Concorde

CBsMommy · Dec 9, 2009

I went to UCD, not for the nursing program, but for other courses and while the school is HUGE, once you get the hang of it, it really doesn't seem that intimidating! Sand Dollar, good luck on getting in and getting started!

nursenice1 · Dec 9, 2009

I will speak from 2 perspectives.

One as a recuiter, I do not look on "FAST" degrees as the same as I do from a university. The Regis grad bought there degree, they did not earn it. If I have a choice between two nurse, one from a FAST degree program and one from a university, I will choose the university. Saying that, I will tell you that I got my BS degree from a FAST university program, not in nursing, because I knew I wanted to go on for a Masters. You must look at your future plans, not just now.

This leads to my second point. What do you want to do with the BSN that you cannot do now? Are you geting it just to add more letters? Will an employer pay you to return to school? It appears from your concerns about employment that you do not have a job now. Get involved in the field before you look to advanced degrees. I have been a nurse for 38 years and have never been out of a job unless I wanted to be. I live in an area that has a high umemployment rate, yet I have never been without work. That goes back to my days as a diploma nurse, to today with a Masters Degree.

Xtina2010 · Dec 9, 2009

Mcblount,

Those of us pursuing the Accelerated BSN program are students who have graduated from 4 year universities with a Bachelors in a non-nursing field. The program is "fast" because we have already taken all the GE and prereqs for nursing. By taking a full load of clinicals and courses and working through the summer, we are able to complete the same amount (if not more) clinical hours than required. I don't understand what you mean when you say that you would rather higher someone from a "university" over a "fast" program...both people must fulfill the same requirements and course load.

roxyr82 · Dec 9, 2009

I am currently working as a waitress and in retail. I have zero hospital experience besides my limited volunteering. My concerns about not finding a job are primarily because I will be spending so much on the degree and I will need to find employment right away to pay off the loans.

tinybabynurse · Dec 9, 2009

I will speak from 2 perspectives.
One as a recuiter, I do not look on "FAST" degrees as the same as I do from a university. The Regis grad bought there degree, they did not earn it. If I have a choice between two nurse, one from a FAST degree program and one from a university, I will choose the university. Saying that, I will tell you that I got my BS degree from a FAST university program, not in nursing, because I knew I wanted to go on for a Masters. You must look at your future plans, not just now.
This leads to my second point. What do you want to do with the BSN that you cannot do now? Are you geting it just to add more letters? Will an employer pay you to return to school? It appears from your concerns about employment that you do not have a job now. Get involved in the field before you look to advanced degrees. I have been a nurse for 38 years and have never been out of a job unless I wanted to be. I live in an area that has a high umemployment rate, yet I have never been without work. That goes back to my days as a diploma nurse, to today with a Masters Degree.

I'm not sure what your definition of a "Fast" degree is, but based on your response we are not talking about the same thing. We are discussing Accelerated BSN programs. Both CU and Regis are Universities. Everyone buys a degree because we all (unless we have a scholarship) pay tuition. The Accelerated programs that we are discussing are only open to those who have previous Bachelor's degrees, and like a previous poster mentioned you have to have all of your nursing prereq's completed before starting the program. We then do the 2 years of Nursing school in one year (Regis) or approx 19 months (CU). We meet the same clinical hour requirements as the traditional route, it is just much more intense because we are doing the same amount of work in much less time. These are VERY respected and competitive programs both in the Denver area as well as the nation.

truerae88 · Dec 10, 2009

Neither! If you already have your RN, why not attend the University of Wyoming distant learning program; accelerated RN to BSN program for $140/credit hour??? Excellent program and REASONABLE! Why pay $300-$700/credit hour? Don't waste your money due to advertising; shop for a great education at a reasonable price! :yeah: :twocents: :specs: :coollook:

Xtina2010 · Dec 10, 2009

WE DON'T HAVE RNs! those of us applying to the Accelerated BSN programs have a bachelor's degree in another field.

nursenice1 · Dec 10, 2009

Pretty sad commentary when someone who is an RN must go to school for 3 years to complete the BSN when someone who has another degree and has completed the prerequisites can sit for boards in one year.

I work with one of those nurses and I can say her skills are worth about what she PAID for the degree. She can never read in a book the feeling you have the first time you introduce yourself as someone's nurse, All the schooling in the world cannot teach you that. You receive that from day to day working with patients, not reading the Proper procedure in a book. The reason we need these nurses with bachelors inother fields is because the people of today that would have the desire to become a nurse go into more lucrative fields. WOmen are no longer limited to teaching and nursing for their career choices.

When I spoke earlier about a PAID for degree, I was speaking of teh nurse that does all of the classes on line, takes less time but pays the different in monies. Either you pay with your time or your monies. I guess you need to decide which is worth more to you.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2009

Mcblout, you really should try to make sure you understand the details of the subject you are commenting about before you open your mouth.

You are way out of touch with understanding here.

Those accelerated Regis grads do the same amount of work and the same amount of clinical hours. They just have a higher course load and an accelerated clinical schedule. It means they cannot work or have a life while in school. THAT is how they can do it in 14-16 months versus the 20 months that it takes in a traditional ADN or BSN program.

Luckily, most recruiters know this. Now you do to!

One1, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2009

Pretty sad commentary when someone who is an RN must go to school for 3 years to complete the BSN when someone who has another degree and has completed the prerequisites can sit for boards in one year.

mcblount, your facts are not correct. It is the RN who usually completes her BSN in an online program which you so obviously seem to despise, and the reason for doing it this way is to allow her to work as a nurse while advancing her degree. These programs are also, in the greater majority, not 3, but rather 1 to 1.5 years long. If you look at the curriculum of a RN to BSN program (as an example), you can see that the nursing-related classes take up the smaller part of the program time. The greater part of the program is designed to fill the RN in on general education and specific science classes.

http://www.regis.edu/rh.asp?page=study.rnbsn.curric

CU (since you are a strong critic of Regis) requires you to fulfill all non-nursing prerequisites (gen ed, sciences) BEFORE you even apply, and the actual number of credit hours you take during the program is 30 credit hours, so the proportion of gen-ed/ science classes to nursing classes is very similar to Regis. BTW, CU's program can be finished in as little as 3 semesters if the RN desires.

To come back to the case of the posters in this thread though: We all hold Bachelors in non-nursing fields, which means we already fulfilled gen ed classes, and we have spent about 2 years fulfilling nursing-science prerequisites before we even applied to BSN programs. What is left for us to take are only the nursing core classes, and there is absolutely no reason why those, if we are full-time students, as will be required for us, should not do those in the 1.5 years a program (in average) takes. If you want to look at the really big picture, you can say that we spent, in average, 6 years to prepare for nursing (4 for our Bachelors, 2 for specific prerequisites) before we even enter nursing school.

You mentioned that you received your RN certification in form of a diploma (maybe through a hospital-based training)? Colleges and Universities have, during the last decades, been working on standarizing post-high school education, to ensure that graduates in all areas of the US receive a comparable level of education. That is why accreditation agencies, such as the Higher Learning Commission, are standarizing and granting nationally acknowledged accreditations such as the regional accreditation. That is one reason nursing programs shifted from individualized, non-standarized hospital training to university programs. New demands on workers and the accessibility of the Internet have further changed the way we study. Online classes have come a long way, and have become an integral, and respected, part of today's education, regardless of one's personal like or dislike of them. Students today are in different situations, with different demands, than they might have been when you were an RN student, and studying tools have evolved to meet these new demands.

Also, I am sure the original poster has her (thought-out) reasons why she wants to enter a BSN program directly rather than an ADN program. It is not always about just getting a job. We are well aware that the RN exam is the same for all nursing students, regardless if they have ADNs or BSNs. I am not sure if you are aware of this, but many of us do not feel like pursuing an ADN if we might even consider continuing our education in the near future, especially with many of us not being in our teens anymore; and why should we move backwards in our level of education, if we already have Bachelor degrees and can receive a second Bachelor in the same time as an Associate's degree?

Glenarm_Girl · Dec 10, 2009

Hi Katie,

Thanks so much for you feedback. It's really invaluable, since you are in the program and can answer any questions we could possibly have. I have so many different things running through my head that it's difficult to articulate it, but I'll try...

First of all, what's the daily routine like?

What time do you go to class and when do you go to clinicals?

Do you do clinicals on the weekend?

What days are you free?

How many people are in your cohort and do you all pretty much "stick together" in terms of studying and preparing for labs?

Do a lot of people room together while in the program?

What is your living situation and was it difficult to find a place to live?

How is the financial aid office in terms of knowing their stuff and being proactive?

Can we choose our professors or do we all take the exact same classes taught by the same teachers?

Which hospitals do you recommend for clinicals?

Do we choose where we want to do clinicals or are they just assigned?

What is the biggest challenge you face in this program?

Which class is most difficult?

How long after you graduate do you take the national exam?

Are you a part of any nursing organizations or clubs and if so which ones do you recommend?

I think that is all for now. Hope it's not too much and if so you can just answer the questions you think are the most important for me to know!

Thanks So Much!!!!

Andrea

lptkristen · Dec 13, 2009

If given the choice, UCD. It's a school of medicine, there are multiple clinical and preceptorship sites that offer a wide array of experience. Nursing school will build the foundation of what you do in the future. Look at the pass-rates for the boards, does the school have NLN certifcation, who hires students after graduation and what is the feedback from graduates. yes you do get what you paid for, however some outstanding and successful nurses came from JC's. Another question you need to ask yourself is are you planning to travel or move? Will my degree be recognized in a state I might move to in the future, i.e. excelsior online graduates do not have reciprocity in California.

The market is highly competitive especially in California, often there are 600 apps for 1 job. Do employers look at where you obtained your degree, absolutely!

In summary, ask questions, don't look for the easy way in the long run you aren't doing yourself any favors. Hope this helps.