MN- Rasmussen Blaine

Nursing Students School Programs

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Hi, I am currently a nursing student at college in Blaine. I am in my first semester of the nursing program and am planning to graduate with my associate degree 12/16. I have had different thoughts on this school and I'm not sure what to do. For one, i found out the nursing program itself is not accredited in any way, but the school is accredited by the higher learning commission, will that have an impact on me getting a hospital job at all when i graduate? I started doing some research on hospital qualifications for nurses and all of them say "graduate from an accredited school of nursing" so I'm not sure if they mean the school or the program. Also, i found out most of our clinicals, except for one, all take place in TCU's and nursing homes and not in hospitals, also none of which are in the twin cities. Will that have an impact on job opportunities at well? I'm conflicted as to whether i should stick to this program or if i should get a bachelors degree in something else ( i can go back to another university and get my public health degree and graduate 12/16) and do a post bachelor or masters of nursing program that is accredited.

If you go to , you will not be able to work in a hospital after graduating. Many hospitals in MN won't take associate nurses, let alone a nurse from an unaccredited school. Going to an unaccredited school will also make furthering your education difficult, as most BSN, MSN, and DNP programs want nurses from accredited schools.

I would HIGHLY recommend joining a MANE-BSN nursing program.

Does it make a difference if their RN-BSN program is accredited by the CCNE? Would you have to wait before you get your bachelors before you can apply to hospital jobs?

The only people whose favor that works in is RNs from an accredited associate program who get a BSN from them, as their ENTIRE education is accredited... The completion degree will not make up for the fact that your nursing education was unaccredited.

Do people have first hand experience with employers not hiring individuals who received unaccredited associates degrees but then did receive accredited BSN degrees? Because the one system I have been in contact with (VA medical centers) have made it pretty clear that as long as the bachelor's obtained was CCNE or NLNAC accredited (which the degree would be, as they have CCNE accreditation through 2019) that the individual would be qualified to be hired, regardless of where the associate's degree was earned... in fact it seems that a notable number of associates degree programs in MN lack national accreditation, including non-profits (MSCTC and St. Cloud Tech are two I know for sure do not currently hold national accreditation for their associate's RN programs), and even those that are accredited (non-MANE) are ACE accredited which, at least for the VA, would not count anyway, so I'd imagine this would be an issue for many associates degree nurses, even those with BSN, if it is in fact true that employers are requiring national nursing program accreditation for all degrees received, not just the most advanced. Also, interestingly, when reviewing the MN board of nursing educational report first time nclex pass rate findings, schools such as St. Ben's, Bemidji State, Bethel, St. Olaf, MSCTC, St. Catherine and St. Cloud Tech were all identified as below minimum standard for NCLEX pass rates at some point over the last three years (as well as a host of other institutions), but Rasmussen was not (and I know that we were told by the Rasmussen in St. Cloud that their most recent first time pass rates were in the low 90's)... just some food for thought.

Don't let anyone tell you what to do in terms of your nursing education. I have already completed my nursing education, so luckily I don't have to worry about this sort of thing again in life. If you want to be a nurse bad enough, do what you have to do to get where you want to be. Including accepting whatever type of position you can get as a new grad.

It makes sense that if your nursing education isn't accredited, a BSN won't trump it since you don't learn anything relevant to being a practicing entry-level registered nurse in RN to BSN programs. They are focused on concepts related to family/public health and leadership.

I really hope a grad posts on here. I recommend calling a few of the more prominent organizations in MN and seeing what they say (e.g. Allina, Health East, Fairview, etc.)

Best of luck.

BTW, I think you meant to say that these associate programs are accredited by ACEN. NLNAC does not exist anymore, it is now called ACEN.

To be clear, is regionally accredited by the state of MN, just not nationally accredited and does qualify graduates for NCLEX examination... and logical or not, the VA most certainly accepts Rasmussen associates RN graduates as long as their BSN is nationally accredited... I'll share back what I find out about larger health organizations regarding their stance on Rasmussen grads; though if anybody has heard explicitly that health organizations won't accept regionally accredited associate's RN's with nationally accredited BSN's do let me know. Another thing I'm curious about if anyone knows... what about older RN's who graduated diploma programs? Are these larger health organizations refusing to hire these nurses, even if they too have bachelor's from accredited programs?

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