Finding a good LPN-RN/BSN program online

savagetrojan · Oct 10, 2011

For the last year I have been reserching and applying for LPN mobility programs but cant get in, my GPA is to low 2.9. SO next step is online has anyone completed excelsior and gottena job in a hospital, I have heard from several people that hospitals will not hire excelsior student because of lack of clinical hours... I feel like I made a huge mistake getting my LPN first because now im trapped as an LPN forever. I have also looked into presentation colleges online as well. Has anyone heard of this? I live in Minnesota

I guess the first question I have to ask is "what several people" have told you that a hospital won't hire you with an Excelsior degree? Are these graduates of Excelsior? Are they people that have tried Excelsior and had a bitter experience? or are they just people that are talking out of the wrong end of their body because they have nothing intelligent to say? Do your own research. Excelsior is a NLN accredited school of excellence. You don't get that distinction without turning out VERY good, COMPETENT nurses. Now, I'm not saying that some hospital HR people and nurse managers may not hire you but NOT all hospitals are that way. MANY hospitals won't hire ANY NEW nurse graduate, so in some cases it has nothing to do with where you got your degree. I work with two new RN grads, one has her BSN and neither one of them could get a job at the hospital due to lack of experience, it had nothing to do with where they went to college. There are many places across the country that don't suffer from a nurse shortage anymore thanks to many retired RNs coming out of retirement because they lost their savings in 2008 and many others putting off retirement and many places have found ways to cut back on staffing. If I were you, before you get involved in any nursing program either online or in a classroom, I would go to all the hospitals within a comfortable radius of where you call home and ask for five minutes of a nurse manager or HR rep. and tell them you are asking for research purposes(not a lie). Ask them what they are looking for in a nurse when they hire. Do they require experience? Do they prefer a BSN over an associates degree? Even come out and ask them if they would consider hiring an Excelsior student. You may be suprised to find that many wouldn't know what Excelsior is and you could educate them about the credentials that Excelsior carries. Finally, if you are looking for an online education to get your RN there aren't a lot of choices for LPN to RN. I think Excelsior and Indiana State are the only two that offer online programs at this time.