Brown Mackie?

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Help! I'm so confused. I want to go to nursing school but am older and am running out of time. I see these ads from various 'trade' type schools. Are there any Brown Mackie grads out there that can vouch for the nursing programs they offer?...or does anyone work with someone who actually got a job after the expensive program? What schools should I try in KC area?

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OMG Please do not go to brown mackie, they "seem" very nice but they will lie to you to get your money when I was there they never had anyone that graduated and a got a job offer, they've only had two graduating classes. Their not NLN accredited. May not be important to a lot of people but for someone like me who wants to go on and specialize in nursing its very important. Long story short it was in fact a clown school and quit after a month with 3,000 dollars in debt. The instructors passed eveyone with an A, which I think is ridiculous because out of 25 students we are not all going to be A students. The classes just seem too easy as if we were in kindergarden or something. Anyways thats all I have to say about them. Please,Please do not waste your money there

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I highly do NOT recommend Brown Mackie. I checked it out, and they lied to me about several different things. I asked for references from current students and recent grads and got the run around. Also, one of the first questions they asked was, "So how are you going to pay for this?" They are very much FOR profit.

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PS - we have lots of "older" students. Wherever you are, there you are. If it's something you believe in and really want to do, put a couple years into it - you'll love nursing school, trust me!

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Specializes in psych, long term care, developmental dis.

Anyone who reads this, please you need to investigate the programs that you are going into. You can go to any nursing school but are you going to pass the State Boards? You need to ask what their pass rate is. The Junior College that I went to had the year before I graduated a 100% pass on state boards, and the year I graduated we had a pass rate of 98%. The students who did not pass it on the first time were able to do it the 2nd time.

You also need to know how many students will be in your class for each instructor.

You also must realize that you will need to MAKE A COMMITTMENT to your training as it will go by fast and you need to be prepared as nursing is not flipping burgers (not that there is anything wrong with that).

Some hospitals will send you to school if you agree to work for them after you graduate, look into rural communities, etc.

Good Luck

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And by the way - Brown Mackie will quote some great pass rate to you. The problem is, clinicals are "competitive" to get into. Less than half the class ever gets to go to clinicals, and thus take the NCLEX. And that's not even considering the people who drop out because they recognize how terrible the program is - Brown Mackie may say they have a 90% pass rate when that's really reflecting something more in the 30% range.

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Specializes in LTC/D&A/AL.

Ive looked into brown mackie and will be starting, things checked out, and my STNA (Ohio here) asked me if they were NLN. I didnt know and proceeded to do some research, I found out they ARE Ohio League of Nursing accredited and my old teacher said that would be just fine, so far the enrollment went well and ill be ok financially. I dont start till november. I havent had problems yet, if I do I definatly will post it up here.

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I went to Concorde in KC for my LPN, graduated in 2005. I did see on their website the other day that they now have an RN program.

I will tell you... OMG it was tough both mentally and emotionally. Every single person in my graduating class (8 of us) passed the NCLEX on the 1st try. However, having said that... I think we started out with 28ish.... and only 8 of those original 28 graduated on time with us. There were a few that dropped out temporarily and came back with the next class. I haven't kept in touch with anyone, so I'm not sure how many more that dropped from my class came back and finished.

Those that did not come back to finish, and were dropped, had this happen only because they did not apply themselves to the program 100%. You need to be prepared to give up almost everything, 7 days a week, for about 13 months.

3 of those 8 that graduated with us were accepted right away into Park University's bridge program. 3 tested and competed for the limited seats at Park's bridge program, and 3 were accepted.

Rain, snow, sleet or heart attacks.... you went to school. I say heart attacks because my husband had a mild heart attack about halfway through the program and I did not miss a day of school. (we also had a guy in our class who had a heart attack about 1/3 of the way through and needed a bypass.... he came back with a later class to finish) Two days after he had a heart attack and was still at St. Luke's, I had clinicals.... you cannot miss clinical! While they instructors would have been understanding about my situation, they do not bend the rules. I was offered their sympathy (and hugs) and was told that they understood if I needed to drop and pick up in a few months with the next class. I decided to just make the best of the situation and work through it. Thankfully, my husband wasn't in serious condition and only needed an angiogram. He was out of the hospital in only 3 days.

This is probably more than you were wanting to know.... but, just know that this is a no nonsense program at Concorde. Even though I *almost* hated every day ... their program is good and I was definitely prepared for the NCLEX and the workplace.

If I still lived in the KC area and trying to bridge, I would definitely consider going back to Concorde.

Oh, one last tidbit.... I can't remember the exact cost.... but the LPN program was about $15,000.

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If you already have a degree, Research College of Nursing has an accelerated BSN program in whcih you can get your BSN in 1 yr (more like 18 months because you go to school in the summers as well). HCA will even pay for the degree if you agree to work for one of there hospitals for 2 years afterwards.

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Specializes in LTC.

