Published Jul 26, 2012
Ms.Gaby
4 Posts
hello to everybody, i have a question that i would love to get help with,,;-)
here is my case, i'm a doctor graduate in cuba and i would like to work as a school nurse. i love elementary education. i translated all of my educational credentials and the report said that i have the equivalence of a doctor degree earned in an regional accredited college in usa.( with a total of 156 college credits)
i have been researching the requirement to be a school nurse and i found that most of the places asked to have at least a bsn/rn and some courses related to the education field.
here are my questions:
1 ) should i try to apply to get a bsn/ and became rn ? or go for the msn ? ( and open myself more job opportunities?
2) if i do the msn would i be overqualified and i won't get hired as school nurse?
3) any recommendation for a university well known for having a good nursing online program?
4) what kind of accreditations that university should have, in order to be recognized as a good university for a nurse program?
please a i will really appreciated any advice!!, thanks a lot
bubblejet50
230 Posts
Well you will need to do some clinical aspect to obtain a nursing degree. You cannot do this online. I just got my RN degree and will be finishing my BSN online. This is a common approach. I had over 150 credits when I went to nursing school also. The sciences will usually transfer. I know some colleges that allow an LPN-RN program that is online with 6 clinical days a semester that work around your schedule. Lots of places like the MSN now but you may become overqualified. I am finding that a lot of state jobs want LPN's instead of RN's. You would have to look into the school districts more. You could also look at becoming a nurse practitioner in family medicine, pediatrics, or neonatal. It is a master's program right now but will soon be a doctoral degree. CCNE accreditation is what my school was. A lot of schools now have accelerated nursing programs where if you have a bachelors degree you go to school for 12-18 months and will have your BSN. Good luck!
thank you so much for your reply. Do you have any suggestion on what university offer a good nursing program online?
thanks again
JustBeachyNurse, LPN
13,957 Posts
You will not be able to complete an entry to practice program to become a registered nurse exclusively online. THere is no such program.
The online nursing programs are for LPN's to bridge to associate's degree in nursing (RN) (for nurses who have already completed a clinical nursing program in the classroom and in clinical rotations and working as a licensed practical nurse), a bridge for an associate's degree registered nurse or hospital diploma nurse to enhance and further their education as a RN with a bachelor's of science in nursing degree.
The LPN to ASN/RN bridge programs online that give clinical credit for a practicing LPN with an active license, like Exclsior College and even Indiana State University are not accepted in all states. For example Excelsior is not accepted for initial licensing or endorsement in Maryland or California (and other states) . ISU's program is not accepted in NY, MA, NH or AZ to name a few states. But again one must already have an active license to practice as a licensed practical nurse for these programs.
Many school nurses have master's degrees. In many states the minimum degree to enter school nursing is a BSN with additional post baccalaureate credits in education and school nursing. Some states like NJ have two different school nursing certificates one is a BSN + post bac credits that the candidate is then certified as a school nurse, the other is an extra credential where the nurse can also teach health education courses in addition to the school nurse duties (a level used in many elementary schools). So to determine the minimum entry to practice you need to determine which state you wish to practice and contact the board of nursing and often the state department of education. Other states permit associate's or diploma RN's or even licensed practical/vocational nurses to fulfill the role of school nurse.
In summary there is no such online only program for entry to practice as a registered or practical nurse. What programs are acceptable are determined by the state board of nursing where you live and/or wish to practice. As far as credentials for a school nurse, that is also dependent on the state in which you live and/or wish to practice either by the board of nursing, department of education or both.