Accelerated combined BSN/MSN programs?

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 10, 2011

Like anything else ... some are of better quality than others.

Some programs are just money-grabs by the schools. Some cater too much to the students who don't want to invest a lot of time and effort into their education. They make it easier -- diguised as "student-centered learning" and "flexible" and "geared to the adult learner." etc. The marketing ploys sound good to the naive student, but what they are really saying is: "If you pay us enough money, we'll give you the degree without making you work very hard to earn it."

Other programs are excellent. The good programs have the same tough requirements that their traditional programs have -- use the same textbooks, require most of the same assignments, etc. The program is just a little shorter because they combine overlapping content into fewer courses. For example: they may combine an undergraduate and graduate research class, physical assessment class, pharmacology class, etc.. What you have to look at is this: Is that combined course taught at the undergraduate level of difficulty/sophistication or at the graduate level of difficulty/sophistication? How do the assignments, requirements, etc. of that course compare with the graduate course for those taking the traditional route?

As for the combined BSN/MSN grads having any advantage in the job market ... I've never head any school claim that their grads had an advantage over other MSN grads ... but they would have some advantages over BSN grads because of their higher degree. That's assuming they went to a reputable school, of course.

want2banrn · Jan 10, 2011

Thanks for your reply.The schools I'm looking at are reputable so I should have listed that. I don't have any concerns there. If anything, my concerns are that I'd potentially be paying private level tuition in one case and it's going to be serious money to do it. In fact, that's what it comes down to. If I want to start nursing this fall, the only option I've seen, since most deadlines have passed, is to do a combined BSN/MSN. The only other option would be to wait a year and do a much cheaper (1/3 of the cost) BSN-only program.

Music in My Heart · Jan 10, 2011

The only other option would be to wait a year and do a much cheaper (1/3 of the cost) BSN-only program.

My recommendation would be to save the money and wait, unless the MSN is a clinical specialty degree with substantial advanced clinical hours.

Unless it's a clinical degree, the MSN is of very little value in entering the field and in fact, many nurses express significant bias against the entry-level MSNs and it may actually be detrimental to getting hired in some places. If the cost were similar, I might recommend it but to pay 67% more for it is not justified IMO.

For the record, I became a nurse through an accelerated, independent-learner, direct-entry MSN program and my education was pretty good but the primary reason that I chose that avenue was because it was at a public university and heavily subsidized by the state.

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 10, 2011

I agree with the above post. Now knowing your full situation, I would recommend taking the slower, but far cheaper route. Get a good solid foundation in your BSN program, then get some on-the-job experience -- and let your employer pay for your MSN.

There is no reason to rush now. The job market is bad right now and won't get that much better in the next 2 or 3 years (though I think it is already improving a bit and will continue to improve gradually).

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2011

I thought about going to a school where you had the option of choosing a BSN curriculum in which you took a lot of core graduate classes for dual credit if you already had a bachelor's in another field. After that if you chose to go an MSN route you'd only need the specialty courses for that particular emphasis. Alas, I didn't want to live in that town so I didn't go.

want2banrn · Jan 11, 2011

I've decided to wait for the cheaper program. It really came down to the financing I could get. It's not necessarily what I want to do but I think it's the better option.

I've been saying for awhile now I thought the job market was getting better, but now I'm not so sure. A number of the RN postings I see are part-time or PRN. This is worrisome and I hope it does not foreshadow a new trend.

Music in My Heart · Jan 11, 2011

A number of the RN postings I see are part-time or PRN. This is worrisome and I hope it does not foreshadow a new trend.

Of the last 4 nurses that we've hired, that's all we've done. We're spreading 3 people over 1.5 FTEs. I am sure that that's where we're headed since we now have a glut of nurses which will continue for quite some time.