Online nursing program fast-tracks nurses to their bachelor's degree
Nursing students could have an opportunity to fast-track to their bachelor’s degree with the online RN-to-BSN, or registered nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing, program.
Last fall, the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions launched the program for registered nurses with associate degrees who want to get their bachelor’s degree in nursing while working as nurses, said assistant director of nursing Bethany Brown. The program was created to help students finish their bachelor’s in as little as 12 months.
Both she and director of nursing Kechi Iheduru-Anderson were tasked with creating the program in the fall of 2018. They said the RN-to-BSN program is a way for CMU to get its feet wet with nursing. Since this program is online, the amount of space and staffing is minimal compared to a full program, Iheduru-Anderson said.
Semesters under the program are only eight weeks long, so classes move at a fast pace, Brown said, and it mostly consists of nursing classes. Students with general education courses left to complete would have to enroll in additional courses, Brown said. Participants also have to complete a capstone and 100 hours of clinical work with their classes.
One student in the program, Jamie Marrifield, received her associate degree at Mid-Michigan College in 2016. She already works as a casual, or as-needed, nurse at a hospital in Midland, and had to get her bachelor's for her work.
Marrifield enrolled in the RN-to-BSN program when it began last fall and said the instructors are good at helping students through the fast-paced semesters. She is one of two students in the program who is currently on track to graduate in the summer.
“It’s surprising because the time has flown right by,” Marrifield said. “It’s crazy to think that I just started in the fall and I’m almost done already.”
Iheduru-Anderson said survey data from students has yielded a lot of positive responses. However, current enrollment in the program is low, Brown said. She thinks enrollment may be low partly due to CMU's transfer policy.
She said many of the university program requirements are already covered in classes required under the nursing program. Subjects including biology and discrimination are already ingrained in their courses, she said. She thinks the nursing courses that cover university programs should transfer over.
“If the university finds a way to get around their general education requirements, our program will blow up,” she said.
Despite this, both Brown and Iheduru-Anderson believe the program will grow in the future. It’s simply a matter of getting the word out, Iheduru-Anderson said.
