Well there goes the neighborhood...

[Guttercat]

Our local community college, it looks like, will be one of three in our state approved (with $$ funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation APIN Grant, of course) to be the first to develop and pilot a bachelors in nursing program. No, not a transfer to a four-year university. They will offer their very own community college RN> BSN.

They're phasing out their ADN program altogether, and going strictly AAS-T (which has more pre-reqs), at which point a student can then enroll with them for the fourth year upon completion.

They're supposed to be implementing in Fall 2014.

Interesting...

Cha-ching goes the community college(s).

[LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN]

The CC in my area have been doing something similar for the last few years. The 5 CC in the state have partnered with our large Health and Science University, after students earn their associates RN then have the option if they have all the pre-reqs done to continue for I think another year and do classes on their CC campus, but the BSN is through the university.

That is a nice option to have, I got my ADN, and had the option for an automatic acceptance to a private university that partnered with my CC to get my BSN. I didn't do it, and when I found myself without a job 9 months post NCLEX and LTC as my only prospects because every hospital was demanding a BSN, I went and got it through an online program.

4 months after getting my BSN, I got hired into my "dream job" pediatrics. Nobody cared where I got my BSN, just that I had it. And I got it cheap to only 6k a term!

Having CC offer a pathway to a BSN doesn't cheapen the degree, it is going with that employers demand. If you don't want to get the BSN there are plenty of places that hire ADN nurses SNFs, LTC, home health, clinics.

But I don't see how it cheapens the degree it there are the same pre-reqs like traditional BSN programs

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

I wish my CC had this program when I went through over 20 years ago. Would have saved me a ton of money and work to have worked on the correct pre-reqs and I might have gotten back to my BSN much sooner than now. It just wasn't available back then. I'm in a new area of the country now and the local "community college" has been ever expanding its offerings and is no longer a "junior" college as it offers a few bachelor's programs and all of it's ADN students are in a track to proceed to BSN. Back when I went to ADN school there were two separate tracks to follow for ADN & BSN. The way things are being done now seems much more streamlined.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Is the curriculum structure the same as a traditional bachelor's program? In my state, a bachelor's for ANY major requires 60 sem hrs of gen ed and 60 major specific hrs. Each state also determines the minimum number of clinical hours. As long as that hasn't been changed with this new program, nothing has been cheapened except the cost.

[dansamy]

The CC in my area have been doing something similar for the last few years. The 5 CC in the state have partnered with our large Health and Science University, after students earn their associates RN then have the option if they have all the pre-reqs done to continue for I think another year and do classes on their CC campus, but the BSN is through the university.

That is a nice option to have, I got my ADN, and had the option for an automatic acceptance to a private university that partnered with my CC to get my BSN. I didn't do it, and when I found myself without a job 9 months post NCLEX and LTC as my only prospects because every hospital was demanding a BSN, I went and got it through an online program.

4 months after getting my BSN, I got hired into my "dream job" pediatrics. Nobody cared where I got my BSN, just that I had it. And I got it cheap to only 6k a term!

Having CC offer a pathway to a BSN doesn't cheapen the degree, it is going with that employers demand. If you don't want to get the BSN there are plenty of places that hire ADN nurses SNFs, LTC, home health, clinics.

But I don't see how it cheapens the degree it there are the same pre-reqs like traditional BSN programs

Where did you get your BSN?

Sent from my HTC One X using allnurses.com

[lindarn]

This is the time for nurses to become politically active, and demand that nurses who have less than a BSN, be grandfathered in. Just like they did in PT, OT, Pharmacy, etc. And no one loses their job if they don't have one.

If hospitals are demanding that everyone earn a BSN, than they should pay for it. Period. Nurses, show your political muscle. Demand that the unions, (if unionized), and/or, state nurses association, get into the act as well and support this. Write to your politicians, and make alot of noise.

I was originally a Diploma grad from NYC. Moved to California four years after graduating. Discovered that the Cal State system close to me had a BSN program. They did not demand that I repeat my nursing classes. They said that I had taken the same licensing exam as the ADN and BSN students, passed with flying colors, and therefore there was nothing wrong with my classes. I was not granted college credit for my nursing classes, but I did not have to repeat them.

If you wanted college credit for the nursing classes, we were advised to bring the course description to a local community college who offered an ADN prgram, have them evaluated, if found to be equivalent to the college courses, were granted college credit for the nursing classes. I was admitted at Junior standing.

The cost at the time, for the California State Community College system and State College system was cheaper than dirt cheap. This was in the early to late 80's. The Community College system charged full time tuition for over 6 units a semester. I took 9 units each semester for the two semesters I attended before I transfered to the State College system. The full time community college tuition was TEN DOLLARS A SEMESTER ($10.00), AND THAT INCLUDED A PARKING STICKER!!

The tuition at the State College system when I transferred the next year, was something like $250 a semester. When I graduated in 1987, the tuition at the State College system was GOING UP TO $400 A SEMESTER!! I was worked full time as a nurse and the tuition was so cheap, I was able to just pay as I went, and graduated from college with my BSN, debt free. I was also able to save up enough money to buy a house in Southern California while working full time 12 hour shifts, and going to school part time. But that was over 25 years ago.

JMHO and my NY $0.02

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN(ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

[NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN]

Where I live there is already a "grandfathered in" type of thing. They hire only BSN or experienced RNs. Each facility decides what is considered experienced (1 year, 3 years, etc)

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

a BSN will soon be the entry level expectation. Our local CC works with the local universities to have bridge programs so the student can matriculate without loss of time or money. I see this as a positive thing for nursing.

[LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN]

I got my BSN online through Western Governors University