Grand Canyon University RN to BSN Reviews

Nursing Students School Programs Nursing Q/A

Howdy all, I bit the bullet and after much research, I decided on Grand Canyon! Wow, I did not expect BSN schools to be like used car salesmen--hounding me by emails and phone calls. Rather impressed on how Grand Canyon sort of left me alone, but at the same time kept in touch.

Commence my first class Sept 30th, excited, yet very nervous, as I'm not a big fan of school, LOL! I did extremely well on my Associate degree, graduated back in 2009 from Northern Virginia Community College. We shall see.

Would love to hear from past and present Grand Canyon RN to BSN students.

Did you finish the capstone? I know you said that getting site approval was an issue for you. We had the same issues but finally got approved! I start mine next week. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Specializes in OR.

the program was straightforward at first, that is until CAPSTONE!... it took me almost 6 months to get my site approved... something that could of been started prior to the slated start of the class (GCU only started the process of looking for a site with me 2 months before the class)... to avoid a headache select an APPROVED site for capstone... classes were well structured, but like i said before... capstone for me, or at least getting my site was a nightmare at the least

I am having a problem getting a site affiliation too. I had 2 nurses agree to be my mentor but since they work at a military base in the family advocacy office, I was told that the manager did not want to "deal" with contracts with schools, etc. I have asked 3 other people who all politely said no. I am not sure what to do. We moved here (military) and I don't work at a hospital, so I don't have the same contactsI did in Texas. I don't understand why there has to be a site affiliation if you can't do any shadowing or patient care. The field services people said it was to have access to policies and procedures, but I don't need that. Was there any other solution? I would really prefer to have the nurses on base mentor me because they have the most experience in what I plan to do my capstone project on. Any way around the site thing? Also starting research class tomorrow. None of the instructors suggested to me were teaching last week or this week. If anyone has any other ideas, i am open to them! Thanks!

Finding a mentor and a site was a big problem for me as well. Not every nurse is hospital based. The whole program would be better if it took other nursing into account. What I learned was for the hospital nurse and did not apply to me. You can talk with GCU and see if there is a local hospital that has a contract with the college, but you may have to get drug tested and fingerprinted, ect. My local hospital required a full background check, at my expense, because I was not a hospital employee. You might check a long term care facility in the area and see if one of the RNs would be willing. Good luck with Research!

Hello everyone,

I just stated at GCU and I will have completed my first class this coming Sunday. I am trying to look ahead at the classes I can take for the extra class I need and was wondering if anyone has taken any of the following classes and what they thought of them....

HLT 306V: Advanced Patient Care (5 weeks, 3 credits)

HLT-308V: Risk Management and Health Care Regulations (5 weeks, 3 credits)

HLT 324V: Transcultural Health Care (5 weeks, 3 credits)

BIO 316V: Pharmacology for Health Care Professionals (5 weeks, 3 credits)

AMP 450V: Leadership and Vocation (5 weeks, 3 credits)

UNV 303: University Success (8 weeks, 4 credits)

OR did you hear about testing out of a class? I was told something about DSST website, but I can't find any of the classes that I can select from or what I need to do.

Also I had no idea you could take two classes at once. Any classes you recommend to take together and any ones you don't recommend?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

Dana

Can anyone who is in the Capstone or has completed it give me some guidance on the ISP? Week 1 and I am already more confused then any of the other classes I have taken! The give us an example that does not make sense. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I will pass it on!

Thanks,

John

Specializes in Psych.

Any MSN-ED here? did u find looking for a preceptor challenging?

Specializes in Psych.
nps07 said:
the program was straightforward at first, that is until CAPSTONE!... it took me almost 6 months to get my site approved... something that could of been started prior to the slated start of the class (GCU only started the process of looking for a site with me 2 months before the class)... to avoid a headache select an APPROVED site for capstone... classes were well structured, but like i said before... capstone for me, or at least getting my site was a nightmare at the least

Hi! is looking for a preceptor hard? I'm having MSN education at GCU now.

Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

Former GCU grad here and I have a question after reading this thread.

Does GCU now require mentors, or hospital affiliations? Do you have to do hours with a preceptor? I ask this, because my state no longer accepts the GCU BSN, but does accept the MSN because a person has a preceptorship. Until this changes for the BSN, my state will not accept.

Lastly, has GCU gone non profit again? It sure would be nice to get out under the 'for profit' stigma.

Wow! I am a brand new grad. I did not know certain states would not accept the BSN from GCU. I did have a mentor and went through the new 10 week capstone class. The mentor had to be an RN with a BSN or higher and had to work at the approved cite that was used during the Capstone class. The cite and mentor had to be approved in advance by the school. Ill be curious to see what other have to say about this!

tokmom said:
Former GCU grad here and I have a question after reading this thread.

Does GCU now require mentors, or hospital affiliations? Do you have to do hours with a preceptor? I ask this, because my state no longer accepts the GCU BSN, but does accept the MSN because a person has a preceptorship. Until this changes for the BSN, my state will not accept.

Lastly, has GCU gone non profit again? It sure would be nice to get out under the 'for profit' stigma.

When i asked my enrollment counselor about going back to non for profit status, i was told by him, this was true that GCU was pursuing this staus..butis nit there yet. and if this change goes into effect it will not effect potential, current or future students or the cirriculum there.

I decided NOT to go to GCU. after reading this thread, and all the complaints about the 10wk capstone course, i de ided to pass it by. i do not need that headache nor do i want the anxiety of potentially having this "site/mentor" approval looming over my head, as a possible barrier once i make it to the end.

Sad part is, i was actually really looking forward to GCU...only thing i dod not like was the whole group project thing. but i was willing to put that aside and do the program. but not after all this capstone mess im reading.

tokmom said:
Former GCU grad here and I have a question after reading this thread.

Does GCU now require mentors, or hospital affiliations? Do you have to do hours with a preceptor? I ask this, because my state no longer accepts the GCU BSN, but does accept the MSN because a person has a preceptorship. Until this changes for the BSN, my state will not accept.

Lastly, has GCU gone non profit again? It sure would be nice to get out under the 'for profit' stigma.

byw, what state are you in? and how did u officially find out about your state not accepting BSN degress from GCU.

i emailed my BON (here in Ohio) about GCU and cant remember verbatim what i was told, but its was something to the effect of ".......as long as the program has board approval in the state the program is pocated in...." or something like that. anyhoo, let me know how you found that out. it would be interesting to know.

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