Are accelerated programs fair?

[caro3334]

I hope this question doesn't seem too juvenile or simplistic...

Do you all think accelerated BSN programs are fair? :imbar I'm in a traditional BSN program and was complaining about how long summers were, and how we could have completed a semester of school in that time. Out of curiosity, I did a search for accelerated BSN programs (not all are second degree programs as I previously thought), and I found some as short as 12 months. I'm sure it is an intense 12 months, but for some reason I don't think this is fair. I was looking at a school that had both a traditional and an accelerated BSN program, and the traditional program had extra pre-requisites and extra classes in the actual BSN program. I would post the website, but I don't want this to look like an attack on any particular school. Will someone please tell me why they think this is fair/not fair?

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

The accelerated program I am interested in requires a lot of prerequisites :

-ADN

-RN w/ at least 1 yr experience

-One year of English comp

-One year of bio

-One year of Inorganic Chem

-A&P w/ lab

-Microbio

And admissions is really competitive, so you better have done well at all those things! Additionally, they require letters of rec and an interview. I am applying for next year's program, and am currently working on prereqs for this program and another I intend to take after it. This semester I'm taking physics and english lit, next semester is a doozy with the 2nd half of bio, inorganic chem, and 2nd half of physics. (My ADN only required one semester each of bio and chem, and I took the courses aimed at bio majors, not nursing students, so that it'd transfer to other academic work.)

Yeeeah. If I hadn't just gotten home from work after an overnight, I'd be studying RIGHT NOW.

What is the name of your program and is it online? I tried to pm you, but you do not have private messaging enabled.

[300lb Gorilla BSN RN]

I just completed a 22 month accelerated BSN program on a second degree track. The program had three other tracks and two of the three did not require a previous degree.

As far as being fair in regards to cutting corners or otherwise. It was a very, Very, VERY intense program (did I say very?) with us losing 7 of the original 17 student startup by graduation (we graduated 10). Every student had to be driven and dedicated to the goal of becoming a BSN/RN... without a doubt.

Our program did not cut corners in any sense of the word and the summer session was the most difficult thing I have ever survived in my long life! It was a regular 16 week course load taught in 12 weeks.

Having survived, graduated, and passed boards with 75 questions I am happy to say it was well worth it. Our NCLEX pass rate for the accelerated class was 100%. The NCLEX pass rate for the regular class was 98.3%.

[chris_at_lucas_RN, RN]

I hope this question doesn’t seem too juvenile or simplistic…

Do you all think accelerated BSN programs are fair? :imbar I’m in a traditional BSN program and was complaining about how long summers were, and how we could have completed a semester of school in that time. Out of curiosity, I did a search for accelerated BSN programs (not all are second degree programs as I previously thought), and I found some as short as 12 months. I’m sure it is an intense 12 months, but for some reason I don’t think this is fair. I was looking at a school that had both a traditional and an accelerated BSN program, and the traditional program had extra pre-requisites and extra classes in the actual BSN program. I would post the website, but I don’t want this to look like an attack on any particular school. Will someone please tell me why they think this is fair/not fair?

What strikes me here, and I truly do not mean to offend, is that this sounds like the elementary school student who complains that he had to stay in five minutes longer for the teacher to finish explaining something.

Fair?

They have to pass the same boards, and they have to be at least as good.

If it is not fair, it is because they do not have the luxury of all that time. Off for three months over the summer? Review what you have learned, study up on what's coming (many schools have syllabi available--or the class before you has one!), so you can learn it that much better.

Fair versus unfair? Not in the way you mean it--and each program's students are there because they want to be. I am pretty sure no one was forced, and no one is there to avoid a worse fate.

Maybe I am unusual: I considered going to nursing school at all a luxury and a blessing for which I am continually grateful. I would have liked to have gone 30 years earlier, but I literally wasn't allowed to go. That might be an issue of fair versus unfair.... but I don't see it that way.

What would be the point?

[Music in My Heart]

Maybe I am unusual: I considered going to nursing school at all a luxury and a blessing for which I am continually grateful. I would have liked to have gone 30 years earlier, but I literally wasn't allowed to go. That might be an issue of fair versus unfair.... but I don't see it that way.

Well put.

I agree... going to college in any field is a blessing. It's too bad that more people don't see it that way.

In fact, going to school all the way through is a blessing. It's sad that some much of it is taken for granted and wasted.

Kudos to you for not letting your situation get you down or hold you back.

[morganvibes]

Also to consider:

Some STATE schools have requirements that add extra classes, but they are not NURSING classes.

I am in a 24 month Masters program, so that I am sure that will really seem unfair to some.

I have over 100 credits already(including all "Nursing" science classes, 78 credits MINIMUM are required to enter this program.)

(in addition to good grades, good GRE, essays, letters of rec.)

the program is all nursing and clinicals. 6 semesters, about 80 credits. So in reality the program is 3 years of "Traditional" school, but it is competed in 2 years.

Most people think, "How can you get a masters in nursing in 2 years?" reality check:

I will have 6 years of college credits for a masters degree, which is very normal.

Most students in this program have many more credits than this.

Question for original poster:

Since you are only 21, how could you have taken an accelerated program? Would you have had the pre-reqs required already?;

Most likely, you would have had to be in school for 3 years getting the pre-reqs which might not have saved you any time.

bottom line:

These programs are set up for adults changing careers.

most who already have degrees in somethng else.

For the time we are saving, I'm sure that most of us would be 22 years old again and trade places with you.:)

seriously. You are in a great profession and have made a smart choice VERY early in life.

Good luck!

