I finished my RN to BSN program at WGU this week! WGU was not necessarily my first choice when I started, but it turned out to be great. Due to medical complications in my immediate family, I have maintained 2 full-time nursing jobs (12 hour night shifts, 6-7 nights per week, usually 7 nights per week) in order to support my wife and the kids (3 and 5), along with my mother-in-law who lives with us to take care of my wife and the kids while I work non-stop. I did not really see how I was going to manage to do a BSN program with that kind of work schedule. I even started a program at a different school that had a more traditional online setup, with deadlines for assignments and whatnot. I couldn't hold it together with that program, as the deadlines were just eating me up. So, I moved to WGU, knowing it would be more self-paced. Looking back now, I don't think I could have made the BSN without WGU. One of my jobs is in an ICU, so that keeps me plenty busy 3-4 nights a week. My second job is home health, where I am at the bedside of a single patient for 12-hour shifts. The family of the patient has been very liberal with me in allowing me to do homework and stuff while on the job during downtime, as I have always made sure to take really good care of their son. Since I spend most of those nights sitting at his bedside, doing the occasional tube feed or nebulizer treatment, or "cleanup," I have lots of down time. I did the vast majority of my school work on my laptop at that job. Some weeks I was really busy and didn't get much school work done. Other weeks were smooth, and I banged out papers pretty fast. The only hitch was the community health practicum, which requires 90 hours of work out in the community. So, I had to dip into my vacation time at the hospital and take time off to get this done. Otherwise, I was able to work the entirety of the coursework for the whole program around my schedule, at my convenience, and according to my own self-set deadlines.
I found the program to be both challenging and academically appropriate, but also reasonable and doable. As they advertise, I was able to breeze through some areas where I already had a good working knowledge, while some areas required pretty extensive research and work. The program took me a year and a half (3 of their 6-month terms). I could have done it a lot faster if not for my complicated personal life and endless work schedule. But, WGU provided me with the type of school program that worked for me in my unique situation, and allowed me to further my education.
I guess the moral of the story is that, if I can do it, anybody can do it!
So, I will be happy to answer any questions about WGU and my experience if it will be of assistance to others.
This degree represents a major accomplishment to me personally, not just getting the degree, but also the personal and professional hurdles I had to clear to get it done. Sorry, I know that is sappy and dramatic.
Anyway, thanks for listening. Again, let me know if I can help in any way on answering WGU questions.
