Is this too good too be true?

heathert_kc · Mar 24, 2011

Well, firstly you may be very surprised by how busy, time consuming, and difficult an LPN program can be so doing additional general education may not be the best idea at least not for the first semester until you have a good idea of the pace of things (if you get lost the first semester, it's impossible to catch up). Secondly I don't think that there are many if any lpn-bsn programs that are only one year, most are 2-3 years. I think I saw that OU has a 12 month progarm but it is full time and you have to have a lot or general education completed like 90 credits+, several of which you cannot take at a community college (so if there is other programs around the country like this these prerequisites would take at least 2 years of full time classes).

Usually LPN-RN (associates) take about a year or two semesters, full time and require fewer courses as prerequisites. From there you would qualify to either do a RN-BSN program, which takes at least 30 credit or so (minimum of one year if you go full time), but again a greater number general education classes not usually required for an associates degree, such as statistics, foreign language, chemistry, pathophysiology, and so on depending on the school. From there, assuming you have greater than a 3.0 GPA minimum and in otherwise good standing you can apply for grad school to get your MSN, that generally requires at least a year and a half or two years if you are full time often longer if you want to become a nurse practitioner.

Or you can do a RN (associates) to MSN program after getting your RN (2.5+ years). It takes at least three years counting the first year of general education to get your RN license and if you do your LPN first if would likely take an extra semester or two, becuase you often have to have your lpn license prior to applying to any lpn-rn or BSN program. So you are looking at a minimum of 5-6 yrs+, if you are accepted to school the first time you apply and go full time without stopping. Nursing is NOT easier than any other field to get a MS in psychology, business or English would take you at least 6 years or so, that is the same for nursing. The other issues that make nursing take even longer for most of us is the difficulty getting into school, as they are very commpetitive( many qualified students are turned away) and most of us have to work too making going to school full time tough and sometimes the financial benefits of going back to school are sometimes almost non-existance, like RNs and BSNs are often paid about the same.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2011

Keep in mind that developmental (a.k.a. remedial) courses might add time onto your original plans. Since you have never been to college previously, the community college will make you take a test that evaluates your basic reading, writing, and math skills. If your scores are low on any section, the community college will require that you enroll in developmental courses to build your basic skills. These developmental courses do not count for any college credit, and you must pass them before you will be allowed to enroll in any true college-level courses.

The idea of having to take developmental courses is not too far-fetched, since 60 percent of all community college students and nearly 40 percent of all university students have had to enroll in these classes.

sumthngot2give · Mar 25, 2011

Hi, I'm currently a LPN student and (God-willing) I will graduate in Dec 2011. I already have my prerequisites out of the way; I graduated from Community of Philadelphia. I'm gonna give you a little advice that my clinical Professor and another nurse gave me today. I was advice right after I graduate to major in LPNtoRN so that I can obtain my ASN. Then from there (ignore BSN) and do RNtoMSN.

My goal is right after I graduate and pass my NCLEX, I want to work full time, so that I can get as much experience as possible, but I plan to enroll in Excelsior online program. I'm 27, and a mother of 4 children, so this would be so much easier for me. One of my co-workers whose also a LPN, her brother (whose a LPN too) he did Excelsior online and completed the RN program in less than a year, isn't that lovely.

Today at clinical, my Instructor made me feel so inspired and motivated, I'm glad she gave me this advice; she said this is the shorter way instead of doing years and years of school, so I'm passing it on to you, this is my goal, so something to think about. Take care & I wish you the best of luck in you goals. :stdnrsrck:

heathert_kc · Mar 25, 2011

Excelsior is a great option for some but be sure to check with your state board of nursing first or the state in which you plan to live because several state do not accept their grads. Note you will NEVER be able to practice in the state of california, as the law stands now and several states require you to gain additional preceptorship in their state like Washington, due to the lack of clinical, some only allow you to obtain a license by endorsement, if you have a minimum amount of work experience as a licensed RN in a state that accepts it, this includes the state that I live in and is ultimately the reason that I decided against it. And I had a nursing instructor warn me that less traditional routes that require little in the way of clinical or a lot of distance learning is best for those LPNs who have worked in acute care, been LPNs forever and otherwise have a great deal of experience. The RN-BSN was one of the things I suggested, but it doesn't really shorten the overall time by much if any. They are generally about 3 yrs or so, RN-BSN can be completed in one year, BSN-MSN usually takes close to two.

sumthngot2give · Mar 27, 2011

Thanks for the information.............I will definitely do some research on this :)