[Brendenb]

Is anyone in, or has graduated from, an accelerated BSN program?

I'm just starting my 2nd week of one and wanted to compare experiences. I'm currently at Florida Atlantic University.

[golc0004]

I started my accelerated nursing program in May 2006 at UNF, Jacksonville, FL. This is the first time I haven't been able to keep a job and go to school. So, far managing my budget around student loans has been the hardest part. I am having a blast so far and clinicals make all the studying well worth the stress. Our next semester (Fall) is suppose to be our hardest semester: 18 credit hours and 3, 9-10 hour clinical days.

How's the experience going for you? When will you graduate?

[EvaRN]

I graduated from an accelerated BSN in August 2006. I went to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and their program is 1 year. I loved the fact that I would be done in just one year and that we completed exactly as many hours of clinical as a regular 4 year program. Everything was intense, classes and clinical, but I had a great experience. We went to the best hospitals in Pitt. for our rotations and our instructors were very well prepared and helpful. I did not work...I barely found time to sleep 6 hours every night hehe...but it went very fast. I made a very good friend this year and I would suggest you do the same if you can. It helps a lot to have someone that goes through the same thing as you and that you can talk and share stuff with. Good luck and be strong, it will go by fast!

[pacalias423]

I'm about to start finals for my first semester at an accelerated BSN/ELM program at Henderson, NV. Its a new program, and I'm part of the 2nd class. We're a close knit group of 29. Its nice because my class seem to be supportive of each other. I didn't have any nursing or clinical experience prior and pretty much felt like I had to hit the ground running. I really love how we can finish the BSN part in 4 semesters and how there's a really good mix of clinical and theory. Clinicals weren't too bad this semester. They were 1 day, 6 hr clinicals. But starting next semester they'll increase our hours to 2 days a week, 9-12 hrs. I felt really nervous at first, but I think the jitters are wearing off

[pennstatepeanut]

Hello guys,

I've been thinking about going back to school to get a second-degree in nursing. I served in the Peace Corps as a health educator and wanted to continue on that track here at home with in my own community. My goal is to go into public health/community health nursing. The only problem is, I always get woozy and nauseous any time I see lots of blood...like watching surgeries on television. I can deal with needles and wounds though. I just wanted to talk to some student nurses to find out whether this is normal- to have this reaction to so much blood and whether it's possible to get over it while in nursing school.

Any advice or info. from you all would be great!

[TTK]

Originally Posted by EvaRN

I graduated from an accelerated BSN in August 2006. I went to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and their program is 1 year. I loved the fact that I would be done in just one year and that we completed exactly as many hours of clinical as a regular 4 year program. Everything was intense, classes and clinical, but I had a great experience. We went to the best hospitals in Pitt. for our rotations and our instructors were very well prepared and helpful. I did not work...I barely found time to sleep 6 hours every night hehe...but it went very fast. I made a very good friend this year and I would suggest you do the same if you can. It helps a lot to have someone that goes through the same thing as you and that you can talk and share stuff with. Good luck and be strong, it will go by fast!

How did you do it? I will be starting accelerated BSN May 2006 and I am scared, I am not planning to work once I start the program but my sister is in the generic nursing program and she is not working but she is always studying and writing papers. Please tell me how you manage your time my program also one year only and 20 credit hour per semester for three semesters.

[JeffLexie]

I am also seeking a new career path and looking at the accelerated BSN program. I live in south Florida and would love to know the feedback on any of the schools down here that offer the program like FIU and FAU. My brother is currently in the ADN program and can't even imagine completing all of the classes and clinicals in a year's time. My degree was in MIS and the only science class I took was Biology 101. I am sure it's intense and would love to hear some real feedback on the program.

Thanks for your time.

[JSwan]

I have three months left in an accelerated BSN program that is in its second year. To anyone looking into accelerated BSN programs, I would recommend NOT going with a program that is that new. I can't speak for all new accelerated programs, but I know that ours has been quite disorganized, because they are still ironing out the kinks, and the students get to play guinea pigs while the administration and faculty figure things out. Also, our program gets the last pick of clinical sites among all the area nursing schools, so that several groups have consistently had to go out of town for their clinicals. Each clinical group has had to drive up to 2 hours for at least one rotation. There are even a couple of clinical groups that have been commuting to hospitals 2 hrs away, twice a week, for the past 9 months.

I also wonder if the faculty goes easier on the students because we are in an accelerated program, and because they are so new to running it. We have had a few people fail due to being unsafe in clinical, but there are more students who are still in the program whom I know I would never want as a nurse for myself or my family. I suspect that the faculty have allowed more questionably unfit students to progress than an ADN program would because to fail more than a few would make the program look bad.

All in all though, I've been enjoying my program. The workload is a lot but it's not unreasonable, as long as you know how/what to study. I don't know how this compares to a traditional program, but it's impossible to get all the reading done that you need to do. I started off reading the chapters thoroughly and taking notes, and it took me 2-4 hrs to do that per chapter. When you have 6 chapters to read in a week, plus homework and clinical assignments, reading everything thoroughly is out of the question.

I've been lucky to be able to work full-time the whole time I've been in the program, because I have a job where I am on-call at a foster home during nights, and I get to study and sleep as long as there are no emergencies (which there usually aren't).

pennstatepeanut - I was apprehensive about clinical when I first started, but it has turned out to be an awesome experience - the best part about nursing school, I'd say. I was fairly convinced that I'd have a hard time with needles, but when the time came to practice and to get checked off on injections, I had no problems. So you never know until you get there. With surgeries, you don't get much exposure to them in nursing school (at least, not in the program I'm in). I've observed one open-heart surgery and one caesarean section in nine months. For the most part you're not even watching the surgery from up close (you don't help in any way; you're just there to watch). In the open-heart, I was allowed to stand behind the drape after the chest was opened, and then it seemed impersonal, like carving a slab of meat, because the rest of the person was completely covered up. I hate to sound graphic or distanced, but that was what the experience was like.

Anyhoo good luck everyone with your respective programs, or with choosing schools!

[JSwan]

Originally Posted by JeffLexie

I am also seeking a new career path and looking at the accelerated BSN program. I live in south Florida and would love to know the feedback on any of the schools down here that offer the program like FIU and FAU. My brother is currently in the ADN program and can't even imagine completing all of the classes and clinicals in a year's time. My degree was in MIS and the only science class I took was Biology 101. I am sure it's intense and would love to hear some real feedback on the program.

Thanks for your time.

I'm in an accelerated BSN program in Michigan, so I can't help you with Florida schools, but I do know that it doesn't matter what you got your first Bachelor's in. It does seem to help to have some health care experience, though - almost all of the students in my class have some sort of health background, even if it's something tangentially related like being an infant formula product representative or a veterinary technician.

[Fil149]

How are those Florida programs? I got accepted to Thomas Jefferson University accelerated 12month and it is very expensive. I pretty much have less than a week to decide if I want to commit $48,000 total for school and living expenses. As another option I was thinking to establish residency in FLA and applying to one of the many state schools that have this program. How competive it is to get in? My stats: 3.71 undergrad GPA and about 3.5 prereq GPA. Will that cut it?