Estimate of Clinical Hours in BSN Program

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So who has an idea of the clinical hours that may be involved in a BSN/RN program? I don't know a lot about this program other than it's new at my alma mater. I'll be returning starting this fall. I literally made a phone call last week, and within a couple of hours I was in the program. That said, I know next to nothing about what nurses actually do IN class. I went through paramedic school several years ago to have a weekend hobby and part-time job (I like having something to do), and it seems like in 12 months we did 600 clinical hours.

How many clinical hours do you think may be required? 200-250 for each class maybe? More? Less? All the prereqs I've long since had from my original B.S.

The courses are Foundations, Acute Care, Mental Health, Community Health, Complex Care, and OB/Peds. I'm not sure if the Geriatrics course has a clinical component, plus there are ancillary courses like assessment, pharm, patho, leadership, informatics, and research.

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Like so many other things in nursing, there's a lot of variation among programs. Some offer just the bare minimum required by the state BON for graduates to be eligible for licensure; some do a lot more hours than absolutely necessary. Your best bet is probably to look at the curriculum on the program's website or in the student handbook. As a general rule (in my experience), most schools count clinical hours to credit hours as 3:1 -- e.g., if a clinical course is listed as a 3 credit hour course, you can expect to spend 9 hours a week in clinical (in most cases, those are 50 minute hours, the same as classroom time, so it would work out to less than a full 9 hours in "real life").

Or speak directly to someone at the school. Different schools calculate their hours different ways (some roll didactic/lecture time and clinical time into one course and total number of hours, some programs have separate didactic and clinical courses for each specialty area, etc.) so there's no one, clear answer to your question. You can definitely expect to have a clinical rotation for all the clinical specialty courses you listed; gero probably has a clinical component, and "leadership" may, also.

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Yeah, I just wondered if there was a national standard. The program is still new so there's nothing on the website about it yet other than a brochure and application. Thanks though.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

Im trying to think here.

Actual in hospital hours, not including tours, observation, community health

1st semester - 120 hours

2nd - 100 hours

Summer internship - 300 hours

3rd semester - 80-90 hours

2nd summer internship ( didnt pass 3rd semester ) 300 hours

4 semester - Dont know yet

The internship for us is optional but as you can see you get A LOT of experience from it and proves as invaluable information in getting through. Like elk said though, it is gonna vary and ask for a syllabus if they have any yet. It should outline it in there.

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Specializes in ED.

We have 210 in first, second, and third semester. In our 4th we have right at 300 hours. 210 of that is preceptorship.

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Local ADN program:

1st quarter: 40 hours

2nd quarter: 70 hours

3rd-6th quarters: 120 hours each

7th quarter: 200 hours

Total: 790 clinical hours + optional electives

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Specializes in Junior Year of BSN.

Sophomore year: 126 hours

Junior Fall: 168 hours

Junior Spring: 180 hours

Senior Fall: 192 hours

Senior Spring: 210 hours

Total: 876 hours of clinical

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

For my particular (BSN) program:

Sophomore year: 72 hours

Junior year: 512 hours

Senior year: 388 hours

972 hours

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Attempt #2 (I can't add and it won't let me edit my previous post)

Local ADN program:

1st quarter: 40 hours (4 hrs/day for 10 weeks) -- LTC

2nd quarter: 70 hours (7 hours/day for 10 weeks) --OB/L&D/Mother/Infant

3rd quarter = 100 hours (10 hours/day for 10 weeks) -- Med/Surg

4th quarter = 160 hours (8 hours/day, 2x/week for 10 weeks) -- Med/Surg II & OR

5th quarter = 160 hours (8 hours/day, 2x/week for 10 weeks) -- Pediatrics

6th quarter = 160 hours (8 hours/day, 2x/week for 10 weeks) -- Rehab/Psych

7th quarter: 200 hours (10 hours/day, 2x/week for 10 weeks) -- Prectorship in specialty area of choice

Total: 890 clinical hours

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Chamberlain ADN has around 470 clinical hours (just asked a friend who recently graduated).

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Hmmm. Interesting variances.

The program I'll be attending only has two years worth of nursing classes which are fitted into the junior and senior years of college. It'll be a second degree for me.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

My state requires a minimum of 800 hours of clinical time, regardless of the type of program.

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