Grand Canyon RN-BSN

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Is there any updated information? I have been in heavy contact with them and am looking at taking their RN-BSN program. I work with a GCU grad and she has nothing but positive things to say, but I want more opinions. ?

Any pro's and cons? Thankfully the only class I'm missing is stats and that is offered in the actual BSN program. I'm a bit nervous as my algebra skills are way old. If anyone took this class, do you have any advice?

Specializes in Cath Lab, Case Management.
I usually do both DQs on Sunday for the following week.......I find the DQs fairly straight forward, and easy to research.....now if only I would not slack off, and start on my Papers right away,lol

Really? Up until Ethics I have struggled with a lot of the DQs. I really love ethics, could be that the teacher is making the class, but they make sense and are super interesting. They have reformatted the class and the DQs are better than the initial syllabus I saw. I have to be nearly the slowest paper writer ever, those have to get started as soon as possible.

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Specializes in Cath Lab, Case Management.

Spirit is done, and Ethics is on Christmas Break! Yay! Down to the CLCs (joy

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Your stats must have been the guy...I had wanted him, but he wasn't teaching then. I had a gal and she was awesome. I have passed her name on to quite a few students and they have all passed. I'm fortunate that my wife loves numbers and helped me out a great deal.

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ok, thats cool. I put stuff in my own words. But yes there are quite a few, I swear I'm just reading from a text book. I just logged on to read a few peoples responses and my lord--sooo much sucking up, I swear 1 post that is all 1 person did,lol

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Specializes in ICU/ Surgery/ Nursing Education.

So my quest for my BSN might be done for the time-being. Why? Well I just got an email for our CEO of our facility and they have discontinued the differential pay for BSN nurses. No extra pay for the extra education. Not like it was a tremendous amount extra, but it was a goal and worth something.

So if there is no extra pay then why do it? Our CEO only has her ADN (and a business degree)? My boss is an ADN, and I would only be the second BSN on the unit.

In exchange for the differential pay they have instituted a tuition subsidy if you sign a contract to stay at the facility. The kicker is I will have almost my whole BSN before I can take advantage of it because I am a new hire. You have to be there 18 months before I could use it. That means I would only be able to use it for my final class. There reasoning is they don't have problems attracting new hires, they have problems keeping staff. So in essence they are trying to trap people here by paying only a portion of their education. That doesn't make sense.

There is the train of thought that I can go to another facility and use my BSN but that would involve moving or traveling long distances. I am in a rural area and another big facility is 2.5 hours away. Not the best for someone that has kids in school and a home in an established community.

I can also say that it is good to better myself. Well I am in my mid to late 40's, I am pretty darn good now. Aged like fine wine.. I could/would use the extra money instead. I better myself with learning opportunities every day.

Going to think about this hard over the Xmas break.

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Very good chance you won't be at the same hospital for your career....and many places prefer BSN. Best to just do it, and get it over with,lol My old hospital only gave 0.25 an hr bonus as a BSN...but just before I left, they said that's all they would be hiring. And the ADN nurses only had so long to get their BSN. So there is much more reason to get ones BSN than just the extra $$$. I'm in my 40's and not a huge fan of school...but I suck it up,lol

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

No extra money here either. I did it for personal satisfaction, nursing practice improvement and job security in the nursing world.

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Specializes in Medical Oncology, Alzheimer/dementia.

I thought the DQs in patho were pretty intense. When I worked on them, they took me a day's work at least. But I agree that having only one for the week is a nice break. Patho was the only class I doubled up on, and that made it go by pretty fast. I didn't care for the instructor through. And we had a useless teacher assistant that added zero to the class.

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Specializes in Medical Oncology, Alzheimer/dementia.
No extra money here either. I did it for personal satisfaction, nursing practice improvement and job security in the nursing world.

Same here. And I think it's a shame they don't pay even a little more to an employee that continues their education. When people ask me if getting my BSN got me a raise and I say no, they look at me like I'm crazy. I guess it's hard for some people to comprehend doing something with no financial compensation.

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No pay increase here either but my employer contributes $4000/yr and I agree to stay a year after they pay or I have to reimburse them. I'm looking at the future and the opportunities I will have with a BSN vs ADN. I don't plan on staying at my current employer forever because of the distance from my home. Since I'm a fairly new RN I thought it best to get my BSN while I'm getting my experience to make myself more marketable when it's time to move on.

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Specializes in UR/CM, Managed Care.

No extra pay here either, in fact on my staff of 15 nurses, there’s only one MSN and the rest are ADNs or diploma (including the manager). I did it because I wanted to, like tokom for personal satisfaction. And like proudnurse, when ppl ask why the heck I’m putting myself through this with no raise, they think I’m off my rocker. My incentive is my own, I don’t need extra cash (would be nice, but that’s not my motivation). I’m nearing the big 5-0 as well, but my math tells me I have another 15-20 years or so, and I’ve said this before but I’ll repeat for emphasis: Maybe my job or company goes up in flames (figuratively speaking), and I unexpectedly find myself out on the job hunt. Ain’t NO 21 year old with a BSN gonna get MY slot simply because of those dang little letters! Recruiters and HR personnel are literally passing by anything less than a BSN these days, some of the computer-weed-out programs delete our resumes before they ever get to a human, so my 20+ years of experience would be overlooked for little Susie’s BSN? NOPE. I truly believe facilities are making incorrect choices based on pressure, but that’s just my opinion. If I were a patient I’d rather have Gretta, the 62 yr old ADN with 40 years of knowledge and experience under her belt than Susie, the 21 yr old fresh-faced BSN, but that’s not how it is anymore and certainly will get worse in the future (IOM, 2010 LOL).

I hear ya about your personal circumstances right now, but that is only right now. One never knows if/when their company/facility is in financial straits and has to make tough choices, and you being fairly new staff, you may be in the first round of layoffs, and then you’re out there competing with the Susies. It’s only a year, think of it as an investment in yourself – not your (current) job. Yes, they should pay us more, but they don’t. So my rationale for this madness is:

* Personal satisfaction (yay me!)

* It’s about the same price as a couple vacations (to Bora Bora), and lasts longer

* It’s only a year, and a year from now I can either be an ADN (still), or a BSN, the time is gonna go by anyway

* Acknowledgement from my peers (now and later) that I went the extra mile when I didn’t have to, and that says something about me

* Protection from the Susies in my future

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Specializes in UR/CM, Managed Care.

P.S. No offense if anyone's name is Susie :nailbiting: :roflmao:

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