I am looking for an online r. n. program online completely distant learning.Does anyone know of such a program?
You might look at California State University Dominguez Hills. I believe they have a nursing program that goes from RN through Masters by distance learning. But, I've seen a number of programs listed in community college catalogs. Try looking in John Bear's guide.
The only one I know of is Excelsior's online nursing program. (At: http://www.excelsior.edu/nur_home.htm) There are a lot of RN to BSN/MSN programs, but this is the only distance learning RN program I've seen. I have heard good things about their graduates, but I don't know anyone who has completed this program. Also, I expect that you will have to complete some kind of practical testing at the school. But, I would guess that your clinicals could be completed at hospitals in your home area. Good luck! We need plenty of nurses these days!
Excelsior has the largest nursing program in the nation due to the simple fact that there is no residency requirement. I know several graduates of this program and they are first-rate nurses. To qualify for admission into the program you have to already possess some kind of medical certification (e.g., lpn, lvn, paramedic, respiratory therapist, etc.). Due to the prior medical certification requirement, there are no clinical requirements. Completion of the degree requirements includes a series of exams on standard nursing knowledge plus a 2-day practical exam. There are several testing sites accross the nation at hospitals where the 2-day practical exam can be completed. Cy
I was hoping that this was a thread about the online practice of nursing, not about education of nurses. Another vBulletin board relevant to nursing education is http://allnurses.com/forums/
University of Tulsa has an online nursing bachelors degree program! http://www.utulsa.edu/fyi/index.pl?group=7&bullet=1 (SEE BOTTOM--started fall 2002) AH! Here's the direct link to the program: http://www.cba.utulsa.edu/depts/nursing/RNtoBSN/ Godd luck! --Orson
If you're looking for an RN to BSN program, dgffp, then you're best to take plumdog10's advice and check John Bear's guide or any of the online guides out there. There are a lot of online programs for current RNs. If anyone knows of another RN program that's all DL (other than Excelsior), please let me know. I get this question fairly often at work.
Many people here have recommended Excelsior's program. There is one potential problem with getting a RN via Excelsior: not all state nursing boards accept Excelsior's program as meeting their basic educational requirements for a registered nursing license. So if you wish to practice in a particular state, you should check that state's nursing licensure agency to first determine their stance on Excelsior. It would be a pity to go through the program and then discover that you could not practice in your chosen state. Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA
Good luck finding a program that isn't RN to BSN. I searched everywhere for a school that would let me do all my studying at home then do externships for the practicals but no luck. Wishing you the best with your nursing career.
Re: Re: online nursing There is one potential problem with getting a RN via Excelsior: not all state nursing boards accept Excelsior's program as meeting their basic educational requirements for a registered nursing license. ....last time I checked, there was only one state that did not recognize Excelsior's program...can't remember which state though. That was a couple of years ago so things may have changed since then. Cy
At one time Florida did not accept the RN from Excelsior, but I believe that has changed and it is now accepted in all 50 states.
Unfortunately, both of the previous posters apparently do not work in the business and did not check before making their blanket statements. Both California and Illinois do not accept Excelsior as meeting the standard for registered nursing education sufficient for licensure in those states. Other states will not accept it unless the Excelsior graduate has completed sufficient clinical externships to meet that state's unique licensure requirements. California currently has a decision pending as to if Excelsior will be acceptable or not. This decision has been pending for some time and California used to accept Excelsior for licensure as an RN. It would be accurate to state that Excelsior graduates are generally eligible to take the NCLEX in all 50 states; but that does not necessarily equal eligibility for licensure in all 50 states. This has been discussed numerous times in various nursing websites and newsgroups. There are many ins and outs as to Excelsior and state licensure depending upon your prior clinical experience, any clinical externships done during your Excelsior program and just what nursing program at Excelsior one enrolls in. Doing a Google search on the topic will yield many hits. Further clouding the topic is the issue of many foreign-trained nurses who re-train at Excelsior to obtain an American nursing license. The state licensing agencies sometimes do not do a particularly good job of sorting through all these various educational qualifications. The upshot is that as I said before, the prudent student considering earning a registered nursing degree from Excelsior should check with the licensing agency of whatever state they wish to practice to first ensure that Excelsior meets the requirements for licensure. I deal with this issue on occasion in my work as a malpractice consultant, when one of my clients is thinking about hiring an Excelsior grad. The interesting thing is that there can be an unspoken bias against Excelsior grads in the hospital job market. This is not dissimilar to the bias of RN's trained in a BSN program vs. an associate's program vs. a diploma program. Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA
