AAS at PCC or transfer to OHSU for a BSN

Av03 · Aug 28, 2012

BSN. Once you're in the program, you will most likely do a lot of your rotations there. More exposure means more opportunity to find a job for that facility. I bet it would be easier for u to continue with your education should u want to pursue that goal.

matsalleh · Aug 29, 2012

OHSU no longer offers this transfer option. Unless you entered nursing school at an OCNE community college nursing program by Fall 2011, you are no longer able to transfer to OHSU to complete your BSN on campus. The only option available to OCNE students now is to complete your ASN at the community college and then to complete your BSN through OHSU's online program.

The downside of the online program is that you don't really benefit from the clinical placements and networking (as well as excellent OHSU lecturers and speakers) the way you would if you were enrolled in an on-campus program at OHSU. It's a shame that they discontinued the program because it was a great experience for me...I felt like I got the best of both worlds and I saved loads of money as an OCNE transfer.

Here's the OHSU website link that provides the details:

CC Transition

Sartorius1 · Sep 5, 2012

Do you know why they stopped offering the bridge program?? That is certainly disappointing news..

nwnursing · Sep 5, 2012

They stopped offering the program becuase it was causing issues for enrollment at the community colleges. It was designed to help them increase their offerings for their students, but because of the way graduations (begining enrollment that graduates) are charted, they were having a tough time with state funding. That is what we were told at orientation for Clackamas.

Sartorius1 · Sep 6, 2012

So when students transferred to OHSU it didn't register that they were graduating from PCC? Interesting..I never thought about that.

matsalleh · Sep 7, 2012

That was actually the whole advantage of the OCNE transfer program. You did your first 5 terms of nursing school at one of the OCNE community colleges, following the same curriculum as OHSU, but paying the community college fees. You were considered to be "co-enrolled" at OHSU, so when you joined the OHSU class in the third term of your second year, you just became an OHSU student with 4 terms left to complete your BSN. Your transcript just shows you as graduating with a BSN from OHSU, instead of a preliminary ASN and a 'bridge' to a BSN. To be honest, I don't think that the community colleges really had a funding issue with it until PCC joined OCNE. Up until then, only a handful of students from each community college chose to transfer to OHSU and it wasn't really enough to affect graduation rates and funding. But when PCC joined OCNE, almost half of their class transferred to OHSU, which must have really affected their program.

katinthehat8914 · Nov 19, 2012

OHSU no longer offers this transfer option. Unless you entered nursing school at an OCNE community college nursing program by Fall 2011, you are no longer able to transfer to OHSU to complete your BSN on campus. The only option available to OCNE students now is to complete your ASN at the community college and then to complete your BSN through OHSU's online program.
The downside of the online program is that you don't really benefit from the clinical placements and networking (as well as excellent OHSU lecturers and speakers) the way you would if you were enrolled in an on-campus program at OHSU. It's a shame that they discontinued the program because it was a great experience for me...I felt like I got the best of both worlds and I saved loads of money as an OCNE transfer.
Here's the OHSU website link that provides the details:
CC Transition

How were the integrated practicum placement opportunities at OHSU when you transfered pre-AAS? I've got to choose if I want to transfer pre-AAS or graduate with an associate's and start in the fall (in-person classes, not online - they decided to give those of us who signed up for pre-AAS transfer that opportunity this year). I really want labor and delivery practicums, but I'm not sure what my chances would be of getting that at OHSU. Do you know if any of your classmates went that route? And did you get your first choice?

matsalleh · Nov 21, 2012

How were the integrated practicum placement opportunities at OHSU when you transfered pre-AAS? I've got to choose if I want to transfer pre-AAS or graduate with an associate's and start in the fall (in-person classes, not online - they decided to give those of us who signed up for pre-AAS transfer that opportunity this year). I really want labor and delivery practicums, but I'm not sure what my chances would be of getting that at OHSU. Do you know if any of your classmates went that route? And did you get your first choice?

I did wind up getting my first choice for the integrated practicum but there were many people who were disappointed. There really is no way of knowing whether you will get your choice or not. A lot depends on factors that are beyond the school's control (such as lack of preceptors on a particular unit due to nurses on maternity leave, or limitations because of hospital renovations that result in room closures and reduced staffing). Except for the people who wanted ICU and ED (who chose to go through an interview process for the positions), it was a pretty random process. As a transfer student, you are at a bit of a disadvantage because none of the faculty really knows you, so you can't really expect any of them to help you get the placement that you want.

As far as the likelihood of getting a labor and delivery practicum, I don't really have a good answer. I don't think anyone in my class was interested in going that route. I would think that it is available if that is your interest, but I would say that nothing is guaranteed. With so many people taking advantage of the transfer option, there will be a really large group to place in practicums, so that may limit your choices.