Hey everyone— current Masters Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN) student here. Second month into my fifteen month program and just finished my first clinical rotation. While on this rotation, I had a clinical instructor who works in nursing admin tell me and a few other students in my cohort that this program is equivalent to an ADN program and falls below a BSN program. He mentioned that hospitals place MEPN students at the same pay rate out of the gate as ADNs, and as such, below BSNs. And that the ceiling is lower for MEPNs compared to BSNs as hospitals don’t know where to put them unless they of course go on to get a DNP etc. He also mentioned that hospitals and private practices will soon require the RNs to be either BSNs or MSNs. Which will put the MEPNs in the circumstance of acquiring one of these degrees.
I’m a bit flabbergasted by this as I had thought that since I already had my 4 year bachelors, by obtaining this Masters, I would have somewhat of a leg up or at the very least, a solid financial footing to start with. Moreover, one of the students in our program has a friend who graduated this MEPN program 2 years ago, and they in fact started at the supposed typically ADN start pay of 26 and hour.
Another factor is that I was accepted into an ABSN program 2 weeks ago to an elite institution in the South. I asked this clinical instructor if a switch to this BSN would be an objectively good decision and they said it would be due to the stability and recognizability of the BSN.
I’m a bit frustrated with this whole ordeal and was wondering if there were any other MEPN or former MEPN or other nursing professional that could weigh in on this.
If you have a license, you are just as good as the next person who failed several classes at a for-profit school that is on the verge of losing its accreditation.
Not necessarily. Many hospitals prefer to hire grads from one program over another. Some schools have reputations for turning out excellent grads who can hit the floor running. Other programs have reputations for turning out grads who are much less prepared, and require significantly more mentoring before they're really safe to be on their own.
Of course, once you're an established RN with a successful work record under your belt, hiring managers care about your experience rather than your education. But for a newbie, graduating from a program on the verge of losing its accreditation is likely to be a big disadvantage unless you've got some kind of "in" with the hospital.
turtlesRcool
718 Posts
Not necessarily. Many hospitals prefer to hire grads from one program over another. Some schools have reputations for turning out excellent grads who can hit the floor running. Other programs have reputations for turning out grads who are much less prepared, and require significantly more mentoring before they're really safe to be on their own.
Of course, once you're an established RN with a successful work record under your belt, hiring managers care about your experience rather than your education. But for a newbie, graduating from a program on the verge of losing its accreditation is likely to be a big disadvantage unless you've got some kind of "in" with the hospital.