LPN to RN help!

tootRN · Jul 23, 2014

Hi, sarahdollz

Doing your research on schools is such an important thing! I'm glad to see you've started that! There are some important things you should consider getting answers to before making a decision:

1. Pass rates and what the school offers in terms of NCLEX prep for students

2. Accreditation

3. Clinical sites... do they have the quality and quantity?

4. Faculty experience

5. Job placement

5. What are the students saying about their experience!?

I hope these things help you! Best wishes!

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Jul 27, 2014

One major factor to consider is whether or not your state's board of nursing will accept the degree. I did the Excelsior College LPN-ASN bridge and am now finishing up their RN-BSN program. My state accepted this program for more than 30 years until one day back in 2008. We, along with Excelsior College on behalf of its Georgia students, had to fight hard to rectify that little 'misunderstanding'. In the end, the problem was resolved and that's when I enrolled.

Excelsior College lists on its website which states accepts a degree from here and indicates whether or not you will be expected to meet additional requirements after graduation in order to receive licensure as an RN in your state of choice. So, I would recommend inquiring about this type of information with whatever college you choose to attend.

I had considered ISU at one point but there were requirements in their curriculum that I did not like, such as the need to take chemistry. I looked into EVERYTHING before I made my selection: BON acceptance, cost of the program, particulars in science/math courses, accreditation, average time period for program completion...EVERYTHING! I didn't really care about pass/fail rates because I'm an individual, which means their experiences were theirs; mine will be determined by me alone. I knew if I sat in ANY program that required chemistry or algebra, I was sure to fail that program. Although Excelsior did not require algebra at the time, I have gone on to pass College Algebra (major milestone for me) within a year of passing the NCLEX...and believe it or not, Statistics!

Basically what I'm saying is to make your decision based on (1), the legitimacy of the program, (2), acceptance of your state, and (3), factors that you ALONE know whether or not you can handle, albeit costs, time, or curriculum (especially if you plan to go further after obtaining the ASN).

By the way, if the advisor told you that people fail the clinical at the end of Excelsior's program due to being ill-prepared, she was correct. You can fail every aspect of that clinical weekend and still pass the examination on the allowed repeats during the course of the weekend.

Good luck to you and I hope this helps!

monkeyhq · Aug 2, 2014

Sara,

I was faced with a similar decision, and ultimately decided to enroll in an Ohio public university. Everyone has their own reasons for choosing specific programs, and states vary on requirements from a nursing program. What the ladies said above is quite true...it is such an individual experience, and it should be based on all the relevant factors listed above. And it should be based on truth and facts available to you at the time of your decision.

Whatever you decide to do, please know that it is always a good idea to put your sense of urgency in check when it comes to the choice. We all want or wanted to finish school as quickly as possible, and because of this urgency, sometimes one doesn't thoroughly investigate all aspects of a nursing program to see if it is a good fit for all the right reasons. Some nurses have found themselves in situations that made them 'do-over' certain aspects of nursing education due to licensing issues, accreditation issues, board requirement changes, pre-requisite changes, etc., with the schools they chose in haste.

At this moment in time, some states will not accept a nursing degree from ISU, Excelsior, or both, and it is up to you to verify that information in the state where you wish to practice or may wish to practice. There are also some legal actions that have been initiated just this year (public information is widely available on the web regarding the current class-action lawsuits against some school nursing programs, the FTC investigation into a test prep company, etc.) for *some online nursing colleges/test-prep programs. Some career college programs that are brick and mortar are getting their authorizations removed in some states. I can only suggest you take a moment of pause and thoroughly investigate all of your options. A few pauses now may mean a lot less headache later. A patient and thorough gathering of information from which to make a decision based on your needs will ultimately save you the most time.

As a footnote, the pass/fail rate for the CPNE clinical component at Excelsior was 64% in 2011, and 46% in 2012, both of which are on their website. I have been unable to find that figure for 2013. If it were me, I wouldn't just take the administrators word regarding the reasons for that P/F rate. I would also suggest looking at student comments, independent reviews from licensing agencies, etc., and make a determination based on all the evidence you deem credible. I have not been able to find any P/F rates for ISU for their LPN-BSN program.

*edited to add the word "some"

nursemommy30 · Mar 4, 2015

So you do not need college algebra for excelsior?