Bridge from LPN to RN/BSN

[cmurr1004]

I have been an avid reader of this site for years and have been working as a medical assistant for awhile. I have a fear of student loans and have been held back from returning to school for nursing because of the money and also the wait list that plagues our local schools. I have been researching programs in the area for an education in LPN and I think I have found one that I really like. They have a 3 step process and I have completed 2 of the 3 so far. I have my final step (the interview) coming up next week and then I wait to hear if I am accepted (pray for me!). I may be putting the cart before the horse, but I do like to think long term :) Can anyone share their experience with me with entering a bridging program from LPN - RN or BSN? I know those programs exist and I know I will want to continue, once I have my foot in the door with the schooling.

Bestow your wisdom please!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Can anyone share their experience with me with entering a bridging program from LPN - RN or BSN?

I completed a 12-month LVN program at a trade school in southern California in 2005. I relocated to Texas 6 weeks after graduation and have lived there ever since.

I worked full-time weekend double shifts while slowly completing prerequisites before enrolling in a private for-profit LPN-to-ASN bridge program in early 2009. The program was 14 months and I completed it in March 2010, then passed NCLEX-RN two months later.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

I went into a 12-month practical nursing program as well, but it was back in the fall of 1984. I graduated in 1985 and passed my boards in 1986. Twenty-three years later, economic changes forced me to return to school in pursuit of the RN. My bridge program was a self-paced online avenue that I was fortunate enough to complete in 10 months. But, that is because I was sitting in an actual classroom taking the required general education courses (ones that I considered to be no-brainers; requiring little time and effort to pass) simultaneously just so I could qualify for the student loans, in which I used the excess to pay for the online ASN degree. Needless to say, I had a lot of free time on my hands: kids were grown; job was cancelling shifts like there was no tomorrow; and unbeknownst to me, my social planner was completely blank for the duration then and now. Studying was all I had going on and I took full advantage of it. I began my bridge in August 2009, completed the ASN requirements in February 2010 (but degree conferral was April 2010), and passed the NCLEX two months later in June 2010.

Forgot to add that when I looked into the LPN-BSN programs, I found that there were some courses (chemistry, etc.) that were required in those particular programs that were not required in my chosen RN bridge program, nor my RN-BSN program-to-come. In other words, the LPN-BSN program had some requirements that I wanted no part of back then or ever. But, to each his (her) own.

[smartiipants, LPN]

Where are you from?