Online Programs and State Licensing

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I will try to make this as quick as I can....

After 8 years of college, 2 bachelor's degrees, a minor, and 2 certifications, I have been unable to find a job in my area of the country (I live in a rural area of Kansas, our town has less than 400 people, and the nearest walmart is 50 miles away...) The only sure thing is nursing out here, and I feel as though I should have taken this path to begin with. (I have not lived out here my whole life either, my husband has however, and that's how I ended up here permanently).

Last year I gave birth to a 24 weeker, casuing me to quit my job as a veterinary technician to stay home with my preemie for the first year. Since then, the veterinarian has taken a new job and is leaving. My 12 years in the veterinary field has ended. All of my son's NICU nurses suggested that I go into nursing because they say I have all the qualities of a good NICU nurse.

I have recently decided to take the CNA course offered in our area next month, and the hospital I will work for will pay for a part of my nursing school if I go on. There is a community college that has LPN and RN classes 50 miles away one way. I have also done some extensive research in some online colleges for LPN and RN.

My question is, how can I find out if a program taken out of state is acceptable to complete and take the state nursing boards, or does it matter, so long as you take and pass the board exam? With our current situation, online lecture classes will work out best at this time. Not going through with this is not an option either. Our current situation depends on me getting a decent income.

Any insite is appreciated.

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Are you trying to do a program online? Because those don't exist. You have to first either get your LPN or RN & usually on campus. The closest I have heard of one of these programs being "online" was a hybrid program where the lectures are completely online but the labs & clinicals you must attend at the school or hospital.

For the schools you researched, I would call & see what their policy is. You can also call your state's board of nursing.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

You cannot do an LPN-to-RN program unless you are already an LPN. Did I miss something- is this one of your 'certifications'?

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I agree, you have to have an LPN before you can bridge to a RN. I also think Paramedics have a similar bridge program, but not 100% sure.

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As others have said, you must be at least an LVN/LPN first for any of those online nursing programs.

If I were in your situation, I would consider completing that CNA certification and then take what you can online for 1-2 semesters until you have the flexibility to attend classes on a campus. However, the only thing you can really do online are some prerequisites toward an LVN/LPN/RN program. You can take things like psychology, math, english, nutrition, sometimes even speech online. But you can't ever do anatomy and/or physiology completely online without having to at least attend lab on a campus. So, at some point you will have to at least be able to go to campus once a week for labs. But once you start the real nursing coursework you have to be able to go to campus. There's no way around it.

So, the bottom line is, you cannot become an LVN/LPN/RN online, but you can take some prerequisites online.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Have you already contacted nursing programs in your state to explore all your options? Most 'bricks and mortar' nursing schools also have some distance education options that will allow you to take some courses online or at a satellite campus. However, when it comes to clinical education - there is no alternative to hands-on.

In the grand scheme, a 50 mile commute is very do-able -- especially if you consider it in terms of about an hour's drive in a rural area. Heck, in Houston it may take an hour just to get 15 miles! You could probably utilize that commute time to review recorded lectures. Maybe you can carpool with other students in the area. Distance may actually turn out to be the easiest obstacle you have to overcome.

Kiss that darling baby for us! Best of luck on your nursing education.

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