New grad overwhelmed!

[bsnorbust]

Hi guys!

I have been a longtime reader of this forum even when i was only considering the idea of becoming an RN. The forum and success stories have been an inspiration during some tough times. Fast forward 3 years and I have graduated with my ADN May 2018. Awaiting to take my NCLEX early September.

I went into nursing to become an NP. Currently, I am so so overwhelmed with the number of RN-BSN school options out there. And then there are also RN-NP? Oh my!

My prof highly recommends WGU. I like the idea because of affordability and possibly finishing quicker but not sure if I love the idea of a max gpa of 3.0. Then again, I came out of nursing school with a 3.0 and was lucky for it!

How did you go about choosing an RN to BSN school? Are programs easier than the ADN? Scared for my GPA for graduate school as well.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I found the online RN-BSN bridge not to be harder nor easier...just different. Lots more paper writing, and the clinical experiences involved research and management...and oh yes, I had to make my own arrangements for them and do them pretty much on my own. If you're a fairly independent learner who is good at papers, you'll be fine.

There's lots of good RN-BSN programs there...and some not-so-good ones. The most important thing is that whatever program you pick has CCNE (I think they call it ACEN now) accreditation. That is one thing graduate schools will look for.

Cost is also a factor to consider. And the degree as well: there are RN-MSN programs too...in some of those, you also get a BSN along the way; in others, you'll just end up with a MSN. Usually most NP programs require nursing experience first, so you may not land a RN-NP program right away.

I chose UTA for my BSN. It had CCNE accreditation. I knew people--including my own new grad--that were were in the program and recommended it. UTA's brick-and-mortar nursing program is also recognized for its excellence. But what cinched it was seeing that that authors of my research textbook were both from UTA. So I figured it had to be good...and I thought it was.

I'm currently in WGU for my Masters. I'm not used to the whole 3.0 thing either, especially since my lowest GPA in a nursing program was 3.9. But I'm also not sure if I plan to go any further than a MSN, so I don't really need to stress about what my graduating GPA is. Though if I decide to go further, I've read that WGU grads have been able to get accepted to graduate and post-grad programs.

One of my coworkers is a WGU BSN grad and she has never had a problem getting hired anywhere. She's not sure if she wants to pursue graduate education right now, but she's young so who knows?

Hope this helps.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

There's lots of good RN-BSN programs there...and some not-so-good ones. The most important thing is that whatever program you pick has CCNE (I think they call it ACEN now) accreditation. That is one thing graduate schools will look for.

To clarify, CCNE and ACEN are two different accrediting bodies. ACEN used to be NLNAC. :)