Fashionable Degree

[javagirl]

Hi,

In the area where I live there are a bunch of accelerated BSN-MSN programs. Two of them have the students transit to the MSN portion of the program after only a few months of hospital or clinical experience. This seems quite alarming to me.

Any thoughts on this? Any students or graduates of such a program? Was the education thorough? It's like bedside nursing is a dirty word so they try to pass over that career phase as quickly as possible to grow a Nurse Practitioner.

These programs are attractive and have a very polished sell when you visit them but I'm wondering about the value of such a program so I'd appreciate any input.

Thanks.

Javagirl, a coffee drinker, not a java programmer.

[belladelicious]

sorry to be slightly snippy, but i feel like i have to defend myself all the time as to the viability of the accelerated program. We do have to take the same prereques as everyone else does, 2 semesters bio, 2 semester chem (some programs require ochem), 2 semester anatomy and phys., microbiology, statistics, psych, human growth and developemt, and nutrition. The rest of the humanities are covered by the first degree. So the normal 4 semesters or so of nursing courses that the traditional students take, we take as well, but go full time during the summers (we take between 4-5 classes each semester). Also I spend 24+ hrs per week in clinical. The only part that I feel like I miss out in is the preceptorship that the traditional students have as a fifth semester. As to moving into the masters straight after graduation, that is per the institutions policy. So those programs which have direct entry masters degrees most likely allow traditional students to continue on to the masters right after the BSN. I did not choose this route since I am still deciding between two different areas of specialization in which I am interested.

Ok, I understand now. :imbar

[belladelicious]

All of the acclerated BSN programs I have been looking into are 3-4 semesters with no break and 18-20 credits each semester so you are taking at the minimum 60 credits of nursing classes. So pretty much you are taking the same classes as traditional BSN students, it is just packaged into a shorter time frame. You have to have all of the anatomy, phys, chemistry, biology, etc classes done before you can begin the programs.

Anna, I was talking about the accelerated MSN programs, not the BSN programs.

[AnnaN5]

Anna, I was talking about the accelerated MSN programs, not the BSN programs.

Yeah I know you were talking about the MSN programs but then you said: "How can you be taking the same things that we took while getting our bsn? I understand all the pre-reqs probably don't have to be taken...but how can 2 years of nursing school plus the experience the bsn students are expected to have before entering grad school....be put into 1 year?"

So that is why I commented on how the acclerated BSN programs work. You are pretty much just condensing the BSN nursing courses into roughly one year then you do the MSN program in 2 years just like anyone else.

And like 275 Main said, the schools that offer these direct entry MSN programs also offer them to traditional BSN students not just the accelerated BSN students.