Western Governors RN-to-BSN: My First 6 Month Term (Almost)

Western Governors University (WGU) is a very popular online school for RNs who seek BSN and MSN degree completion because it offers a myriad of alluring features. These features include affordable tuition, regional and national accreditations, and nonprofit status. The following piece is a review of my first six-month term of enrollment in the WGU RN-to-BSN degree completion program.

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Western Governors RN-to-BSN: My First 6 Month Term (Almost)

Western Governors University (WGU) is an immensely popular online virtual university because it offers an array of aspects that attract adult learners, such as reasonably priced tuition, nonprofit status, a respectable assortment of majors and concentrations, regional and national accreditations, and an innovational competency-based format that promotes expedient degree completion.

I am an ASN degree holder and my first six-month term at WGU officially started on May 1, 2014. Even though my first term technically does not conclude until October 31, I have decided to take a two-week break until my last term begins on November 1. In a nutshell, WGU's transcript evaluator allowed me to transfer 86 previously-earned credits, which left me needing to earn 34 credits in order to receive the BSN degree.

Since May, I have earned 27 of those 34 much-needed credits. Therefore, I need to earn 7 more credits before I will be able to sign my name TheCommuter, BSN, RN. I quite possibly could have earned all 34 credit hours in the span of one six-month term but I work full-time 12-hour night shifts, and to be completely candid, my motivation waxes and wanes like the four seasons. Without further delay, here is a breakdown of my first term in WGU's online RN-to-BSN completion program.

Care of the Older Adult

This course was fairly straightforward. I worked in long term care for six years, so I already had some real world experience with the course material. This class covered topics such as the different types of aging, theories on aging, Medicare, Medicaid, gerontological nursing assessments, determining level of function, and the Healthy People campaigns. A third party genetics course was required.

Biochemistry

Biochemistry consisted of five different PowerPoint presentations that were graded by TaskStream, which is a third party grading company. Two of my presentations passed on the first attempt, two passed on the second attempt, and one finally passed on the third attempt. Essentially, I crafted models of hemoglobin using yarn and created two models of fatty acids using toothpicks connected to peach ring candy. Topics covered included lipids, hemoglobin, myoglobin, metabolism, enzymes, fatty acid synthesis, cell death, and other interesting themes.

Organizational Systems

The organizational systems course consisted of two papers and a third party course offered through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. One of the required paper assignments required the student to formulate a root cause analysis and other required that I furnish a detailed resolution to a multifaceted ethical situation involving an elderly patient.

Health Assessment

The health assessment course was comprised of an objective final exam and an applied assignment that required me to record myself as I performed a full head-to-toe assessment on someone. I assessed my best friend from head to toe as my laptop's webcam recorded the 36-minute affair. I became spooked and dragged out my studies for the final exam, but the testing was straightforward.

Nutrition for Contemporary Society

Since my knowledge base in nutritional issues is relatively strong, I easily passed the final exam for this course. Topics included lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, water balance, nutritional diseases, deficiency symptoms, obesity issues, and exercise physiology.

Professional Roles and Values

Essentially, this course covered topics such as the role of boards of nursing, professional organizations, nursing theories and theorists, the history of nursing, historical nursing figures, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams, leadership, management, and differing levels of educational attainment in the nursing profession.

Information Management and the Application of Technology

In essence, this course was a survey of introductory nursing informatics. It discussed the history of nursing informatics, information systems, networks, interfaces, operating systems, hardware, software, electronic health records (EHRs), clinical decision supports, and the various levels of informatics nursing professionals.

Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing

Students must pass an ATI final exam with a satisfactory score in order to pass this course. Topics included the differences between community-based nursing and community health nursing. Moreover, the different types of community-based nursing were extensively discussed, including public health nursing, parish nursing, hospice nursing, home health nursing, school nursing, disaster response nursing, and ambulatory care/clinic nursing. Principles of epidemiology were also introduced.

Introduction to Probability and Statistics

This very straightforward course consisted of seven modules that were formulated by a third party company called Acrobatiq, which is a subsidiary of Carnegie Mellon University. StatCrunch, a software program for data analysis and calculations, was an optional component of the course. Topics included exploratory data analysis, descriptive statistics, analytical statistics, theoretical probability and empirical probability.

