Online education questions

smitty10 · Aug 20, 2010

i'm seriously considering doing an online rn-bsn program. however, i have a few concerns:

i'm considering graduate school after my bsn. is it possible to get letters of recommendations from online instructors?

i guess it all depends on the school that you go to. i know at excelsior, they have an open letter to employers and after you complete your degree requirements and are ready for conferrel they can send out a letter of qualification

how hard it is to find preceptor for courses like community nursing? i asked the school, they basically said your place of work. how can i do it at work?

you probably would have to talk to your employer about setting that up

what type of personality do you need for online courses? i have known 6 people who have tried online courses and failed in the sense they never follow thorugh.

well, for 1 you definitely have to be committed to this process and program. if you want to "filly fart" around, don't waste your time or money. but if you can hit the ground running, and make the sacrifice to keep your studies first you should be just fine

hope this helps

smitty, gn

excelsior college 2010

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 20, 2010

About the letters of reference from online instructors. I teach in online program and have been asked to write letters from some of my students. It is the same as with "brick and morter" teachers -- it depends on how well the instructor "knows" you and how well you performed in the course.

In some online courses, there is very little interaction between the faculty and the students. Studens do a lot of "self study." In that case, the instructor might not be in a position to get to know the student well enough to write a meaningful letter -- though they could comment on the quality of the student's performance on written exams, papers, class discussions, etc.

In other online courses, there is more interaction. Students and faculty communicate on discussion boards, through e-mail, video-conferencing, phone calls, etc. In such cases, the faculty can get to "know" the student better. It may not be as much as you might get to know someone you sat down with in an office for a meeting, but it can be sufficient to write a meaningful letter of recommendation. I recommend you ask about the exact nature of the courses and the interactions with faculty as you explore your online options. That will help you choose a program that includes the type of interaction you want. Also, be prepared that for any program you choose, some classes will probably inlude more facultying interaction than others.

For me ... I find that in a typical class of 30 students in an online course, I probably get to know 3 or 4 well enough to write a really good letter for them. There are another 3 or 4 I could write a decent letter for ... and the rest are just names on a list who submit work that I grade. Any letter I would write for them would have to include just the bare facts. Some of that is up to the student. How much effort does the student make to participate, ask questions, interact with the professor, etc.

I hope that helps by giving you the "view from the other side."

roseynurse345 · Aug 20, 2010

Thanks for the replies and the insight, it really helps.

caliotter3 · Aug 20, 2010

There are schools that do not require clinical placements for RN to BSN. Chamberlain is one of note, although expensive. You definitely have to light a fire under yourself to get it done. Life has a way of throwing roadblocks at you and you have to budget time to deal with those, there is really no leeway for being lazy. When there are deadlines, time creeps up on you.

WyndDrivenRain, BSN, RN · Aug 22, 2010

I attended Chamberlain for my RN-BSN and I had no problems getting letters of recommendation from instructors. In fact, they even overnighted the letters via fed ex (I paid for the envelopes) to my school to help me get everything in quickly. Chamberlain also sent my transcripts via Fed-ex overnight to the school. They bent over backwards to help me get into graduate school. I loved the program when I attended and even as a graduate they have continued to assist me in any way they could. The financial aid office at my grad school is really busy so the financial aid folks at Chamberlain helped me make sure my FAFSA was done correctly..and not even for their grad program!! Top notch all the way!

Sue, RN