Advice for ADN to BSN online program, good and inexpensive

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advice for adn to bsn, online, good and inexpensivei completed by associate's degree in nursing and am currently an rn in new york state, although i live in canada. i very much want to complete my bsn at a reasonable pace (probably more than one year) from an online school that is organized, good and preferably a good deal also.:confused:

i've checked out jacksonville, liberty and drexel and feel that they all seem quite expensive to me? any recommendations?

i'd prefer, also, a place that doesn't require a clinical component, or someplace that has a clinical component that is not community nursing. i'm interested in acute care nursing, not vaccinations, parent teaching and school nursing and have done enough community nursing for the rest of my life!

i'd love some advice, please! if you have experience and recommendations, please post or email me.

i did post this thread on the online student section, but i'm thinking that if i post to this forum, perhaps, as there are so many of you reading this that already have bachelors degrees, you can comment with experience?

i have been advised to check out excelsior and suny at stoneybrook, which i am doing, however, i will be paying out-of-state rates for both, presumably, as i live in canada, so these may well be rather cost prohibitive.

any advice or experience you can share that would help me with my research and decision making would be greatly appreciated!

thank you very much!

thanks!:typing:nurse:

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I did my ADN-BSN through Oklahoma Panhandle State University. It was entirely online, except for your clinical experiences, of course. The cost was VERY reasonable, compared to most other online schools. I believe I was paying around $250/credit hour when I went, but I am not sure of the current tuition. They do list all tuition and fees on their website though. http://www.opsu.edu

I could be mistaken, but I think that all BSN programs have a community component. For the OPSU program, I had to do clinical hours in my assessment course and the community course. The clinical hours were very easy to accomplish though, and I was actually able to meet most of the requirements during my work time or through just a few extra hours per week.

Good luck!

Jaimee

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Specializes in ER; CCT.
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advice for adn to bsn, online, good and inexpensivei completed by associate's degree in nursing and am currently an rn in new york state, although i live in canada. i very much want to complete my bsn at a reasonable pace (probably more than one year) from an online school that is organized, good and preferably a good deal also.:confused:

i've checked out jacksonville, liberty and drexel and feel that they all seem quite expensive to me? any recommendations?

i'd prefer, also, a place that doesn't require a clinical component, or someplace that has a clinical component that is not community nursing. i'm interested in acute care nursing, not vaccinations, parent teaching and school nursing and have done enough community nursing for the rest of my life!

i'd love some advice, please! if you have experience and recommendations, please post or email me.

i did post this thread on the online student section, but i'm thinking that if i post to this forum, perhaps, as there are so many of you reading this that already have bachelors degrees, you can comment with experience?

i have been advised to check out excelsior and suny at stoneybrook, which i am doing, however, i will be paying out-of-state rates for both, presumably, as i live in canada, so these may well be rather cost prohibitive.

any advice or experience you can share that would help me with my research and decision making would be greatly appreciated!

thank you very much!

thanks!:typing:nurse:

check out indiana state university. i completed the rn-bs program in 18 months. all online, cheaper than any other program, and you don't have to go there. also they have super faculty in the bs program. i can't recommend, however, the msn/fnp program. for that, you may want to check elsewhere.

-t

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I'm going to OPSU right now in the RN-BSN program. If you're already an RN, there is no clinical requirement. Just take the classes on line and wah-lah you're a BSN. It's about $120 per semester hour, including fees. It is the best!

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

i checked this out . is the tuition your paying based on the fact that you are a oklahoma resident. tuition for me was something like $2800 for 12 hours right around $230/hr. still seems like a ok deal. i noticed they charge $100 extra for every online course. please correct me if i am wrong here.

i'm going to opsu right now in the rn-bsn program. if you're already an rn, there is no clinical requirement. just take the classes on line and wah-lah you're a bsn. it's about $120 per semester hour, including fees. it is the best!
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Specializes in Peds/NICU/Dialysis.

I'm in the same boat and have been doing LOTS of research into the right program. I've been moving alot the last two years and have heard horror stories about RNs that finished their on line degrees only to find out the program they chose was not recognized by some states.

Silly me thought if the program was nationally accredidated by either CCNE or NLN it would be fine. Turns out this is not what we really need,. You need to find a program that is regionally approved in the state in which the physical school resides. I found this out after emailing multiple state BON"s such as ND, MN,CO and NY (where I'm from)

Someone mentioned Indiana State which I looked into prior to learning the above and they emailed me back saying they would not accept me into the program because their degree is not recognized in NYS. That's what prompted me to research this.

