Need advice on which program to attend.

[fayiebreanna]

I am currently taking my pre-reqs for nursing school at a community college, and I am weighing my options of which school and program to go to. The university by me has the traditional 4-year (3 years after I finish the pre-reqs) option, but they also work with the community college and offer a "dual-enrollment" plan. This means that after I complete one semester of nursing school at the community college I would be eligible to apply for the dual-enrollment and complete my BSN classes at the same time I am finishing my ADN. Doing this option saves time (you can graduate with your ADN, start working while finishing your BSN, and graduate with your BSN 2-3 semesters earlier than the traditional 4-year option students would) and I would also save a lot of money. I am 23-years-old and I don't really care about the college experience. My only concern is possibly sacrificing a more quality education. Is there really much of a difference between RN to BSN education and a straight BSN? Also, will starting off at a community college affect my chances of being accepting into grad school if I decide to do this? What do you guys think? I plan on finishing my pre-reqs and applying to both, but if I am given acceptance to both and have my choice, which would you guys pick and why? I realize that the decision is mine alone, but I would love to hear what you guys would do and what your opinions are.

These are the links to the different programs if you guys would like to look.

Community college: https://www.ppcc.edu/app/catalog/current/nursing.htm

Dual-enrollment: http://www.uccs.edu/bethel/dualenrollment.html

Traditional 4-year: http://www.uccs.edu/bethel/programs/bsn.html

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

In my area, new nurses from the ADN program are more highly regarded in the workplace because they get more hands-on clinical hours and more hands-on skills training.

FWIW, when I was in med-surg, I was assigned to work with a nurse who had me & a student in a BSN program assigned to her. The BSN student was going to graduate the following month. Our nurse asked her to start an IV and she turned into deer-in-the-headlights. She couldn't do it, never had done it before. Then we had to change a chest tube dressing. I ended up doing it because again, she'd never done it.

I specifically chose to get my ADN and then bridge to BSN because of the great reputation of our local CC. Do your research and find out how new grads from each program are perceived in the work force.

I'm saving a lot of money going this route, as well :)