Chiropractor looking for a night/weekend RN or LPN program in Kansas City

[DCAMG]

hi i am new to this site and have been looking for a good program that will help me get to my ultimate goal of becoming a fnp or dnp. to give a little info about me, i am a 2004 drury university graduate with a degree in biology and psychology with a minor in chemistry and global studies. i graduated cleveland chiropractic college in kansas city in 2009. i currently work in my father's practice in blue springs missouri. i love what i do and where i work but i feel i could do more in practice with an advance nursing degree. so my ultimate goal would be to do a collaborative practice out of my current office. (sorry to rant on about myself). that being said i am looking for a night and weekend program for a lpn,rn or bsn program.

i have found one 21 month bsn program that is aimed for chiropractors that is in tx and is primarily online except for the clinicals which are in house (travel once a month to tx) but i would rather do it the long route because of price and i think clinical experience is "key" if one wants to be "good" at what they do. i have applied at penn valley which was a very arduous experience. i had to take the comass which i tested out of any class they offer there, and then i had to take life span and sociology 101. just recently i took the teas test, have not received my scores yet but i was told i would get them in the mail and it would say my scores and whether or not i was accepted or an alternate.

honestly in regards to the teas test the reading and grammar where joke. the math was fairly simple besides the fact i hadn't done any math of this kind (fraction and decimals) without a calculator since i was 14 so i was cutting it close on time. i am not super confidant about that. the science on the other hand i had mixed reviews; questions on tectonic plates, converting celsius to fahrenheit and questions on the periodic table seemed a little ridicules to me but i'm not a nurse yet, so i can't say that's stuff nurses will never use.

so basically i am assuming i am not getting in to that program. so does anyone have any suggestions on how to get to my goal of an fnp degree without quitting my practice? i am willing to start at a lpn program if need be.

please help!!!

[shoegalRN, RN]

Penn Valley is the only nursing program that offers a night/weekend option that I know of in this area. I also applied to that program, missed the NET by a few points, which automatically placed me in the LPN program. They had a night/weekend option on the LPN program as well, which was 18 months at the time.

That was in 2004. I have since graduated nursing school and became a RN, but I attended Research College of Nursing/Rockhurst University and have a BSN.

I believe St Lukes have a part time nursing program, you may want to check into that.

Good luck!

[DCAMG]

Well I got my TEAS score got an 80% on it. I was accepted to Penn valley but they accepted me into their day program. Which is funny because I only applied to their night program. So I emailed them about it we will see what the verdict is. So basically I am no better off then I was yesterday when I thought I didn't get in. Concorde has a evening lpn program any thoughts on this?

[bilingueRN]

Saint Luke's is about to change their curriculum, so they may have a part time program by the time you start, but no nights or weekends currently.

[DCAMG]

Really? Are you currently a student? I emailed them and your right they currently do not have any such programs. What makes you think that they might add a part time program? I am annoyed with Penn Valley, I still have not heard back from them as to whether they made a typeo on my letter and I am in the night program or if they made clerical error and they didn't look at my application to see that I only applied for the night program. Really, really annoying, espeacially since I have gone through alsorts of crap to get to this point.

[bilingueRN]

I don't think that they will ever advertise it as a part time program and they may not admit part timers since their admission standards are so sky high right now due to an overabundance of qualified candidates. When they change the curriculum, they will admit twice a year instead of once and they will have courses offered more often than they are now which may facilitate someone going part time.

[DCAMG]

I had also thought about (assuming Penn Valley is a Bust) going the LPN route. Concorde has a night LPN program. Im not sure who else does do you? Basically I would use the LPN to go to one of the brigde programs for LPN-RN or there are several online LPN-BSN programs I have actually spoken to a couple of these schools they take about 2-2 1/2 years for the BSN Not sure on the RN ones. Then getting my FNP after that. THis route would take like 6years though and probably end up costing more. I would rather just go for a part time or night and weekend program for a RN or BSN. But I am may have to go the LPN route, the ends justify them means.

[bilingueRN]

I would say that it would be better to wait for an RN program to open up for what you need them for. I think that LPN would add too much time on to your program. If PV works out, you could then go for an RN-MSN if that is your ultimate goal. You could also look into Research's accelerated BSN since you already have your bachelors. I believe that it is 12-15 months long.

[DCAMG]

I have looked into William Jewels, UMKC and Researches acc. BSN but they all require me to leave my practice to attend and I can't do that. I need to work and continue to build my patient base so when I do get my FNP I already have large patient base to ensure my success in independant practice. But yes some of those programs are very tempting. I am really just hoping for the PV cause I with them I only have to take at most 7hrs and some semesters 3 or 4 because I have all the other course work down. So I really only have 2 classroom courses and the rest are clinicals. An LPN degree would add about 18months to my path but if I have to wait almost 18months if not more to get into a RN program it may be the best choice.

[bilingueRN]

Here's the thing with waiting though, you get your LPN and you are trained in that role and immediately have to change your thinking when you bridge to RN (which may also involve a long wait) and so you're a "new grad" twice instead of once. Why not get really good at being a DC in the time you are waiting and save up for the time you will miss while you are in school. Just my 2 cents and I am certainly not trying to dismiss your ideas.

[DCAMG]

I definately see what your saying. I have been replying to you morning while seeing patients,our practice is fairly busy but been a bit slow for us this month but June through August is our busy season according to the Sen. Doctor here. I will continue to get better as a DC even while I am in school since I will be workinh here 4-5 days a week throughout any program I do. I agree I would much rather do the RN program but as far as waiting to get into a LPN-BSN program I have spoken with a school and they said 90 day to my grad date to send in my transcripts and they would get me admitted and started as soon as my LPN program ended. Thats the thing I have noticed about nursing there are a lot of online programs. Personally I don't care what school I get my nursing degree from just as long as I have good clincals. To be honest classroom work can be done online, self study, in class it really doesn't matter, its all about the clincals thats where all the real learning and skills take place. I bet I learned more in my 1yr of clincals and twice as much in my first year of practice then I learned in all the 7 years of course work combined before my clinicals.

[DelanaRN, MSN, APRN, NP]

Wait it out and get into a RN program. It will be worth it. If you can get your ADN, then Frontier College offers a RN-ADN to FNP program online with some brief clinicals...I am looking into the Frontier Program.