I am a new RN, graduated from one of the toughest nursing programs in the country.
I was lucky enough to land a job in this economy, even better in the department that I love the most!
Life is great, seriously..What could go wrong?!
Its another day in nursing orientation, a handful of us new nurses listening to lectures, performing skills, participating in work shops. FUN!
One day, for the head to toe assessment, a nursing instructor from a private school sits in with her clinical group to listen to the head to toe lecture.
She starts off by saying..
Congratulations you all have jobs!!!
Its because you all have your bachelors... be sure to tell that to all your friends who have their associates.
I was the only one in the group with an associates in nursing.
So I said, I have an associates, and last I checked I have a job.
I SOOOOOOOOO wanted to go on.
I wanted to ask her, with a genuinely dumb look on my face..
The nurses with their bachelors, do they take a different board exam from those associate nurses?
Wait for a response, then come back with EXACTLYYYYY!
I felt about 2 inches tall, but whatever. The school I went to had 1500 applicants, and I was the lucky person to be included in the 150 to get accepted ...of those 150, i was the lucky 70 to graduate on time (we had 90 something at pinning but we had about a dozen of LPNs and the rest were students who had to repeat a course)
Needless to say, I felt small. Was unable to concentrate, but I reminded myself of the little things..and began to feel better.
No student loans to pay back!! So my first paycheck, Im going to blow it and go shopping!!!
I am only making a whopping...drum roll please...50 cents less per hour than those with a higher degree.
I saved a ton of money by taking the NCLEX once and passing it on the first try, with 75 questions baby!
I am going back for my bachelors, my masters even (i would love to have that clinical instructor work for me one day) this time the place I work for is going to reimburse me for my tuition.
This post is not an invitation to flame and debate some more on why one is "better" than the other
This was an opportunity to share my experience, hopefully lift the spirits of someone who had a similar story.
Listen. Finish a nursing program, any nursing program, and we'll talk about how much you really know about nursing education. As it stands, you're just running off at the mouth with nothing to back your opinions up other than your individual experience with the requirements of one local community college's ADN program.
Those that make valid, informed points against your empty opinions are "grasping at straws", as you like to say over and over.
There's a term for what you're doing. It's called trolling.
I'm done here.
why would i have to complete a nursing program to know how long it takes? i got an AS degree - i know how long that takes. i got a BS degree - i know how long that takes. as an educated person feeling out my options for getting a BSN as a second degree - i'm very confident in the conclusion i've come to, and just to make sure, i got confirmation from directors of both programs. when someone here tells me they finished school and started practicing faster than anyone i've ever heard of and faster than the most reputable school in my region states is possible, then i'll consider changing my mind about the length of the programs. until then, none of these opinions are really that "informed."
Ah, now I understand. The problem here is that you're simply misinformed. You're assuming that it takes a year and a half to do pre-req's for the ADN, which is most certainly NOT the norm. One year is the average. You do have other GenEd courses that you have to take during the program, but for the courses that you need to take before entering the program, it's a year. And that's only because schools require you to take A&P I & II (or separate Anatomy and Physiology courses, however it's set up) one semester at a time, and a Microbiology course that has A&P as a pre-req or co-requisite (and taking A&P and Micro in the same semester is setting most students up for failure). YMMV depending on the school, and there may be additional pre-req's on top of those.
So, it's just a matter of how the courses fall into place. It's not a year of full-time pre-req's.
For a student with no previous coursework, ADN = 3 years on average while BSN = 4 years at best, maybe longer. The ADN gets into the workforce a year faster and hooks up with an employer that will pay for BSN completion. Everyone wins, except those folks who are raging over why anyone would ever choose an ADN program over a BSN program.
This is true if the ADN program has no wait list. If it does, you could add 1-3 years onto the time it will take to get the ADN, making the BSN just as fast or faster.
no, because it's a fact that a bachelor's program is a 4 year program. yes, you can quit school, fail classes, go part time - and make it last longer. that doesn't change the FACT that it's a four year program.