After 3 days of non-stop on line research Ive found a few programs that will work well. Like you I am looking for someplace reasonablly priced as I'll be paying out of pocket to avoid accruing more student loans - however I haven't found anywhere that forgoes clinicals.

Anywhere you choose double check with the state board of nursing that the program is unconditionally approved - most BON's have an education link on the main page.

Two websites that I've found usefull:

http://www.elearners.com/online-degrees/bachelor/nursing.htm (list of on-line programs with easy to follow links to accredidation info)

http://www.medi-smart.com/boards.htm (list of every state BON in the country to check that any program you look at is approved by the right agency)

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You may also want to consider if you think you might pursue graduate study (beyond the BSN). Some of the online nursing programs that have reputations of being "diploma mills" are not well regarded by many grad schools.

Over the past several years, we have admitted a handful of students from a well-known online program. None of these students have completed the MSN program (all had either failed out or withdrew). The faculty at my institution are very hesitant on enrolling any graduate from any for-profit, online school now.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.
I'm in the same boat and have been doing LOTS of research into the right program. I've been moving alot the last two years and have heard horror stories about RNs that finished their on line degrees only to find out the program they chose was not recognized by some states.

Silly me thought if the program was nationally accredidated by either CCNE or NLN it would be fine. Turns out this is not what we really need,. You need to find a program that is regionally approved in the state in which the physical school resides. I found this out after emailing multiple state BON"s such as ND, MN,CO and NY (where I'm from)

Someone mentioned Indiana State which I looked into prior to learning the above and they emailed me back saying they would not accept me into the program because their degree is not recognized in NYS. That's what prompted me to research this.

After 3 days of non-stop on line research Ive found a few programs that will work well. Like you I am looking for someplace reasonablly priced as I'll be paying out of pocket to avoid accruing more student loans - however I haven't found anywhere that forgoes clinicals.

Anywhere you choose double check with the state board of nursing that the program is unconditionally approved - most BON's have an education link on the main page.

Two websites that I've found usefull:

http://www.elearners.com/online-degrees/bachelor/nursing.htm (list of on-line programs with easy to follow links to accredidation info)

http://www.medi-smart.com/boards.htm (list of every state BON in the country to check that any program you look at is approved by the right agency)

It's were you got your initial nursing education that states look at. You get your license based on you ADN not your BSN. So you need to find nationally accredited schools. I've had a total of 38 nursing licenses now ( I was a traveler) and not a single state, NY included cared about my BSN, just my initial nursing degree.

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Specializes in Peds/NICU/Dialysis.
It's were you got your initial nursing education that states look at. You get your license based on you ADN not your BSN. So you need to find nationally accredited schools. I've had a total of 38 nursing licenses now ( I was a traveler) and not a single state, NY included cared about my BSN, just my initial nursing degree.

I'm glad you have had a good experience. But just as your experience is singular to you I have watched nurses especially in the midwest be denied recognition of their BSN. Like I said you can check with the BON in any state and you will get different answers. The majority of which are that if the programs are not regionally accredited they will not be accepted. Almost every state BON website will list those programs approved in their state. The right accredidatin is imperative IF you plan to apply to graduate school.

Like you said it IS important where you got your ADN because most BSN programs will not accept degrees obtained from - you guessed it - programs NOT regionally accredited. And you do become an RN with your ADN not your BSN. But my understanding was that here we are talking about the smart way to obtain your BSN online.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.
I'm glad you have had a good experience. But just as your experience is singular to you I have watched nurses especially in the midwest be denied recognition of their BSN. Like I said you can check with the BON in any state and you will get different answers. The majority of which are that if the programs are not regionally accredited they will not be accepted. Almost every state BON website will list those programs approved in their state. The right accredidatin is imperative IF you plan to apply to graduate school.

Like you said it IS important where you got your ADN because most BSN programs will not accept degrees obtained from - you guessed it - programs NOT regionally accredited. And you do become an RN with your ADN not your BSN. But my understanding was that here we are talking about the smart way to obtain your BSN online.

I don t get why your saying your BSN won't be recognized. If you've got a valid ADN and nursing license, there shouldn't be any problem. In every state your applying based upon your initial nursing education.

Now as to the grad school, national accredidation is more important than regional accredidation when it comes to being accepted.

You'll have to give me specifics before I'll believe that someone didn't get their BSN recognized if they had a valid ADN to start with.

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Specializes in Peds/NICU/Dialysis.
I don t get why your saying your BSN won't be recognized. If you've got a valid ADN and nursing license, there shouldn't be any problem. In every state your applying based upon your initial nursing education.

