LVN & Military Spouse...Need Advice!

Jules A, MSN · Jan 27, 2007

Hi,

I would feel comfortable doing online classes through a community college or local university. I'm leary of some of the "totally online schools" because I'd want to make sure the credits transferred to the college that you end up attending for your RN. I've done some online classes and did great with the ones that were easy for me like Growth/Development and Speech. Chemisty was really hard for me and I would have been much smarter to have taken it in a classroom setting but it worked out. Best of luck to you, Jules

roxxy3773, RN, APRN · Feb 5, 2007

Hey Breezy! We are in a similar situation. I am here in Hawaii as well, my husband is in the army, and I am looking to get into nursing school. They do have A & P online at one of the community colleges here, I think it is leeward. I realized that a bit too late to get in this semester but I am thinking about looking into it if they offer it over the summer. It seems like a strange class to have online though because of the lab factor, but it is a four credit course and completely online so I guess it'll work :) Anyway, I know the school I am looking to go to offers Human Growth and Development online also. I am hoping to get into the school and take at least one over the summer so my course load isn't quite so crazy. Goodluck with it and feel free to message me if you'd like!

allnurses Guide · Feb 5, 2007

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has completed the majority of their
pre-reqs online before applying to an RN program (minus the few classes that have to be completed in a school/campus setting)? If so how did it work for you and what were the positives and negatives you encountered? The reason I ask is because I am an LVN licensenced in CA and I am depserate to get my ASN. My husband is in the military and we are currently stationed in Hawaii. Between military life, the high cost of living here, difficulty getting into the local community colleges and having 2 little ones at home, the only way I would be able to take classes is if they were online. My husband deploys frequently and when he is home his work schedule does not allow him to come home to watch the kids. Any advice, info or experiences would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Breezy,

I would talk to the base education department and see what kind of information they have.

Good Luck!

ann945n, RN · Feb 5, 2007

I love my online classes. The best part is you can work ahead on things so if you know you are gonna be busy next week you can get all your work done and not worry about it. Before you start taking classes if you arent geting your ADN from the school you are taking online classes at make sure your future school accepts those credits. Also be careful about labs. I would NOT take a A & P or micro course online that didnt offer a lab on campus to go with it, ive never heard of a ADN program not wanting labs. Sometimes schools will be picky and not take classes from other schools cause they are slightly different. So just cross your t's and dot your i's and go for it. Oh and as for pros and cons, pro is you go at your pace and can do your classes in your pjs at night, con is you have to be a good self learner and stay on task. Ive never had a issue getting help from a teacher though or other students.

TashaLPN2006RN2012, ASN, RN · Feb 8, 2007

Army wife and LPN here as well!!! It's wild sometimes i feel like i'm the only one...lol...anyway, have you checked with Indiana State University? they do their LPN/LVN to RN completely online. YOu can also take CLEP tests to get rid of those pesky undergraduate credits and they will email you a list of the UGrad credits that you need. They also work with you on getting a local place to do clinicals where you live. I have found that they are all really helpful and will answer as many questions as you have. That's the route i'm going to go when i get back to tX with hubby (whose back from iraq...YEAH) since the local colleges their require a year or more experiance before they will even consider my application. Anyway..best of luck to you and Hooah! lmao!

caliotter3 · Feb 8, 2007

Two suggestions: 1)Excelsior College has a credit bank, where for a fee, you can gather up all your credits from various places and have them on "deposit" on one transcript. Especially useful, if you decide later on to get your RN thru Excelsior, a possibility if you are stationed long enough in one of the states that accept Excelsior. Go to their website to check on this as I have not looked at it for a long time and this info may not be up to date. While you are at it, you might want to talk to an Excelsior counselor ref going thru Excelsior, then taking the NCLEX in a state that accepts Excelsior and the possibility of endorsing said license into whatever state(s) your hubby transfers to or you decide to settle down in.

2) CCCOnline http://www.ccconline.org/ offers online courses, one of which is online micro. It has a required lab kit for you to do your labs at home. Many students take some of their lab courses this way. Also, there was recently a thread where somebody stated it is possible to take a speech class online. The biggest prob is making sure that your eventual school accepts any online courses you take. You would have to do research on this. As far as I know, Excelsior College is very liberal about taking courses from many sources, pretty much as long as the school's are accredited.

Good luck as you are doing this the hard way!