Question for those who have done this already

That's pretty complicated. The online program assigns you to one specific hospital for your clinicals from what I know. I am currently in the campus program and I am in my 4th and 5th clinicals and none of them have been a weekend clinical. So it just depends on the hospital to be honest and when they have clinical. But the majority seem to be during the week and a few have fallen on weekends. I would just apply, and if accepted ask if you can somehow get weekend clinicals everytime.

Thanks for the input, JLoveOB. I am wondering - if your clinicals were during the week, were they at least on the same consecutive days ?

Yes! So for Foundations I had clinical every Monday for 7ish weeks. For Psych I had clinical every Friday for like 6ish weeks? For M/S I had clinical every Thursday for 7ish weeks, for CC I have clinical every Thursday for 10 weeks, etc. Your clinical will be on the same day every week and its only for 4-10 weeks you have clinical all day. So its really not that bad. You will definitely have a schedule down and there are PLENTY of single of moms in our program and I'm not sure how but they definitely make it work!

I was told clinicals were 2 days a week and consecutive shifts of 12 hours. Is that not how it works ?

The online BSN program is not really known for it's flexibility. It's very structured in that classes are set in place every semester and what's on that degree requirement everyone must take in that order. With that being said, every fall there are 3 active online programs running concurrently. Your Junior 1 (first semester students) Senior 1 (those who started in the Spring) and Senior 2 (those who started the Fall of the previous year. So if hypothetically you apply for the fall start and start your J1 courses, you will be required to complete J1 clinicals before moving on to J2. You remain with the same group semester by semester unless you must fall back for a nonpassing grade (you don't pass 1 class of the 3-4, you fall back a semester to redo that 1 course before you can pick up your next classes) or circumstance that keeps you from completing the course/clinical rotation (i.e. having a baby/hospitalization) in which case they will reassign you to a new group the next time your next semester is "in rotation". Whatever hospital site that group is assigned to if you are partnered (employed by system and accepted and ranked into program based on that employment) or not is when your clinical days will be. You're correct in that they are usually 2 days in a row. I so happened to have Saturday/Sunday based on my assigned hospital site. Another person under my same healthcare system, but different hospital site did Monday/Tuesday. So it just depends on what the hospital site has available. Now in J2 you must take Psych which is not a specialty offered at all major hospitals so you may have to go to an inpatient facility in which case your days may change for that rotation. Peds rotations in S1 for example, were Friday/Saturday for most of us in the DFW area for 3 weeks. Asking for weekend clinicals is not an option because they have only so many spots per site available and shuffling you around isn't exactly easy with access/site clearance or background checks (Pedis clinical site does this again) and again space. They are very clear in orientation that you must accommodate the program, the program can't accommodate you. On campus is a whole different story though.. And remember we are accelerated so what on-campus does in 10 weeks (1 day per week in Critical Care) we do in 2 days in 5 weeks. We do have plenty of single parents in this program though, and it's just a matter of having a support system. It's not easy.. but it can be done. Good luck to you!

CzaWrightBSN,CNA-

Looking for clarification, is this the online RN-BSN program or online BSN.?

Thanks!

I graduated from this program woot woot:woot:! And let me tell you......you have to be fluid like liquid and go with the flow. This program is not for you if you cannot be flexible. The word "online" draws people in, but since your classes are online they are expecting you to have everyday of the week available.

At the end of the day, getting through the program is all that matters. There are students that are willing to break their neck and do whatever it takes to graduate and sit for their NCLEX. I was thankful just to be accepted into the program. So many students are rejected and are not able to get in. I had an instructor who always commented that I appeared withdrawn and distracted. I responded with.....well, lets see how alert you would be after getting off at midnight, then having to be up at 4am to come to clinical; she never said anything to me again. Everyone in my clinical group (except 2) had a full-time job plus children or parents/grandparents that they took care of. Financial Aid should cover, tuition, textbooks, and it maybe able to cover living expenses, especially if it will be your first Bachelor's degree.

There are 2 12hr clinicals scheduled a week with 1 proctor exam day scheduled once every two to three weeks (depends on your exam schedule). You cannot choose your clinical days because they are based on the clinical site, instructor, and in Senior1 and Senior2 your preceptors.

This is awfully late, but this is in regards to the Online BSN for initial licensure, not RN-BSN bridge. Hope this isn't too late and still helps!