RN license without Nursing major

Nurses Career Support

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Hopefully the title doesn't scare people away or make them think I'm lazy looking for a shortcut. After 5 years at a private college working towards a BSN I was 8 credit hours short of having a nursing major and was given the option of still graduating and just having a plain science major. After paying for 5 years of private school, a pile of student loans, the need to work full-time, a negative education environment, etc. I decided to go ahead and graduate with a major in science instead of waiting a year, taking the other 8 credit hours, having an extra $10,000 of student loans, not being able to work full-time, and being surrounded with negativity. I was able to get an LPN license through the education equivalency program and have been successfully employed as an LPN, but with the lack of job opportunities and desire to advance my career/education, I'm regretting my decision of graduating with a major in science instead of waiting.

In order to get a second degree with a major in Nursing I have to take an extra 30 credit hours. Has anyone had any success showing the BON that they have met all the course requirements for a BSN/ASN, but don't have the extra 30 credit hours for a second degree so their transcript doesn't list nursing as a major?

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Specializes in NICU.
In order to get a second degree with a major in Nursing I have to take an extra 30 credit hours. Has anyone had any success showing the BON that they have met all the course requirements for a BSN/ASN, but don't have the extra 30 credit hours for a second degree so their transcript doesn't list nursing as a major?

You stated that you need the 30 credit hrs to get a BSN, so you have not met all course requirements for a BSN. You need to graduated from a school with a degree in nursing to apply for licensure.

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If a BSN was my first bachelor's degree, I would only need 8 credits to meet all of the course requirements of a BSN, but since I opted to go ahead a get a bachelor's degree in science after 5 years I would still only need those 8 credit hours to meet the course requirements of a BSN, but since it would be my second degree I would have to take an extra 22 credits of random classes to qualify for a second degree with Nursing listed as a major. Colleges can't give you a second degree unless you have 30 credits in addition to what already counted towards your first degree, so I just can't take those 8 credits to get a degree with Nursing listed as a major. I hope that makes more sense.

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Specializes in NICU.

Yes, you only need those 8 nursing credits to complete the requirements for nursing school, but you still need the other 22 credits in order for the college to issue a degree. BON requires you to graduate with a nursing degree (ASN or BSN) before allowing you to apply. Just taking those 8 credits will not allow you to graduate with your BSN.

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Every state (except California, which has a weird loophole that comes with its own set of issues) requires that you have completed (graduated from) an approved nursing program in order to be eligible for licensure. Unless someone (some school) is willing to vouch to the BON that you have completed their nursing program, you're not going to get a license.

Have you looked at LPN-to-RN programs?

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You don't need a BSN to get an RN license, at least in California. The community college associate programs are 2 years. You should check with a community college to see if you can transfer your credits to get the Associate's Degree, then do a RN to BSN bridge program.

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If you are in CA, there is an option to take the NCLEX-RN as a non-graduate. You would have to look at the website and/or contact someone at the BRN to find out the details. The problem being is that you would be a non-graduate, and that could entail problems with potential employers and if you ever decided you wanted to endorse your CA RN license to another state that DOES require graduation.

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Specializes in Corrections, Surgical.

I would just go to a community college like was stated and do lpn to RN. That way you wont have more debt pilling on.

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Sadly, I'm not in California, I was hoping there might be other states with that option. I talked with someone at the BON and they want the major to explicitly say "Nursing". They won't look at actual courses on the transcript. I'm in the midwest & it's actually pretty great because the cost of living is so cheap. I've found two LPN-ADN programs, one LPN-BSN, one accelerated ADN, and one accelerated ADN within an hour drive. Another issue is that some programs require your LPN education to be from an accredited LPN program not an RN program. One of the community colleges a couple of these programs are at only requires an addition 15 hours for a second degree instead of 30.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

What are the 8 hours of classes that you were missing from the first degree? Nursing classes or general education credits?

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Was the program you were in part LPN and part BSN but you decided to just not continue on in the BSN portion?

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No, the OP was able to get licensed as an LPN on the strength of having completed most of an RN program -- a number of states allow this; if you've completed the content that would be covered in an LPN program, you can challenge the NCLEX-PN and get licensed as an LPN.

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