University of Kentucy-2nd Degree BSN

LuckyinKY · Nov 20, 2010

I graduated from UK with my BS and now attend an ADN program at the community college. UK's second degree BSN program is very hard to get in, I have heard of people with 3.6 and higher GPAs being turned away. Also I have heard from students in that program that they do not feel adequately prepared. It is worth a shot to apply, but have a few back up options.

Eastern Kentucky University would be another good school to look at, they have a well-regarded program and also have a second degree BSN program. They were my back up school and would have been my first choice if I lived closer and wasn't working.

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2010

I'm in the traditional BSN program at UK, but I'm friends with several of our 2nd degree students. If you can ask some more specific questions, I would probably be able to answer them.

For what it's worth, I had a 3.4 GPA with 3.5 science grades when I was accepted, and I was accepted into the Spring rather than the Fall semester. This means that the students accepted into the Fall semester likely had a better GPA.

It's also important to know that UK doesn't really have an "accelerated" BSN program for 2nd degree students. It really only shaves off the first semester of the traditional program, which is 6 semesters long. So you will be going 5 semesters as a 2nd degree student. After your first semester as a 2nd degree student, you join the traditional BSN students in what is their third semester, and your second semester, and complete the program with them from then on out. Therefore, if a traditional BSN student began the program in Spring 2008, they will graduate in Winter 2011, and the 2nd degree students that graduate with them will have began the program in Fall 2008.

Here are some helpful links:

The UK College of Nursing Homepage

University of Kentucky College of Nursing

The curriculum/prerequisites

http://www.uky.edu/Registrar/Major-Sheets/MSCurrent/nur/2bsn.pdf

Application information:

Second Degree B.S.N. - UK College of Nursing

After being accepted, what you would need to know:

http://www.mc.uky.edu/nursing/academic/Back-to-school-FOR%20WEB-final.pdf

Good luck! It's an honor to be in nursing school at the University of Kentucky, and an accomplishment that I take pride in. Let me know if I can help more.

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2010

Also I have heard from students in that program that they do not feel adequately prepared.

My peers do not feel this way at all. Considering that our NCLEX pass rate is in the high 90's, I doubt that this is a common point of view.

wildcatwant · Nov 23, 2010

This is great information. I have resolved that with 3.6-3.8 GPA's needed to get into these 2nd Degree Options that I am probobly going to have to go the traditional BSN route, which will not be too bad since I will have my prereq's done before I attend, thus making it a 6 semester route as opposed to a 8 or longer one. Anybody else thinking along these lines?

LuckyinKY · Nov 23, 2010

I am doing an ADN (4 semesters, not counting pre-reqs) with a possible bridge over to a BSN which is going to be 6-7 semesters. If I can find a MS/DNP program that will allow me to skip the BSN and use my ADN + BS that would be great.

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2010

I am doing an ADN (4 semesters, not counting pre-reqs) with a possible bridge over to a BSN which is going to be 6-7 semesters. If I can find a MS/DNP program that will allow me to skip the BSN and use my ADN + BS that would be great.

I'm not sure about other universities, but unfortunately you have to have at least a BSN to go forward with your DNP at UK, regardless of experience or other degrees. Also, you can complete the RN-BSN program in 3 semesters at UK if you do full-time study. Here's the link regarding the RN-BSN and BSN-DNP programs.

RN-BSN

RN-BSN Program - UK College of Nursing

BSN-DNP

UK College of Nursing-BSN-DNP Option

Also, this is off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure that UK got rid of their MSN program recently because all advanced practice nurses will have to have a DNP to practice by 2015. Something to think about for when you graduate and are looking for programs to advance your education. :)

wildcatwant · Nov 23, 2010

Decembergrad2011,

Since you have spent alot of time at UK, can you please tell me of your experience at UK in their program? Why did you end up choosing UK? If I were living an hour away, would it be worth my time/expense to drive past EKU and go to UK everyday? I have heard some mixed reviews of the program at EKU and am wondering if UK would be my best experience?

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2010

Honestly, I have no idea about the program at EKU so I couldn't say whether ours is better/worse/etc and am not in a place to make that kind of judgment call. Would it be worth your time and expense to come to UK? I believe it would be a positive experience for you, and if you are financially stable and willing to make that drive every day, I would encourage you to do it. However, I say that with the understanding that you would be going to school full-time and not working. I think it might be harder to manage with work, but plenty of students in my class commute long-distance, hold down a job, and make the cut every semester on grades. Even a good number of our clinical instructors live in other counties and drive 1-2 hours per day to do their clinicals.

