here are seven things to consider before choosing to become a social worker.
Why Now?
1. Why am I interested in social work now?
A career change is easier to evaluate when you understand your career interest.
Some RNs consider social work because they want to transition away from bedside care and find something less high-pressure. Others want more time for care coordination, counseling, advocacy, or patient education. Some are interested in social work because they already enjoy the parts of nursing that involve listening, problem-solving, and helping patients connect with support beyond the exam room or hospital bed.
Do you want to focus on emotional support? Do you enjoy working with caregivers and families? Do you prefer working with the community? Are you interested in social determinants of health? Do social justice issues spark your interest?
If your answer to these questions is a confident “yes”, social work may be a great career path to explore.
2. Do I want to stay in healthcare, or move into a broader social services role?
As you explore the move from RN to social worker, think about which direction feels most aligned with your goals.
If you want to stay close to patient care, you may be drawn to medical social work, hospital social work, private practice, hospice social work, rehabilitation, long-term care, or care management. These roles often involve helping patients and families navigate illness, treatment transitions, discharge planning, insurance barriers, support services, and community resources.
If you want a broader change, you might consider social work roles in behavioral health, child welfare, schools, family services, community organizations, public health, or advocacy. These paths may move you further away from traditional healthcare settings while still allowing you to support people through complex life challenges.
There is no single best direction for everyone. The right path depends on the population you want to serve, the type of problems you want to help solve, and the professional credential required for the roles that interest you.
Nursing Skills?
3. What parts of nursing do I want to carry forward?
You do not have to leave everything about nursing behind to transition to social work.
Many of the qualities that support strong nursing practice can also support strong social work practice: compassion, patience, clear communication, professionalism, organization, cultural awareness, and the ability to remain steady when people are in distress. Your experience with patient care may give you unique insight into the healthcare system and the challenges patients face when they leave a clinical setting.
This can be especially useful if you are interested in healthcare and social work. A RN who understands how hospitals, clinics, care teams, and discharge processes work may bring helpful context to roles focused on patient support and care coordination.
Still, social work requires preparation in areas nursing may not cover deeply, including social welfare policy, human behavior, social work ethics, community systems, social justice advocacy, and clinical or a generalist social work practice.
What's New?
4. What parts of social work would be new for me?
Social work may feel familiar in some ways, especially if you have spent years supporting patients and families. But it also requires a different professional lens vs. nursing.
As a social work student, you may study human behavior, social welfare policy, ethics, diversity, advocacy, trauma-informed practice, community systems, research, counseling approaches, and the social and environmental factors that affect well-being.
For nurses, one of the biggest shifts may be moving from a primarily clinical healthcare framework to a person-in-environment perspective. Instead of focusing mainly on symptoms, treatment, and physical care, social work looks closely at the relationships, resources, barriers, systems, and lived experiences that shape every individual’s unique situation.
That shift can be meaningful for RNs who want to understand the full context of a person’s life and help them move forward in practical, supportive ways.
5. What degree path fits my current education background?
There is no single RN-to-social-work degree path. Your next step depends on the degree you already have and the kind of social work role you want to pursue:
- If you are an RN with an associate degree, you may need to consider a Bachelor of Social Work, with job outcomes depending on your goals and your state’s requirements.
- If you already have a BSN or MSN, you may be able to apply for a Master of Social Work program designed for students with a bachelor’s degree in a non-social work field.
If your long-term goal is clinical social work, an MSW is typically required, along with supervised post-graduate experience and state licensure. If you are interested in healthcare social work, medical social work, or case management, employer expectations may vary by role and setting.
Before enrolling in a program, review the requirements for the type of social work position you want. The best pathway is the one that aligns with your current education, career goals, and state licensure requirements.
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Licensure?
6. What licensure requirements should I research in my state?
Before you commit to an RN-to-social-work pathway, review the licensing rules in the state where you plan to practice.
Potential questions to ask:
- Does my target role require a BSW, MSW, or specific license?
- Does the degree need to come from a CSWE-accredited program?
- Which license level applies to my career goal?
- Will I need supervised post-degree experience?
- Will I need to pass a licensing exam?
- Are there different requirements for clinical social work, social work administration, healthcare social work, school social work, private practice or becoming a social work professor?
This step can help you avoid choosing a program that does not align with your long-term goal. It can also help you understand the full timeline from education to licensure.
You can contact our admissions team and we can walk you through many possibilities.
Careers?
7. What kind of career outcome would make this transition beneficial?
A career transition is not only about whether you can make the move. It is also about whether the move supports the life and career you want to build.
As you research social work, think about what would make the transition worthwhile for you. Is it an opportunity to advocate for patients in a new way? Working in behavioral health? Support families through difficult transitions. Move into hospice, long-term care, or hospital social work? Pursing clinical licensure? Build a career centered on counseling, community support, or systems change?
Salary and job outlook matter, too. Pay can vary widely based on role, employer, state, education, license, and experience. A hospital social worker salary may differ from a nursing home social worker salary, a community agency role, or a licensed clinical social worker role:
Average wages, Bureau of Labor Statistics*
| Job / career | Per hour | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Child, Family, and School Social Workers | $30.25 | $62,920 |
| Healthcare Social Workers | $34.63 | $72,030 |
| Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers | $32.83 | $68,290 |
| Social Workers, All Other | $35.91 | $74,680 |
The best decision is one that balances practical realities with personal purpose. Social work may be a meaningful path if it aligns with the way you want to make your impact.
Start on your new path now
You have already built a career around helping others. If you are ready to explore a new way to serve patients, families, and communities, social work may be an option.
Start by learning how your current education may align with social work degree options, what requirements apply in your state, and which roles match your long-term goals. From healthcare social work to community-based support, there are many ways to make an impact.
Herzing University offers supportive, career-focused education designed to help students prepare for their next step. Explore your options and learn more about the programs that can help you reach your highest career goals.
Learn more about our program options in social work
* BLS pay estimates calculate the median annual wage for various occupations. Per the BLS the median wage for an occupation is: "The wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount, and half earned less. Median wage data are from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey." Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2024. BLS median wage estimates do not represent entry-level wages and/or salaries. Multiple factors, including prior experience, age, geographic market in which you want to work, and degree level and field, will affect career outcomes, including starting salary and earnings as an experienced employee. Herzing neither represents that its graduates will earn the median salaries calculated by BLS for a particular job nor guarantees that graduation from its program will result in a job, promotion, particular wage or salary, or other career growth.