In summary, my time spent in the Western Governors University RN-to-BSN completion program has been enjoyable. My self-efficacy has blossomed with each competency test that I have passed. In addition, I am pleased that this degree will cost me less than $7,000. Feel free to ask any questions. ?

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TheCommuter

About TheCommuter, BSN, RN

TheCommuter, BSN, RN, CRRN is a longtime physical rehabilitation nurse who has varied experiences upon which to draw for her articles. She was an LPN/LVN for more than four years prior to becoming a Registered Nurse.

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

Papers, how many? Do they have to go through turn it in and what is your plagiarism score that is acceptable?

I'm kicking around the idea of a MSN through WGU. I just graduated with my BSN, and it seems one can get through courses relatively quickly and not have to spend 5-8 weeks in a class.

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Awesome and good luck to you.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
tokmom said:
Papers, how many? Do they have to go through turn it in and what is your plagiarism score that is acceptable?

I'm kicking around the idea of a MSN through WGU. I just graduated with my BSN, and it seems one can get through courses relatively quickly and not have to spend 5-8 weeks in a class.

Most of my coursework in the BSN program has consisted of objective exams that are proctored. I've probably submitted about 10 papers and perhaps five PowerPoint presentations.

All papers, essays and PowerPoints are processed through the Turn-it-In plagiarism service and scores less than 30 percent are acceptable.

I have heard that the MSN program is more paper-intensive. Hopefully a WGU MSN student or grad will respond and shed some light. ?

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

30% would be nice. We were required to have less than 20 and very paper intensive. I hope someone I'm the msn chimes in

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Specializes in LTC.

How much time do you find yourself spending on school work? I've got a toddler and work a 0.8 with 8 hour shifts. I went back to a traditional online school a couple of years ago and the format drove me crazy, I think this would be a better fit and it sounds like something that can go a bit faster. I'm just afraid I'll jump in, be over my head and then waste a lot of money in school.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
casi said:
How much time do you find yourself spending on school work? I've got a toddler and work a 0.8 with 8 hour shifts. I went back to a traditional online school a couple of years ago and the format drove me crazy, I think this would be a better fit and it sounds like something that can go a bit faster. I'm just afraid I'll jump in, be over my head and then waste a lot of money in school.

I probably spend about 10 to 15 hours per week studying on the typical week. Then again, I wanted to accelerate through the coursework to take advantage of the flat rate pricing.

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Specializes in Maternal Child Health, GYN.

So glad you shared this...very encouraging!!

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Specializes in Home Health, PDN, LTC, subacute.

Thanks for the article! I started on Aug 1 with the same courses needed as you. So far I am enjoying the experience. It's different from Excelsior where I did my LPN to RN. I dragged that baby out 6 YEARS out of fear of the CPNE! So this is much easier and has way more support offered. I would say if anyone is on the fence, it's worth it!

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Thanks for sharing. While I'm working on my LPN - ASN, I am taking notes on the different options for my RN-BSN.

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Specializes in TCU, Post-surgical, Infection Prevention.

Thank you for the information on this program. I shy away from any and everything that I cannot get the opinion/insight from an actual-factual person. lol

I may consider WGU because I am a speedracer/speedy von speederson - and to participate in a program that will allow me to just go through the program as opposed to a lot of breaks and kumby-ya.

The only thing that may stop me (not like you asked, lol) from attending is the student has to be a fulltime employee or employed as an RN somewhere? Which may stop me dead in my tracks, as I want to start a BSN or MSN as soon as dear old Jerry Brown prints my RN license. As a person who hasn't had a real job in years, i can't fathom delaying my education due to a job situation, because if i have to take a high paying executive assistant position, so be it. Once I am done with daytime school, as I call it, I need to get out there and get a real/grownup job with benefits, lol. You know how California is...;)

Again, thanks so much for posting, I love reading your posts in general, and on the topic of your nursing journey!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Float Pool Nursing.

This thread reads like an infomercial. Did the OP receive compensation for this piece?

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