My daughters school openly states that because the credit hour requirements have increased, and every student is required to do a semester abroad, it is the rare bird that will finish in less than 5 years. Many universities use the fact that it is possible to complete a degree in 4 years as a bragging point b/c for many, 5 is now the norm. Just FYI.
wow, really? you're attacking the fact that adn's are less competitive for entry, which simply makes it a faster route to licensure for the student with no educational background? there is still the same requirement to successfully complete all of the nursing coursework with a c average, same as the bsn nursing courses. there is still the same requirement to perform competently in clinicals. there is still the same requirement for licensure -- that is, to pass the same nclex-rn that bsn's take.
ummm...for what it's worth, my university requred that we pass some classes with a c+, and nursing classes with a b-.
please stay on point. you've forgotten that we've already agreed that we're discussing the benefit to students with no educational background. it's already been agreed that it would be stupid for a student with a bs in another area to not take an accelerated bsn.
this is only true if money is not a consideration.
why would i have to complete a nursing program to know how long it takes? i got an AS degree - i know how long that takes. i got a BS degree - i know how long that takes. as an educated person feeling out my options for getting a BSN as a second degree - i'm very confident in the conclusion i've come to, and just to make sure, i got confirmation from directors of both programs. when someone here tells me they finished school and started practicing faster than anyone i've ever heard of and faster than the most reputable school in my region states is possible, then i'll consider changing my mind about the length of the programs. until then, none of these opinions are really that "informed."
Took me 3.5 years including prereqs, but I didn't take summers off.
My daughters school openly states that because the credit hour requirements have increased, and every student is required to do a semester abroad, it is the rare bird that will finish in less than 5 years. Many universities use the fact that it is possible to complete a degree in 4 years as a bragging point b/c for many, 5 is now the norm. Just FYI.
This is absolutely correct. If a student takes only the minimum for full time, which is 12 credit hours per semester, it will take approx. 5 years to complete a bachelors degree. To complete it in 4 years, a student must take 15 or more credit hours per semester (assuming summers off, as is traditional). This is/was true in my area even before any recent increase in credit hour requirements.
Because they can't afford to get a bachelor's degree right now, perhaps?
Questioning the reasons people pursue either an ADN or a BSN is really kind of ridiculous, and I am personally tired of it too. I am pursuing admission to ABSN only because it's the best option for me, and if for some reason I can't financially swing that, I will look into ADN programs and bridge later (with the comfort in knowing that I may have an employer that can assist with paying for that). A BSN nurse is no better than an ADN nurse, it's only a degree. The BSN degree only opens more doors professionally, and if it was worth any more than the ADN, then why is the pay increase for BSNs so measly?
In the end, isn't the goal to take the NCLEX and become an RN? Our profession is never going to progress as long as ADNs and BSNs keep battling for the crown when in fact it should be shared.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
e=DonaldJ;4687649The average is one year of pre-req's.
Here in Wisconsin none of the public technical colleges have any college class pre-req's. You need HS graduation or GED, CPR, CNA, background check, and high school chem. The very idea that a 2 year ADN program would have pre-req's that you MUST complete before being allowed to start the two year nursing program means a lot of nursing students are being taken advantage of by their schools.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
the associate's for NURSING is different, however. the nursing courses alone take 2 years so you can NOT do all of your pre-reqs and the nursing courses and be a RN in two years,
*** Unless of course there are NO pre-req's as was the case at the school I went to and is the case with all the ADN programs in this state.
and i think it's safe to say it typically takes 3.5 years at least. this is the conclusion i've come to after researching schools, talking to people who have done AS programs, and then finally - emailing and asking the director of the AS program personally to which i posted her response.
*** Well you must have limited your "researching".
if there is anyone who is a RN that finished school and started work within two or even less than three, raise your hand. that's what i'm looking for.
,
*** Uh, I can name dozens of nurses right now who did so. Actually that would be the case for most all the ADN nurses I know. I actually finished in considerably under two years.
the associate's for NURSING is different, however. the nursing courses alone take 2 years so you can NOT do all of your pre-reqs and the nursing courses and be a RN in two years,
*** Unless of course there are NO pre-req's as was the case at the school I went to and is the case with all the ADN programs in this state.
and i think it's safe to say it typically takes 3.5 years at least. this is the conclusion i've come to after researching schools, talking to people who have done AS programs, and then finally - emailing and asking the director of the AS program personally to which i posted her response.
*** Well you must have limited your "researching".
if there is anyone who is a RN that finished school and started work within two or even less than three, raise your hand. that's what i'm looking for.
,
*** Uh, I can name dozens of nurses right now who did so. Actually that would be the case for most all the ADN nurses I know. I actually finished in considerably under two years.
For real. You can run and tell that, homeboy. 
backatit2
368 Posts
why would i have to complete a nursing program to know how long it takes? i got an AS degree - i know how long that takes. i got a BS degree - i know how long that takes. as an educated person feeling out my options for getting a BSN as a second degree - i'm very confident in the conclusion i've come to, and just to make sure, i got confirmation from directors of both programs. when someone here tells me they finished school and started practicing faster than anyone i've ever heard of and faster than the most reputable school in my region states is possible, then i'll consider changing my mind about the length of the programs. until then, none of these opinions are really that "informed."