Vocational/ Technical program

[Xoeie80]

I've been a LVN for 13 years, now life has finally slowed down enough for me to obtain my RN. I spoke to a well known online program advisor and she stated that since I went to a vocational/technical college for my LVN that none of the courses that I took can go towards my RN. Are all graduates from a accredited school other than a Community College not eligible for the bridge? I've checked the BON website I couldn't find anything to support her statement. I have the clocked hrs that is called for when you're in the LVN program. I'm getting very frustrated in trying to find a school to make the transition. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I attended a trade school vocational nursing program in southern CA to attain my LVN license back in 2005. I completed an LPN-to-ASN program in Oklahoma in 2010 and an online BSN program in 2015.

Attending a clock-hour vocational program does not disqualify you from bridging. However, clock hours are not interchangeable with semester hours or quarter hours. Since community colleges and universities issue academic credit in the form of semester or quarter hours, the credits you earned at the vocational school may not be accepted for transfer credit. You earned clock hours at the vocational school, not semester or quarter hours.

This means you will need to complete prerequisite coursework such as A&P, micro, lifespan psychology, sociology, English comp, and other classes at a community college or state university before applying to a bridge program.

The only other option is to look for a bridge program at a trade school that uses clock hours such as Concorde, Everest, Fortis, Galen, Dallas Nursing Institute, etc. This should be the route of last resort since these schools are very expensive and do not always have stellar reputations.