[1bigmedicRN]

Like other people said life is not fair. I went through a paramedic to RN nursing program. How many traditional people would like to take a pass fail test on there first day of class on how to give medications, baths, make beds, IV, and a few other things. The program was very intesnse and we also had some LPNs. The part was interesting was that the LPNs are the ones who failed out of the nursing classes. It was an intense 44 weeks. And yes I will be the first one to admit that a traditional program has a lot of pluses and I would question an accelerated program again. Because it took me 2.5 years class room time for my paramedic license then a year of pre-requisites and a year of nursing school to become a nurse. Because most people in my state it takes 3 years it took me and other people 4.5 years to become a nurse. Fair? It depends on whose eyes you are looking through. :smiley_ab

[shah]

I agree accelerated programs are not fair.

I completed my accelerated BSN in 15 months. Started in May. Completed one Summer I (1 course) in 10 days. Had to read 7 to 10 chapters a night. Had a daily quiz, a conference attendance and a group report on top of it. Started Summer II and Summer III next week. Summer II ( 1 course) ended in 4 weeks. Summer III (Pathophysiology and Pharmacology) lasted 6 weeks. Started Fall next week. Completed Fall & Spring with regular program. Started next yr's Summer I the next week, and so on. Completed the program in Summer III of the yr.

[timjo]

This response is for "IIg"

I found your comments about accelerated nursing programs very interesting. I would like to hear the specific strengths, knowledge and skills that you are looking for in a new graduate. Are there particular areas that are repeatedly weak in new grads?

[jjjoy, LPN]

I don't think it's useful to scold or shame the OP for asking her question. She's not the only one thinking it. I think it's better to address the question than to just tell folks "life ain't fair, suck it up" or to defensively object to one's chosen educational path being questioned.

By encouraging the suppression of questions and feelings of unfairness, it seems likely that many will continue to harbor questions about the quality of DE programs which may translate to further intraprofessional tensions. By non-defensively spelling out how DE programs work, you help eliminate problematic assumptions without alienating or insulting the person who is questioning.

Of course, there are those who will be belligerent and judgemental and not engage in calm discourse, but the rest of us can learn a lot through the exchange of our different perspectives. DE graduates will be facing similar negative assumptions and feelings of unfairness when they start practicing. These discussions might also help them find ways to explain their educational preparation in a manner that doesn't alienate them from those who might feel jealous of or concerned about their training.

[cuppy]

I attended an accelerated BSN program. Not only do you have to have a 4 year degree in another field, (many have masters degree's) but all the nursing pre-req's required of the traditional BSN programs are also expected to be completed before you are accepted, (or at least before school begins) A minimal of a 3.0 in all coursework is required, ( and competition is pretty stiff) so in reality, you need a higher GPA. We completed 1300 clinical hours in addtion to receiving a public health nurse certification, and rotated through ICU, CCU and NICU.

And just incase you are still feeling like it is unfair, not everyone makes it through. So please don't think that we just show up for a year and take the NCLEX, and get our RN. There were many sleepless, tear filled nights that some of my classmates and I just did not know if we were going to make it.

[jjjoy, LPN]

With the stiff competition for nursing programs these days, a good GPA (3.0+) is necessary to get into ADN programs at community colleges (depending on their selection methods).

My BSN program was 2 years full-time, Sept-June, all lower-division pre-reqs completed prior to entry. I already had a bach in another field and was lucky in that I had most upper division non-nursing coursework completed already (eg electives). Instructors encouraged students to take those courses during the summer sessions. Junior year, they discouraged anyone from taking anythign beyond that of the program. Those classmates that did have to take elective courses their senior year tended to feel the coursework for those classes were neglible in comparison to the nursing coursework. Of course, they generally would try to choose courses that wouldn't be highly demanding.

For those here who have taken accel programs, were your upper division electives already completed? Our electives had to be approved for the nursing program, usually in psychology, sociology or the like. Perhaps they aren't as picky about what upper division coursework was previously done? For example someone with an architecture degree probably wouldn't have taken any upper div courses that would apply to nursing.

Personally, I don't even like the quarter system that many universities use. Ten-week courses go by so quickly that I don't feel I have a chance to make the material my own. I can pass the course and do well on tests, but I also quickly forget it as we're soon on to a completely different topic. I hated compacted summer courses as well. They were only good for courses that I didn't find interesting or useful to begin with... ya know, hoop-jumping courses. So for that reason, I don't think I'd enjoy an accelerated program.

Still, I found nursing coursework to be so broad that I didn't feel I mastered anything anyway. I knew a little about a lot of things but didn't feel a master of much of anything... except maybe writing care plans... which isn't a skill used in real world nursing anyway! I wonder if accel programs are more explicit about not having to master every last thing and that you're just learning enough of everything so that you have some familiarity with whatever speciality you eventually work in.

[PCU_RN]

some of the accelerated programs have fewer classes.

http://www.uu.edu/programs/nursing/bsn/accelerated/acceleratedbsn.pdf

http://www.uu.edu/programs/nursing/bsn/traditional/traditionalbsn.pdf

i took a close look at those programs. the traditional model is 129 credit hours. the accelerated program is also 129 credit hours (although you can do 127, the 2-hour leeway is in the lab sciences and electives). the differences in the core courses are:

1) skills practicum - 1 extra hour in the accelerated;

2) foundations for nursing - 1 hour less in the accelerated;

3) no foundations of pharmacology (2 credit hours) in the accelerated;

4)in the traditional program, there is a 3-hour upper level elective during the junior year that is a prerequisite in the accelerated program.