I would not recommend Brown Mackie. I graduated from the one in Lenexa and most of the classes were a joke. I barely learned anything. I finished with a diploma in Medical Coding and Billing and never found a job. I knew lots of people who got degrees as a Medical Assistant and never found jobs either. In my last few months there they were beginning their RN program and since the summer of 06 I have heard nothing good about it. I would recommend JCCC or even KCCC. the CC here where I live now as a great RN program and have heard good things about it. I would consider sooo many other places before Brown Mackie. but things could have change. It's all in how you feel about it. Good Luck

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THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

I cannot thank you all enough for this thread!

You just saved me $34,000! I looked into Brown Mackie and was accepted the same day (Wed), was supposed to see their "financial department" today about getting the student loans and start on Monday. Then I found this board. When I talked to the director about the lack of NLNAC she tried to sell me the same "We are in the process of getting our NLNAC, we just had our 2 passing classes last month" that I've seen was told to others. I checked with NLNAC.org to see if they had in fact applied, and therefor were considered candidates for the accreditation before I contacted them again. Of course they were not on the list. When I pointed this out she didn't have an answer for me as to why and became increasingly irritated I was asking so many questions about it.

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mackie costs a lot of money around $300.00 per credit hour just for tuition alone. much more than a lpn or adn/asn at a community college and even more than some bsn 4-year universities. before you spend that kind of money -

i recommend you contact your state's board of nursing to see if the mackie program you want to take is accredited by the federal government and by the state you are in and if their program is approved by the state you are in (those are 2 different things). go to your state's licensing department and to your state's board of nursing.

then i would look at whether you can take your lpn and go to another school that has a completion program from lpn to rn (either associate or bachelor programs) and if they will let you do the completion program based solely on the fact that you have your lpn license and passed your state's nclex. if you do a lpn to rn completion program you may not have to transfer any credits depending on where you go for your completion degree.

you should also check to see what mackie's nclex passing rate is for your state and for the last two years to see how much separate work you will have to do beyond mackie's program to prepare yourself to pass the nclex. in addition to mackie's program you should consider taking the kaplan nclex preparation classes which will cost you separate money.

if you are interested in additional nursing accreditations for the school you attend - here is some info on the ccne and nln websites that you should go to:

there are a great many opportunities for rn associate degree programs, lpn certification programs, and rn bachelor of science in nursing programs.

you can easily obtain lists of all nursing programs that are approved in every state. in addition, you can easily obtain lists of all nursing programs that are accredited by the nln and by the ccne.

the american association of colleges of nursing (aacn) has the following website - http://www.aacn.nche.edu/accreditation/

click on that link. you will see a number of tabs on the left including:

accredited programs

other affiliated programs

click on those tabs and download the materials. you will find all of the aacn ccne accreditations for all of the schools in the usa.

the aacn's ccne accreditation is important for this reason:

"officially recognized by the u.s. secretary of education as a national accreditation agency, the commission on collegiate nursing education (ccne) is an autonomous accrediting agency contributing to the improvement of the public's health. ccne ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate and graduate education programs preparing effective nurses."

"ccne serves the public interest by assessing and identifying programs that engage in effective educational practices. as a voluntary, self-regulatory process, ccne accreditation supports and encourages continuing self-assessment by nursing education programs and the continuing growth and improvement of collegiate professional education."

the website for the national league for nursing accrediting commission (nlnac) s http://www.nlnac.org/

click on that link. you will see on the left side the following:

nlnac accredited nursing programs

programs with candidate status

click on those links and download the materials. you will find much information.

the nln accreditation is important for this reason:

"the national league for nursing accrediting commission (nlnac) is nationally recognized by the u.s. department of education as the accrediting agency for postsecondary and higher degree nursing programs. nlnac provides specialized accreditation for all types of nursing education programs (clinical doctorate, master's, baccalaureate, associate, diploma, and practical)."

"nlnac supports the interests of nursing education, nursing practice, and the public by the functions of accreditation. accreditation is a voluntary, self-regulatory process by which non-governmental associations recognize educational institutions or programs that have been found to meet or exceed standards and criteria for educational quality. accreditation also assists in the further improvement of the institutions or programs as related to resources invested, processes followed, and results achieved."

in addition to all of this great information, the following are very important websites that every nursing student and nurse should have and use:

national association for practical nurse education and service, inc. (napnes) http://www.napnes.org/membership/chapters.html

national council of state boards of nursing, inc. (ncsbn) https://www.ncsbn.org/

member boards https://www.ncsbn.org/515.htm

for michigan https://www.ncsbn.org/515.htm#michigan

these numerous websites and the individual licensing websites for each individual state will provide anyone who is interested with a wealth of information on lpn and rn programs, schools, accreditation, and licensing.

additionally, if you are really interested in pursuing options, you must check with all of the community colleges and other colleges you wish to consider in your area that offer the program you want to determine the pre-requisites, waiting list, financial aid, admission requirements, transfer credit equivalencies, length of program, clinical sites, quality of the program's nclex preparation, etc.

if you want to make the most of your time and money - try to get into a ladder or a step program. that will let you get a lpn certificate, start working to earn funds, and move seamlessly into a rn associate degree program and finish with your rn!

you can also attend many schools online while you are working and move from an lpn to a rn as well as moving from a rn to a bsn or a msn with ease!

there is ample opportunity to receive any quality education you wish.

have a great life!

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