Now as to the grad school, national accredidation is more important than regional accredidation when it comes to being accepted.

You'll have to give me specifics before I'll believe that someone didn't get their BSN recognized if they had a valid ADN to start with.

Sure Craig loved to get you some specifics just realize I am agreeing with you on most points - like - you do become an RN with your ADN. BUT what I was going towards was the smart way in which to obtain your BSN online. That includes not only recognition of the degree by any state BON but transferability of those BSN credits to another bsn porgram or masters program if the person chooses to continue past the BSN. And of course the cost of that and any future degrees (MSN, MBA) Also if you obtained your ADN or diploma from a school NOT regionally accreditated most BSN programs don't allow you to transfer credits into the BSN program. a simple google search of "why does my ADN program need to be regionally accreditated" will provide you with tons of results.

Let's start you off with this - the following links talk about the two types of accreditation.

http://www.elearners.com/guide-to-online-education/regional-and-national-accreditation.asp

http://www.guidetocareereducation.com/regional-accreditation-vs-national-accreditation.html

http://www.uceadirectory.org/accreditation.html

Now let's move onto you claim that national accreditation is more important when it comes to being accepted - could you explain why you think so? Can you give me any reading material on this.

Of course I'm sure we can both agree that the best program would be both nationally and regionally accreditated , what I was talking about was the ability to transfere credits to another program without difficulty.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.
Sure Craig loved to get you some specifics just realize I am agreeing with you on most points - like - you do become an RN with your ADN. BUT what I was going towards was the smart way in which to obtain your BSN online. That includes not only recognition of the degree by any state BON but transferability of those BSN credits to another bsn porgram or masters program if the person chooses to continue past the BSN. And of course the cost of that and any future degrees (MSN, MBA) Also if you obtained your ADN or diploma from a school NOT regionally accreditated most BSN programs don't allow you to transfer credits into the BSN program. a simple google search of "why does my ADN program need to be regionally accreditated" will provide you with tons of results.

Let's start you off with this - the following links talk about the two types of accreditation.

http://www.elearners.com/guide-to-online-education/regional-and-national-accreditation.asp

http://www.guidetocareereducation.com/regional-accreditation-vs-national-accreditation.html

http://www.uceadirectory.org/accreditation.html

Now let's move onto you claim that national accreditation is more important when it comes to being accepted - could you explain why you think so? Can you give me any reading material on this.

Of course I'm sure we can both agree that the best program would be both nationally and regionally accreditated , what I was talking about was the ability to transfere credits to another program without difficulty.

My references come from the same ways yours did. When looking for my grad school choices 100% of 145 schools I loooked at both brick and mortar and online all wanted national accredidation. I"m not agguing about accredidation, just some of the "fear" factor that was thrown into the discusion. I think on the whole we're agreeing on the basics.

1. National accreidation

2. recognized school

3. Know the requirments i.e. what actual classes you'll need

4. Look beyond just getting the BSN to your possible future.

Again anecdotal information here, not supported at this time by a sig lit search or anything., and this only pertains to RN-BSN programs, NOT initial ADN program. Now if someone is getting their initial degree. They better make sure that it is recognized were they plan on working. THere are actually brik and mortar programs that don't meet certain states critieria for licensing. BUt they are "regionally accredided"

Most of the things discused in the e-learning web site are more focused on trade schools like devry and itc were the fine print says that some credits may not transfer. If you go with a mainstream school, with a good track record and verifiable credntials, you'll be good to go. On a personal preference I would stay away from the privates like UOP. There are plenty of program that have been around a long time.

Now as to the origional post. Fast and inispensive are relative. what is fast and inespensive for me, may not be for you. YOu need to find the program that fits you and not anyone else. DO your research, talk to people and see what the course work was like. Set your self up a spread sheet and lay it out on paper in front of you. If your planning on grad school, talk to one of the counselors at the schools your htinking about and ask them. read ALL the requirments. i.e. the BN program from university of Dundee is a good program and if you don't plan on going farther, might be perfect. But if your planning on becoming an NP then you need to look into some other program or take lots of extra classes.

And last but not least, DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK. Only use the information you got here as one piece in your selection puzzle. Your going to get a lot of heasay information here and some of it isnt' going to be accurate or at least swayed in one way or another, use it to help start your search, and to give you questions to ask that you might not have thought of yourself. Allnurses.com is a gret place to chat and socialize, but think about it as a BIG nurses station, and that kind of keeps it all in perspective.

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