Traditional or online

MereSanity · Oct 9, 2014

Sure thats all fine and dandy but the reality is most nurses are thrown in with little to no orientation and minimal staffing, a dangerous mix for patients and for nurses. You aren't going to be shown how to do things correctly from the nurse working with you who also never learned how to do it the right way either. There is nothing stopping anyone from taking the easier route (yeah, I did online for my RN-BSN, I know it's not easy). But most people don't join the military, work the ER as a CNA, have EMT training, etc., most LPNs come from LTC's or Dr.s offices...that's all your going to get as an LPN...I know I was an LPN. There is not a lot to learn there. Yeah, yeah, you worked so hard in your online LPN-RN program...no clinical time at all...good for you. Everyone thinks they worked hard. Everyone says they worked hard. What else are you going to say? Yeah, it was easy?

MereSanity BSN, RN, CNOR

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Oct 9, 2014

I was an LPN for many years before I went to Excelsior College. I gained most of my acute care skills after I went into the hospital setting. I gained enough of them outside the hospital environment, which stood out on my resume enough to get through the door in the first place. Also, if you are in the 'right' LTC setting nowadays, they require and provide IV certification. That is where I first became proficient in starting IVs (plenty of practice there because the residents there tend to remove them as fast as they are inserted). In fact, it was there that I learned how to reconstitute piggybacks...never had to do that in the hospital since the in-house pharmacy took care of that. Don't underestimate today's LPNs in LTC /home health because things are changing for them just as they are changing for hospital LPNs and RNs. I did my first TPN via central line infusion as an LPN visiting nurse with Healthfield Home Health (now called Amedisys....perhaps you've heard of them).

By the way, I started out in LTC. Once I learned and certified in IVs, I became an agency nurse (LPN), and eventually accepted my first hospital med/surg job 12 years ago....thanks to LTC. Seven years into it, the economy forced me into Excelsior College (2009), got that RN license in 10 months (2010), literally an LPN one night, took boards on my day off, went back to work as an LPN while I waited for my license to post, got off one morning as an LPN, checked the mail, went back to work early so that I could get a new badge (license came), clocked in with that badge, and took on my same set of patients as the night before, only as an RN...never missed a beat. Oh, did I mention that I just completed my BSN degree back in August, also online?

What you claim cannot be done, has been done by me and many others. Except for insulin injections and passing pills, all of my skills came from on-the-job training and it began with LTC, progressed through home health (ventilator/trach patients), and imagine how proud I was to show an acute care RN on med-Surg how to do trach care on her first experience with those at a hospital she had been employed at for 4 years before this LPN arrived.

You may not have been exposed to certain experiences as an LPN in your day, but during my LPN days, I did everything except critical drips. Different states, different areas within the states, and different facilities within the areas all provide varied learning experiences and opportunities. If the OP wants to try online learning, he or she should. From where I sit, nurses with 2-4 years in classrooms with those clinicals that you mentioned have forgotten how to start IVs by the time they find a job anyway. And even still, facilities are kind of insisting on a year of paid nursing hours before they are hired now, anyway, regardless of how many clinical hours they have in a classroom setting. He or she has absolutely nothing to lose by taking advantage of today's modern technology.

Just my opinion based on my actual experience from transitioning from LPN to ASN RN to RN-BSN, with only four and a half total years of RN possession. My job is still in acute care with a teaching hospital in Savannah, Georgia, as a float nurse, in addition to returning to the large organization in metro Atlanta who hired me as an LPN float nurse I acute care where I first made the LPN-RN transition.

MereSanity · Oct 9, 2014

Laughable....Good luck getting a hospital job as an LPN TODAY with all the BSN only rules now. No opportunity for experience anymore. ADN's are finding it difficult to find jobs. LPN's can only work as CNAs in my area at this point. Don't even think about starting IV's...I'm sure back in "your" day they did that sort of thing. Now, your lucky to wipe butts working as a CNA, work in LTC, or a Dr's office...and MA's are taking those jobs from LPN's now. LPNs can't find anything in my area...except as a CNA. How's that for "hands on" experience?

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Oct 9, 2014

OP, what avenues of nursing would you like to get into?

I agree that YMMV, that's why it's different for everyone; it will depend on what you would want to find your niche in, and the market you are in.

I went into a traditional BSN program; however, I had experience as vent nurse in home health; I have also worked at an acute rehab, CMS chart reviewer, was IV therapy certified, worked in LTC, and was cast tech at a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon's office before I went back to take the plunge; the BSN program helped bridge my foundation; I already knew how to write a care plan and think like a nurse from writing care plans; I also taught new nurses, new LPNs and was the education representative for schools when I worked at one of my employers-a medical daycare; I even helped create policies and programs all while studying for my BSN;

I had familiarity in understanding those concepts while I was in a nursing program learning the info, and had more of a familiarity and did very well in my public health and leadership courses because of this knowledge and experience, I learned a few additional concepts, but had comfort and familiarity nonetheless.

