Considering Excelsior Medic - RN

[JDJones89, BSN]

So this is my first time posting on here and I have a few questions. I have been reading a few threads and you all seem to be extremely helpful so hopefully the story is the same for me :)

I am currently enrolled in a Paramedic course that is set to finish Dec of this year. I am trying to figure out how to go about doing my nursing degree once I complete it. Back in 2007 I began college and was enrolled in a nursing program and due to having my amazing kiddos I had to put school on hold for quite some time. I completed 2.5 years of the nursing program (I was just about to begin my clinical portion). Now that I am finishing up my paramedic program I still want to complete my nursing degree.

I have looked into the school around me and it appeals to me greatly because of the fact there is no time limit put on classes. Therefore all of my science classes I took over 5 years ago will still be accepted. Though as I'm sure you all well know where there are pros there are always cons. It is an actual college that I will have to attend (which isn't a problem for me) but I will also have to do more clinicals. Which any of you have done this route understand the amount of hours that go into the Medic program and honestly I do not know if I wanna slap hundreds of more hours of clinical time on top of my studies. I miss my free time and kids (and the over time at work lol).

Excelsior is the other one I have heard about from some of my co-workers who are also going through the program. I like the idea that classes are online so I can do them at my pace in the comfort of my own home. Also I LOVE that there are no more clinicals that go along with it.

My main question is I cannot seem to find any sort of program outline that actually says which classes you need to graduate. I see a spot that it lists how many credit hours need to be in each category but that is it. Does anyone know if such an outline exists? If so can you give me the link or maybe write what they are in a reply?

Next I know there is a time limit on science classes that they had to have been taken in the last 5 years to be considered, but is there a time limit on transferring nursing classes? As I said before I had taken multiple nursing classes and would love if those transferred in, but I have a feeling someone is going to give me bad news here

And if anyone else has opinions they would like to share or experience with the program itself I would love to hear it. I am still torn between which program to go with. Any help would be much appreciated!!

Thanks

Jesse

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

First, let me pimp my usual articles for you to read, if you haven't already:

https://allnurses.com/excelsior-college-online/excelsior-college-distance-808335.html

https://allnurses.com/excelsior-college-online/clinical-performance-nursing-884109.html

My honest opinion: if you are able to do an actual brick-and-mortar program, do it. Excelsior is an option best left to those who cannot attend actual classes for whatever reason - life, family, job, etc. I did the program as a paramedic, but I had no other local options nor could I go to class during the day.

In the first article link I posted, item #3 has a link to a document that will help estimate costs, and it has all the credit requirements listed. Only EC will be able to tell you if your other classes will transfer.

EC tends to NOT be the easier option. I think most of us who have graduated from the program would rather go through traditional clinicals than take the CPNE (clinical exam) after that experience. lol

Good luck, whatever you decide.