Here is the new kid on the block when it comes to online nursing. www.deaconess.edu Check it out. You take online classes and arrange to do your clinicals locally. I believe you have to travel to Mo about seven times to have your clinical skills evaluated. Very interesting and very expensive program. mll
Actually, California explicitly accepts Excelsior for RN licensure: http://www.rn.ca.gov/policies/pdf/npr-i-26.pdf They are, however, in the process of debating whether or not to remove Excelsior from the list of accepted programs, which would affect Excelsior graduates who initially ENROLL after 7 September 2003 (IOW, not current students or graduates): http://www.rn.ca.gov/pdf/excelsior.pdf DJ
Again illustrating the many ins and outs of Excelsior and state licensing, the above statement is somewhat correct, unless you are a LVN looking to upgrade to a California RN via Excelsior. In that process, your 30 unit upgrade cannot be done at Excelsior, and thus you are not eligible for licensure as a California RN. It is correct that the decision on whether to remove Excelsior from the list of approved schools has been pushed back yet again to later this year. This decision has been quietly buried and resurrected at least a couple of times over the past two years. If Deej has any inside track on what the ultimate decision may be, I would love to hear it. Also, if you go back through the archives of the California nursing board, you will find that acceptance of Excelsior has waxed and waned through the years. As an example, I have read Board minutes going back several years discussing Excelsior graduates and licensure depending on your enrollment date; whether you had any prior healthcare experience or licensure as a LPN, LVN, NA, military corpsman, etc.; where you did your clinical externships and the content thereto; and the like. California has gone back and forth on acceptance of Excelsior for licensure. I had occasion to become familiar with this when I was doing some work for BMQA in Sacramento. I am not sure if the changing philosophy on Excelsior in California over the years represents changes in the program or curriculum at Excelsior vs. changes in the philosophy at the California Board. It has been suggested to me by more than one nursing adminstrator that intense lobbying by unions and 'bricks and mortar' nursing schools are behind the licensure and employment prejudice against Excelsior graduates. I have no independent knowledge of that myself. Illinois, Florida and Oklahoma are the other major states that have either absolute or substantial barriers to licensure for Excelsior grads; and again there are in some cases some exceptions depending on your enrollment date, previous licensure and experience, and where you did your clinical externships. And as mentioned in my previous posts, there are other states in which an Excelsior grad is not automatically eligible for licensure also depending on the above factors. My wife, who spent 20 years in Navy medicine, thinks the whole issue of Excelsior is a tempest in a teapot. She told me that Excelsior programs are very popular with the military, since you can do them while being shipped hither and yon to different duty stations, and she knows of several people who did an Excelsior RN while on active duty, and were subsequently commissioned into the Nursing Corps. She told me that the whole concept of distance or independent learning is much better received and rewarded in the military than in civilian life. In her supervisory roles, she saw no difference in Excelsior grads vs. grads of other programs that could not be explained by individual student variation irrespective of program. Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA
BOARD OF REGISTERED NURSING P O Box 944210, Sacramento, CA 94244-2100 TDD (916) 322-1700 Telephone (916) 322-3350 Fax (916) 327-4402 www.rn.ca.gov Ruth Ann Terry, MPH, RN Executive Officer TO: Interested Parties FROM: Board of Registered Nursing SUBJECT: Excelsior College Nursing Program Update At its board meeting on February 7, 2003, the Board of Registered Nursing voted to defer (postpone) action on the Excelsior College Nursing Program until its June 13, 2003, board meeting. At the June 2003 meeting, the board will consider whether to remove recognition of the Excelsior College Nursing Program effective with students admitted after September 1, 2003. Students who are currently enrolled would not be affected by the board action. The main issue of concern is whether the program provides adequate clinical experience to be equivalent to California education requirements. The board's Education/Licensing Committee will meet May 9, 2003, and consider information about the Excelsior Program. The Committee will bring its recommendation to the June 13, 2003, board meeting. Anyone wishing to comment on the matter may submit their comments via mail or fax to the board. They may also attend the committee and board meetings at the locations listed on the board's website. 2/03 – Excelsior College Update
