Question about applying for masters with a non-nursing bachelors degree and a RN license

[Alewis11]

Good evening everyone!

i am in a dilemma. I found an associate nursing program which could really Taylor to my needs. Currently I'm an office manager at a busy physician office and hold a bachelors in psychology. My main goal is to become a nurse practioner. Some schools allow non nursing degree students to apply as long as they hold an active RN license. I found a school that could work around my work schedule and accept many of my credits to minimize time. The only issue I have is that it is not accredited. They are accepted under the florida board of nursing and I would be able to take the nclex after completing the course. The tuition and time for completing is appealing to me. I am just concerned about the school not being accredited. If I hold an active RN license (from a non accredited school) with a bachelors in psychology, would my chances of getting in be slim? I emailed the schools and am waiting for response but I'm eager to hear some input. I will soon have a license as a lab technologist and currently applying for my clinical trial certificate as i am involved in clinical trial work. Is it possible to be competitive with my background? I'm willing to take continuing education credits to prove a worthy candidate, but would like some feedback from your experiences. The only drawback from applying to accredited schools (which I will) is the starting date is so far out and the program's take minimum for two years and a lot of accelerated bsn programs are competitive. Do you think it's possible I may have a change becoming a family nurse practitioner if I go through with all of these things. I have a lot of experience in all fields of health care. If you have any input I would greatly appreciate your advice. The school I'm looking at has a low tuition rate and seems reasonable in completion time. I know some schools may not educate at the same caliber as others but I'm self sufficient and can study well for the nclex.

Thank you you so much

ally

[203bravo, MSN, APRN]

too many red flags here -- MAKE SURE you ask the school that you are interested in doing you graduate work that they will accept the credits from the school you are planning to attend.. you will probably find that many will not accept credits from non accredited programs.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

it depends on where you want to go for your NP program. Higher-caliber MSN/DNP programs are picky and your options, regarding future education as well as employment after you graduate with your ADN and pass NCLEX, may be limited.

If you want to attend the program which only holds the State board accreditation, you must figure out why it is so before committing your time and money. Some programs are just new and are working on getting their ACEN or CCNE accreditations. They need to pass review, demonstrate completion rate of certain % and passing NCLEX first attempt of certain% also, so it takes several years and a very new program can be not yet nationally accredited while attracting good staff and working successfully with students. On the other hand, the program may have dismal completion rate and NCLEX passing story and have no national accreditation for the very reason of being useless diplomas' mill.

The program's NCLEX passing rate is public information and your State nursing board should provide it. Do not ask anyone within the program as they can provide you with, saying it politically correct way, the VERY incomplete information. Go through Linkedin and try to find the program's grads; if there are none or very few of them comparing with other ADN programs in the vicinity, it is a huge red flag.

[Alewis11]

Thank you, I am definitely looking into why they are not accredited yet. I do have a list of schools I know are (i searched the online accreditation website). But what I'm curious about is on most NP sites for pre-req in Florida they require just a bachelors degree in any field and an active RN license. It doesn't specify how you obtained the license. I already contacted the schools, but I wanted to see if anyone took that route of using a quick nursing school for their RN. In no way am I trying to diminish my education and run through it but I need something timely and cheap. I would reapply at my old school but wouldn't be able to start my RN in another year and I work so much as is!