Regardless of what path you chose, you will gain experience and it will be VERY complementary in your career; I have been able to transition to supervisory/leadership positions and acute care; especially since I've hit my two year mark; employers love my experience, and it will continue to help me, even when I decide to choose another niche in nursing. :yes:

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2014

Let me break it down. I completed an LVN program in 2005 where I accrued 954 clinical practicum hours, which is California's requirement. I also accrued about 300 clinical practicum hours while completing a classroom-based LPN-to-RN (ASN) degree bridge program in Oklahoma. Moreover, I have another 10 credits to earn before I'll be conferred the BSN degree.

I have less hands-on procedural skills than the typical Excelsior graduate. I have less clinical experience than the typical Excelsior grad. I might even have poorer assessment skills. But because my schooling is classroom-based, I can attain RN licensure in virtually any state. On the other hand, Excelsior grads cannot attain licensing in all states due to restriction placed by some state BONs. It ain't fair, but it is what it is.

My point is that we shouldn't refer to another person's educational attainment as the "easy way out." There's a reason Excelsior College has been deemed a center of excellence. They've been educating competent nurses from a distance for more than 40 years.

mariebailey, MSN, RN · Oct 10, 2014

I am not a proponent of no hands on experience. I speak from experience...I did LPN, RN, and then BSN (MSN in future)...nursing is a hands on profession. I think you will end up short changing yourself taking the "easy" route. Yes, I had 4 young kids too so I do know. Good luck.

A lot of online programs have a clinical component that is arranged by the school with a local hospital or other organization. The lecture/classroom component is what's online.

MereSanity · Oct 10, 2014

They already said "clinical" is one weekend only.

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Oct 10, 2014

Laughable....Good luck getting a hospital job as an LPN TODAY with all the BSN only rules now. No opportunity for experience anymore. ADN's are finding it difficult to find jobs. LPN's can only work as CNAs in my area at this point. Don't even think about starting IV's...I'm sure back in "your" day they did that sort of thing. Now, your lucky to wipe butts working as a CNA, work in LTC, or a Dr's office...and MA's are taking those jobs from LPN's now. LPNs can't find anything in my area...except as a CNA. How's that for "hands on" experience?

My day was not that long ago as I am only 5 years older than you. So, you see, it was not as remote as you would think. I still work with extremely competent LPNs at both of my jobs. The OP is not trying to find a job as an LPN in acute care, but was questioning the clinical situation regarding online education, which you suggested can only be acquired through classroom environments. Depending on the area, after receiving an online degree and thus, the RN license, a preceptorship (aka on-the-job-training) may be required to gain clinical skills in order to satisfy the BON....an aspect that only someone who has gone through the online ASN program is fully aware of. As you indicated, you have not, yet you insist on bashing what you don't know. Now that is not laughable at all.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2014

They already said "clinical" is one weekend only.

By marginalizing/focusing on the three-day CPNE (a.k.a. weekend clinical rotation), one is disregarding the wealth/years of clinical experience that the typical Excelsior student has already accumulated through their work experience as a paramedic or LPN.

I stand by my assertion that nursing school clinical practicum is a joke. There's a reason hospitals are hesitant to hire today's crops of new grads, even with their 1,500+ hours of nursing school clinical hours. Many new grads accrued the clinical hours without starting one IV line, inserting one Foley catheter, changing a simple dressing or even administering an injection. Simply put, masses of nurses have had poor quality clinical practicum.

A recent new grad lost out on a job opportunity to work the seasonal flu vaccination clinics because, during her four years in a BSN degree program, she had not administered an IM injection. Since she answered this question honestly on the employment application, she was turned away. My point is that nursing school clinical rotations are astoundingly overrated. Essentially, they're a laughing stock.

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Oct 10, 2014

They already said "clinical" is one weekend only.

Again, you are lacking in your information. Excelsior's weekend is a clinical EXAM delivered over the course of a 3-day weekend. not a clinical learning session. You have to already have prior clinical experience and competency in order to be accepted into the program. So, at the end of the program, they test you on clinical competency, not teach you clinicals.

MereSanity · Oct 10, 2014

I did say weekend right? Are we arguing length of weekend now? And I stand by my assertion that most new grads get little to no on the job orientation, add to that the fact that hospitals (more than likely LTC's as an LPN) are woefully understaffed and you are compromising patient safety just for convenience sake. Who is going to teach you? The new LPN grad hired with you last week? You shouldn't be afraid to admit you don't know everything.

California, Virginia, Georgia and Maryland don't even accept Excelsior grads...what does that tell you about the school?

mariebailey, MSN, RN · Oct 10, 2014

Laughable....Good luck getting a hospital job as an LPN TODAY with all the BSN only rules now. No opportunity for experience anymore. ADN's are finding it difficult to find jobs. LPN's can only work as CNAs in my area at this point. Don't even think about starting IV's...I'm sure back in "your" day they did that sort of thing. Now, your lucky to wipe butts working as a CNA, work in LTC, or a Dr's office...and MA's are taking those jobs from LPN's now. LPNs can't find anything in my area...except as a CNA. How's that for "hands on" experience?

60% of nurses enter the workforce with an associate's degree. ADNs make up an overwhelming majority of the nursing profession. I work in the ICU at a community hospital, & my charge nurse is an ADN.

I vote for us all to mellow out a bit. :cool: