Going back to school: ASN to BSN/MSN

[30yrNurse]

Greetings.

I would like to know if anyone has personal experience with online programs offered by Univ. of Phoenix and The College Network. I've spoken to both organizations/counselors and the systems seem pretty good. Would appreciate input from those involved with these particular systems.

As an aside, I have an ASN. I chose that long ago cause I couldn't wait to start nursing. I was excited. It had nothing to do with the money. It was all about a calling. The fact that I started out in ICU making $7.88/hr and the BSN sitting next to me in orientation was making $8.23/hr meant nothing. After 30 years, I have found that clinical work is not feasible anymore due to aching knees and back, etc., so I am going back to school. Mind you, nursing requires ongoing education. It doesn't end when you get your license.

Those entering the field need to think long and clear about long range goals. If you're going into nursing purely for the money, DON'T. Do yourself, the patient, the public and the rest of the nurses who are truly dedicated, a favor. Don't make things worse than they already are. I have had the unfortunate occasion to work with new grads who are clinically dangerous cause they just don't care about patient safety. I've seen this trend increase over the last 2 - 5 years. They're more interested in the financial security they perceive themselves to receive with a career like nursing. Nursing requires hard work, long hours, missed lunch breaks, overlooked potty breaks, heavy lifting, toleration of bad attitude of patients, foul body smells, bad attitude of MD's and death. Nursing is not a glorious route to riches. It takes a person who is dedicated to helping others when these individuals are at their worst. It is, for the most part, a thankless job but richly rewarding when done well. I knew, going in, that I would suffer physically and emotionally for want of adequate management and collegial support (older nurses still eat their young). I knew patients would die. I knew physicians would be, at times, unkind. I knew my colleagues, at times, would be cruel. All of this did not deter me because I knew at the young age of 8 that this was my calling.

I ask all of you to think long and hard of where you want to be in a few years. If it's the house on the hill and the nice car you're after, go get it somewhere else and leave nursing to those individuals who truly care. If you do this, nursing and healthcare all around will be better for all concerned. This includes you, too. After all, would you want a nurse who is dedicated to your well-being or someone who is in it for themself to be your caregiver?

I'm now taking the BSN/MSN route cause I am no longer able to withstand the rigors of ER nursing. The non-clinical work I crave (notice the words used) requires a higher degree.

I hope my humble input will give cause for reflection.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Welcome to Allnurses.

I'm going to move this to the Distance Learning forum where it's better served.

My ex-spouse did the College Network thing for a Mastered in Health Care Administration. It worked out well for him.

However, the CN is a middle-person and you can bypass them and save some money and work directly with the schools of your choice.

UoP is a good program, well established, with lots of options. But they are one of the more expensive programs.

Good luck to you.

[NurseEllis]

wow from the tone in your post it sounds like you have had some bad experiences and i'm truly sorry for your experiences.

i just wanted to state that imo money should not be your only consideration but as you progress in a field and your family matures (like mine family of 4) money is a big consideration in any life altering decision. right now i'm a full time paramedic, and what can be considered at the top of my field making around 18/hr (with benefits) with almost 10 years in ems. i take care of patients and provide care the same as any rn, but i'm at the top of my field and make no were what a starting gn makes. if i made the same as a rn in a hospital as a paramedic i would be staying right were i'm. i'm a good paramedic, good at what i do and i love taking care of patient in there time of need, but as my family grows i find my family in words has out grown my career. i must now make a choice, find a new career or proceed in the same direction which as lead me to take the excelsior online medic-rn bridge program. with any career you must make choices of what you are willing to put up with and for what pay you are willing to put up with. and the ultimate is finding a job you love and to get paid for it.

so just because the rn field has job security and people make the choice of joining because of financial security doesn't make them bad rn's or a dangerous rn, just a person with other motives other than "i have wanted to be a nurse since i was 8"

everyone in there life has a journey and everyone's path is "different" just because that path is different and not what you would consider your "chosen" path doesn't make them a bad provider just one with a different background. so please save your judgments.

just my 2 cents