Master's-level entry in Connecticut?

[ks430]

I posted earlier about an ADN program in Connecticut offering part time clinicals. My husband pointed out that with a BSE (engineering) and MS (management) under my belt, with most of a second MS completed (engineering) I would potentially be a good candidate for a master's level program like UConn's MbEIN. I only know about the UConn program because I'm a UConn alum and have read about it in the alumni magazine.

I looked at the MbEIN website and I would need to take most of the prereqs, which I would do in the CT community college system (we live 5 minutes away from one of the CCs). It's only 1-2 classes beyond what I'd need to take for the community college nursing program, and the MbEIN is offered in Waterbury now (much closer to my home than Storrs!).

My time horizon is quite far out and I know that the program may well change in the interim. I have three more semesters of coursework on my current master's program and then we hope to have a second baby in 2013. I would start taking my prereqs in 2013/2014 and it will take me a while! I would also need to work for a few years in order to save up enough money to cover living expenses and child care during the full time year. That's without even figuring out how the heck to pay for the program itself! It would be 2015 or later by the time I could do a full time one year program, and I don't think I could swing more than a year with no income coming in from me. My husband works full time as well but we will have child care expenses, too.

For MbEIN, what happens if you finish the 1 year intensive, get licensed, and then decide not to pursue a master's degree? They can't take your RN license away, do they? Sorry if it's a silly question, but I wouldn't know if I'd want to get the MS until I'd been working as a nurse for a while.

Are there other schools in Connecticut besides Yale and UConn that offer a master's-entry RN program?

[CMAC7]

after you finish the one year of course work you can sit for your exam. The program sets you up to go into a nursing grad program, with 3 graduate classes already finished. As long as you finish with a 3.0 for are automatically admitted into uconns grad school. You do not have to go right away or at uconn if you do not want. You have no obligation to get a MSN after. My advice wait until you get a job who will pay for a big chunk of it! Working while doing the program is very challenging, especially if you have a young family, right now we are all living on our student loan money. Already having a masters gives you a small advantage in that you will not have to take the statistics class, and only have to do a 1 cr independent study for research. With all of that said- I made the absolute right decision in the mein program! I am in my last semester and love it. The work load is intense but well worth it! The instructors are excellent and so encouraging, they really do want to you succeed.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

You might consider looking into the CC program for nursing in addition to your pre-req work. The reputation of the CCs is quite good, I've found the education to be very good and my clinical experiences have been excellent. As far as price, you're not going to beat it, it will likely be in the area of $6K for the whole ADN. There's a bridge program at St. Joe's that allows you to matriculate into the MSN program after taking only two part time classes after the ADN. There's also an on-line only RN-BSN option through Southern. I've heard mixed reviews about the MbEIN program, and Quinnipiac and Yale are both quite expensive. I've even been able to maintain my full-time employment throughout the ADN program at the CCs, so that offsets a bit of the sacrifice that would be required financially for some programs that can't accomodate a flexible work schedule. I don't see my family as much as I would like, but it's all short term. Good luck.

[mssjez]

I spoke to Yale about their program. They have it set up so that after your first year, you sit for the NCLEX but if you drop out of the program at that point, you cannot practice as an RN. They want to prevent students from applying with the intention of completing 1 year and leaving as an RN with Yale on their resume. I'm not sure if UCONN is the same way. Also, the University of Hartford has an RN to BSN program (if you get an ADN first) that is made for nurses working full time and is only two years. Getting an ADN first, which is what I've decided to do, and starting to work may open up a tuition reimbursement which hospitals offer for nurses continuing their education.