College Review: University of Phoenix RN-BSN Online Program

In 2001, my facility began an initiative that changed the entry level to their career ladder to RNs with Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN). This increased the opportunity for career advancement and improved the quality of the professional nursing staff. Nurses, like me, with years of experience were "grandfathered" in and placed at the base of the BSN level. Although I was not required to return to college, the initiative offered paid tuition in exchange for 1 ½ years of service and I had no plans to leave.

Initially, I was nervous about returning to school; I was in my 40s and had not been in college for over 20 years but I like a good challenge. I researched the internet for a RN to BSN program that was completely online and did not require visitation to the college campus. I decided on the University of Phoenix (Arizona) program; I enrolled in 2002.

University of Phoenix Online RN-BSN Program: Getting Started

The tuition was very expensive (over $1000 each nursing course in the program) but my facility paid the entire amount. The books were also costly; in some courses, the instructors used their own syllabus more than the book.

Most of my previous college credits were accepted; I had to take four prerequisites. College algebra was among those required; it has been completely useless in my nursing career. I was able to take three prerequisites at the same time but the RN-BSN courses were only offered one each semester, lasting six to eight weeks.

The Instructors and Student Groups

The University of Phoenix instructors, for the most part, were very professional and knowledgeable. They were prompt in responding to inquiries, providing several methods to contact them, even private numbers.

Nursing students were divided into groups and required to work together on several assignments in addition to individual assignments. Personality problems were inevitable; some students were rude, critical, and uncooperative. There were those who refused to work together in completing assignments in a timely manner, lacked the ability to accept constructive criticism, or to "take up the slack" when a group member had an emergency.

Personal problems, illnesses, accidents, and deaths in the family occurred. Most of my groups worked together very well though. The instructors understood group dynamics and that problems do happen; we were allowed to inform them of group situations but changing groups was infrequent. Groups included members with varying degrees of nursing experience, cultural diversification, and age ranges.

Accelerated Studies and Course Assignments

University of Phoenix RN-BSN online is an accelerated program. Assignments require reading several book chapters a week and writing multiple papers. It is not the program for those who dislike writing papers because most assignments include writing at least three a week (most over 2500 words in length) and/or PowerPoint presentations. You must possess excellent grammar, spelling, and computer skills, in addition to learning how to cite sources using the APA method. Most of this was new to me as a 1981 nursing graduate.

The key to receiving good grades is to follow assignment instructions to the letter, as outlined in the syllabus. Not performing spell and grammar checks will result in lower grades. Plagiarism is taken seriously; it may lead to expulsion from the program.

Each student was required to log in, read, and respond to group discussions and questions posted by the instructors. I would log in to the class daily and post at least 4-6 comments; this can be done any time, day, or night. I was "in school" during a hurricane in September 2004, I signed out 15 minutes before a large pecan tree fell through my home.

Although the RN-BSN program did not require visiting a college campus, I had to "adopt" a family to teach health issues (I used my cousin's family), visit a woman's shelter, and go to a homeless shelter to present a course on heat strokes (I had to develop an educational brochure). This was toward the end of the program with a focus on community resources and patient/family education.

Completion

The University of Phoenix RN-BSN online program maintained as high a standard as a ground college program. It was difficult because of the accelerated studies but they strived to keep it professional; it was education at its best. I was able to continue working full time due to the convenience of the online program. I graduated in November 2004 with a 3.8 (hard earned) GPA.