20 Questions about Schools???

I can't offer specific advice about the Tampa area, but just wanted to encourage you to look at the bridge programs. I graduated at 42 with a BSN after going the ASN, then RN-BSN route. It was much longer route than it needed to be (I also have a degree in another area & could have done a bridge program) & cost ended up being very similar. I would also stay with programs that are accredited with good reputations. You want the best clinical program you can get because it will make a huge difference in your knowledge base when you start working as a nurse. Another suggestion that might be helpful is to look into a PCT/unit clerk job at your local hospital. It is absolutely the best experience you can get to prepare yourself to work as a staff RN.

Good luck to you~

I lived in Tampa for many years until I moved back to CO 3 years ago.

There are a couple of different accreditations you should look for. First, your school needs to be approved by and in good standing with the Florida State Board of Nursing.

Second is institutional accreditation. Is the school a trade school or university and is it accredited by a reputable governing body? For example, Hillsborough Community College, University of Tampa and USF are accredited as institutions of higher learning by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The schools you mentioned are accredited as trade or career schools and have a different accrediting body. Make sure they are in good standing.

Third, is the nursing program's accreditation itself. Is it accredited by either NLN or AACN? Those are the big ones. For example, to become a nurse in one of the branches of the military, your program must have been accredited by one of these two and many hospitals require the same accreditation.

As for what NCLEX pass rates are good, you must compare them as it is relative. Just as important and maybe more so than the NCLEX pass rate is the retention rate of the school. What percentage of the program graduates? There are schools who will take your money but if you are struggling in the program they will weed you out for fear you won't pass NCLEX the first time. This falsely elevates their NCLEX pass rate and then you are stuck with a huge student loan and no job with which to repay.

I hope I've helped you. Good luck wherever you choose to go.

Thank you so far the advice. Let's see.. Galen is accredited nationally by the Council on Occupational Education. They are approved by the Florida Board of Nursing and licensed by Florida State Commission for Independent Education. They are also a member of both Nursing and National Association for Associate Degree Nursing. So it sounds like they are a pretty good school. Their NCLEX rate for passing is 96% YTD with only 4 failing out of 104 candidates. Gulf Coast College I am not sure of what their accrediation is because I didn't get any paperwork when I went to look at the school. Thier pass rate is 81 % YTD with 48 candiates and 9 failing. I can't find any scores on College of Allied Health because they are brand new to the area and same goes for the Accreditation. I am leaning toward Galen because it just feels right, it looks like the numbers are good but I just wasn't sure if they are accredited or not or if those were good accreditations. They have a bridge program and I could be completely done LPN and RN in about 2 1/2 years. If I go public school route then I still have the pre-requistes to (retake math and sciences). Then apply and hope I get in because the English and Sociology weren't that great 20 years ago I would want to make A's in all of my pre-reqs. I think I would be in school about 3 1/2 to 4 years to achieve the same degree of ASN. If I go BSN then there are more pre-reqs and I was told that the ASN and BSN are the same its just that you can go into Nurse Management with a BSN. I just want to be a nurse no fancy management or titles.

Can anyone elaborate anymore?

I went to Galen for LPN, graduated in August and I can assure you that it is a great nursing school. Galen takes great pride in its nursing school and strives to be the best. Our LPN class pass rate on NCLEX is 100% so far.

Something else to consider is that Galen has great clinical sites. The newer schools do not, there's only so much room in the facilities for clinical students.

Several of my classmates are now in the RN bridge program. This program is great if you don't have the pre-requisites.

Galen has limitations on what classes they will and won't accept from previous colleges. I don't remember the specifics but I do remember that if some classes were more than X number of years old they wouldn't accept them. And there was a psych class they wouldn't accept from me.

But if you do Galen classes you'll have to pursue your BSN at a private college. And you'll also be paying much more for school than if you go the public school route.

Because of the number of classes they wouldn't accept of mine and the cost I chose to do the bridge program at SPC. I have most pre-reqs done for RN and one more class to complete for AA to transfer to BSN after RN with SPC.

Give Galen a call and ask which classes are not acceptable in their program.

Then take your transcripts and go visit HCC and see what they will accept from your original degree program towards the pre-reqs, AA and BSN.

In the end though I think Galen will be your fastest track to RN, even if it does cost a lot of money. There's a class starting in November.

Okay, so I live on the /other/ side of the US, but I figured I'd input my two cents.

Even if the pre-requisites aren't required, I would highly (and I do mean HIGHLY) recommend taking Anatomy and Physiology (the whole sequence), Microbiology, and maybe some chemistry if you haven't done so already. Developmental psychology might be a good one as well. Pre-requisites may seem like a time-waster, but some of them (ESPECIALLY) Anatomy and Physiology, are the basis of a nursing career. If they're more than five years old...well, most colleges won't accept them, and it's better for your sake to retake them and have a complete understanding of how the body works. I'm not yet in nursing school myself, but I read prolifically about how beneficial a good understanding of A&P is to nursing school.

So even if it takes a bit longer, it will help you so much in the future. Best of luck!