accelerated BSN program

Is anyone there...........pls respond.

Hi there, I am an August '09 grad of an accelerated program. Along with a previous degree, requirements included completed the pre-requisites (same ones as the generic track), having a competitive GPA (3.0 minimum), drug test, vaccinations, tb test. Some programs I applied to also required completion of a CNA program.

I would recommend the accelerated BSN track. It has impressed recruiters and interviewers. It saves some money (having to pay school fees for less semesters, 1 year of rent instead of 2). It will give you an intense feeling of accomplishment. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I am more proud of being an accelerated BSN graduate than I am of being a nurse.

There are plenty of negatives..the time crunch, the rushing through topics, the disorganization as they try to fit it all in.

Good luck!

Of course graduates from accelerated programs become RNs (as soon as they pass NCLEX) just like gradautes from any other program. Why else would you go to one? I graduated from mine in August of last year. It was 15 months/4 semesters, and we took every single course that the regular BSN students took in two years. We didn't have separate classes or anything, we were just permitted to register for more of them each semester. We did have our own clinical groups, and spent more hours each week at the hospital than the traditional students. The eligibility was a prior bachelor's in anything, plus completion of all the regular BSN prerequisites. Nothing special was required on top of that, just a competitive GPA.

Pros included graduating sooner and getting great jobs - all of my accelerated classmates are working in the specialty we wanted, and at the hospitals we wanted. Interviewers liked our work ethic and our prior education and experience. Our cohort GPA was significantly higher than that of the regular students, despite the heavier load. I attributed this to both our previous college experience and to the fact that we were all forced to concentrate pretty exclusively on NS - most of us didn't work after the first semester or two, and we spent over 40h/wk just on class and clinical. It became a full time job, and doing well was our priority.

Cons included not being able to do well while working many hours. I worked 15-20/wk for the first semester and a half, then quit entirely. Not many of us even tried to get nurse tech jobs, which meant we missed out on some valuable experience. You have to consider what else you have going on in your life - if you're a single parent working full time to support 3 kids, adding a 40h/wk nursing program and trying to find time to study may not be the best choice. That said, a few of my classmates had kids and they still got to see them. None of us worked full time though. The pace might be too much for some people - you have to be really focused and study almost every night, and the reading was 100s of pages every single week. Don't do it unless you want it to take over most of your life. I still went out and did something 1-2 nights a week, but I didn't have kids or a job.

Hope some of that was helpful.

Thanks so much for the information. so on your certificate, does it say accBSN or what ? and also whats the average tuition for this program cos i'm looking into taking this route asap but will need to start my pre-reqs first of all. what pre-reqs do i need to?

once again, thanks a million.

I graduated in August from an Accelerated BSN program. My diploma says "BSN". There is no reference to accelerated. My program was 16 mos, tuition was about $5000-6000 per semester. Nursing texbooks are quite expensive, get them used if possible. They are cheaper online but make sure that the ISBN matches. Also be aware that there is an initial cost for uniforms, supplies, decent stethoscope, etc. In our program these costs were anywhere from $500 to about $1200.

While the job market is tough, I don't regret it at all. As long as people in the program keep the competitive nature to a minimum and form a team, it is a great experience. Also, our GPA's were all high because we were not waitlisted in the Accelerated BSN, the program was competitive to get in. The majority of us graduated with honors, but it took some work, tears, and a few mini-breakdowns to get there.

I would highly receommend it, but make sure that you get plenty of clinical hours in your program.