Nursing Help! LSU va CSN

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I was recently accepted into Charity School of Nursing and LSU School of Nursing. I know one is an ADN and one is BSN. I want the BSN but I've heard so many positive experiences with charity and how it prepares its nurses. When I ask people about lsu they really don't know. Which one is better school as far as experiernce goes? Which ones has a higher NCLEX passing rate? Does the BSN still pay a little bit more? Can anyone give me some pros and cons of each?

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If you want to compare the NCLEX rates, the La. State Board has annual reports from 2002 - 07 available:

http://www.lsbn.state.la.us/Documents/AnnualReports.asp

The numbers seemed to have gotten a bit skewed and suffered a bit following Katrina. Hopefully they are settling down again but it seemed as though they were pretty much within a couple of percent of each other.

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Specializes in nursing home,psych,chemical dependency.

You also think if you'll be wanting to go on for your master's. The BSN will get you there quicker. I am at Charity, and just finished clinicals at Children's Hospital,,,LSU students were there at the same time. So, I think you'll probably get the same basic hospital experiences (location-wise),,,don't know anything about LSU's program, though. Good luck !

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it really depends on personal experience because you either get students who go to lsu or who go to charity so one will not know about the other. the nclex pass rates are practically the same. each school has about the same amount to clinicals so either way you will always get a good bit of experience. lsu is three years so you get more classes and anatomy hs a cadaver lab (the students get to dissect them) and yu get a BSN so you dont have to go back to school. BSN nurses do get paid a little more than ASN nurses but im not sure how much. lsu is one of the top ranked BSN programs in LA. it just depends what kind of experience you want out of nursing school.

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I am finishing my first semester at Charity now and I too was torn b/w LSU and CSN. The reason I decided to go to Charity is b/c I felt it would get me the best technical training. We spend a lot of time in the hospital and a lot less time in lectures. We basically get "on-the-job" training for 2 years. Charity RNs can graduate and hit the floor running! I have heard from many nurses and my patients during clinicals that they can always tell a Charity nurse!

The BSN is important to me too but there are many ways to get the BSN once your working and making the big bucks. ;) LSU actually has an RN to BSN program that you can do once you're working. You only go to one night class a week (or maybe its a month) so its not bad. My friend just graduated from Holy Cross Nursing and she is working at Oschner. She makes $0.25 more an hour than an ADN on base pay before differentials like nights and weekends. Regarding the NCLEX scores, I'm not sure about LSU but Charity is #3 in the COUNTRY for ADN programs. Our pass rate is 98%.

It's definitely a wonderful school and it was the best decision for me to go with Charity. Good luck deciding what works for you!

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I'm sorry, I just have to respond.

What source tells you that Charity is #3 in the nation for ASN programs?

And the NCLEX pass rate is not 98%.

Don't believe me...

http://www.lsbn.state.la.us/Documents/AnnualReports.asp

I'm not hating on Charity, I am just sick and tired of hearing them lie to people.

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thankyou, i was about to say the same thing!

also, you get 2 1/2 years of clinical experience at lsu sooo they have the same amount of hospital experience...so lsu grads can also graduate and hit the floor...

im also not hating on charity since thats where my sister went.

if i were you i would go tour the schools.

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Ok I had to reply because it sounds like hating...natasha029...THEY never lied to us...who are u referring to as lied to people?

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Okay, I'll write in defense here cause I know Ms Natasha and I know she's not hating (believe me, we did our crazy celebrating when we both got our Charity acceptance letters!). So, there is no hate towards Charity here. It's a great school with a great reputation. The problem being discussed here is that staff often inflate numbers (pass rates, rank of school in the country, etc) when you are speaking to them about attending there. I even heard the same fluff at my advising - I heard it first hand. Then, when you go to look up the ACTUAL numbers, they are far from accurate, that's all.

That's not going to stop me from attending school there. It's just disappointing when people aren't totally honest for the sake of making themselves look better (when, in fact, the school is doing just fine! IMHO). I'm sure they're just doing their best to instill a sense of pride in the students, but numbers in official documents don't lie - there are better ways of telling students how great Charity is without the puffing of the numbers.

They sure don't need to "fluff up" numbers to attract students. They have hundreds of applicants every semester and they graduate excellent nurses.

As far as rank in the country, I know it was the #8 ADN program pre-Katrina. Anyone know how that's changed since the storm/closing of big Charity Hospital?

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As for the original topic:

I know nurses who graduated from Charity and nurses who graduated from LSU. Both sing great praises of their respective programs and both feel they received adequate training. Charity has much larger classes compared to LSU so I'm sure that's why you bump into many more Charity graduates.

My deciding factor if I get into the LSU CARE program is simply based on getting my BSN faster, not because I think one school is better than the other. I'm confident that either school trains great nurses.

The decision comes down to what you want - BSN ASAP or ADN then take RN-BSN classes later on. Tour the schools if you want. Both are at completely different ends of the spectrum facility-wise. I felt more accommodated at LSU than at CSN even though everyone at CSN was very friendly. It's really a matter of different personal factors that you want in a school. If I get in to LSU CARE, it'll come down to nitpicking at silly things about each school.

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How do you know that the person who posted got their information from the school? I was never told any of the things that she stated so therefore I feel as though you all are assuming the school inflates their info to get students to go there.

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Maybe the poster didn't, but I know I did. I was PERSONALLY told by several staff members numbers that were off base. I am not assuming, I am writing based on actual experience. I apologize if it sounded like I was speaking for everyone; however, myself and Natasha both experienced this and can only guess that others have also (not necessarily everyone). Nobody's trying to pick a fight here. As I said, there's not a thing wrong with attending Charity. I will probably be there in the fall myself! It's just frustrating hearing these inflated numbers when the actual numbers are still very good!

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