I always wanted to go to UK as a high-schooler because I've lived in Lexington my whole life, and I'm a big basketball fan. I chose UK's nursing program specifically over BCTC (our community college) because they are a top nursing program, with the PhD program being number 10 in the country, and our BSN program number 33. Here are some more statistics:

http://www.mc.uky.edu/Nursing/intro/FactSheet110909.pdf

My experience as a nursing student has been wonderful. That's not to say that our program does not have any flaws or poor instructors, but overall I am pleased with the material I have been exposed to, my clinical sites, and the support. Every nursing course I have had included course representatives, who would meet 1-3 times a semester with the primary course coordinator to discuss concerns, problems, and student feedback within the course. While some instructors may have done this at face value, the majority of them took our feedback to heart and implemented change when necessary. We have some fantastic equipment, including an entire building dedicated to nursing that's filled with lab areas for students to learn.

The majority of our grades come from exams, with anywhere from 10-20% of it coming from a lab/clinical grade. Our grading scale runs 100-92% = A, 91-84% = B, 83-76% = C, and below 76% is failing. You must have an exam average of 76%, an overall average of 76%, and a satisfactory clinical evaluation to pass each course.

After each exam, you will receive a print out of your scantron results that list out which questions you missed. There will be opportunities to review the correct answers on the exam with rationale at a designated time, but most instructors also make themselves available to students who wish to meet one-on-one. If you score beneath a 78% on an exam, you are expected to meet with the course coordinator in order to review your exam and discuss strategies for doing better on the next one.

During your first and second semesters as a traditional student, you have lecture, clinical, and lab. After that, it's lecture and clinicals until your last semester, when you follow a preceptor for a clinical synthesis. Skills taught and performed in lab have included complete physical assessment, PO med administration, SQ/IM injections, sterile technique, wound care/dressing changes, foley and in&out catheter insertion/removal, NG tube replacement and removal, IV drip rate/calculations, IV start/IV piggyback, trach care/trach suction, and I'm sure there are more that I'm leaving out. You will be required to perform some of these skills for competencies, either by recording a video for your lab instructor to review, or doing a return demonstration right in front of them. Both ways include a dummy, your competencies are generally considered to be your practice before clinicals.

The clinical sites include UK Hospital, Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation, Central Baptist Hospital, St. Joseph East, the VA, and in your first semester as a traditional student, you have clinicals in an elementary school setting.

I have felt like there is a lot of support, care, and concern for our well-being in this program. My instructors have always been readily available when I need them, and answer their emails promptly. Any criticism I have received has been 98% accurate, and I have only had a problem with one clinical instructor, who turned out to actually really like me and just pushed me hard to be a better nurse.

I feel like I might be missing some things, so ask away.

LuckyinKY · Nov 23, 2010

My non-nursing BS is from UK and I also work for UK and think it is a good school. It would have been a choice for me except for my job. I was told that their program frowns on students working. My job is how I am paying for school, plus I still have a family and daycare bills to pay. I will likely do my bridge program at UK, but will do a MS or DNP probably in Florida, since we plan on moving there within the next few years to be closer to family.

decembergrad2011, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2010

My non-nursing BS is from UK and I also work for UK and think it is a good school. It would have been a choice for me except for my job. I was told that their program frowns on students working. My job is how I am paying for school, plus I still have a family and daycare bills to pay. I will likely do my bridge program at UK, but will do a MS or DNP probably in Florida, since we plan on moving there within the next few years to be closer to family.

I agree that they tend to look down on working while in school if you are doing poorly, but over half of my class works, and plenty have kids. I think it's more of a thing that they want students who need more time to focus on school to not get a job and go into it thinking that they'll be able to balance it easily while taking full-time classes and full-time working hours. There is a girl who works full-time, but she takes the bare minimum amount of hours every semester to move forward in the nursing program with the rest of the class (no electives, no GPA fluffers).

LuckyinKY · Nov 25, 2010

Thats good to hear since if I do my BSN bridge at UK, I'll be working. I have all of my non-nursing classes done, so all I am taking are nursing classes (and one communications class this summer). I am hanging in with a solid 85 now, so not bad given my hectic life.