Stacey-Ann Hamilton, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, has an associate degree in nursing, along with a bachelor’s in business and professional studies. She works in geriatrics, but eventually wants to get a master’s to advance her career.
So she enrolled in the online RN-to-Master of Science in Nursing bridge program at Excelsior College to earn the higher-level degree without having to separately pursue a bachelor’s in nursing, which experts say is typically needed for graduate-level study in the field. The “bridge” portion of the program covers the important material she would have learned had she received that degree.
“It sets me on a path where I wouldn’t quit on myself,” the 42-year-old says.
For students looking to quickly advance their nursing education, an online “bridge” program might be a good option. In an RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing online program, for instance, students can earn a bachelor’s without having to relearn what they already know as a registered nurse — it’s similar to any student transferring credits from a community college to a four-year university.
[Discoverfive questions to ask when choosing an online graduate nursing program.]
But in an RN-to-Master of Science in Nursing online program, students might first learn the critical components of the field that they missed at the bachelor’s level, enabling them to progress smoothly into the master’s portion, says Patricia Pearce, interim director of the school of nursing at Loyola University New Orleans, which offers these programs.
“The key is that the bridge program is fulfilling a need to help move people from point A to point B,” says Pearce. “In order to get to B, there’s some information that you have to have. And if you didn’t get it at point A, it’s that in-between space where we need to provide that information, that substance, that content.”
An RN-to-MSN bridge program might appeal to somebody like Hamilton, who has a non-nursing bachelor’s degree, or somebody without a bachelor’s degree at all.
“I think there are some people who believe the RN-to-MSN programs circumvent the baccalaureate-level content; it’s not the case at all,” says Carol Eliadi, dean of graduate nursing studies at MCPHS University, another school offering online nursing bridge options. The knowledge a student didn’t get in their associate degree program “is embedded into the bridge program to prepare the student for success in the graduate programs.”
[Learn thequestions to ask about flexibility in online degree programs.]
Amid the growing popularity of online nursing education in general, these programs benefit nurses who oftentimes work odd hours and need greater flexibility, experts say.
Other types of bridge programs beyond RN-to-BSN and RN-to-MSN also exist: Hutchinson Community College in Kansas offers an online LPN-to-RN option, for example, and the for-profit Capella University has a BSN-to-Doctorate in Nursing Practice online program.
How a bridge program is structured varies among online programs. In Drexel University Online’s RN-to-MSN program, school officials look at what classes students took at the associate level, and then determine what they need to learn at the bachelor’s level before pursuing the master’s, says Fran Cornelius, chair of the MSN Advanced Practice Role Department at Drexel.
In some online bridge programs, master’s degree courses might substitute bachelor’s-level courses on the same topic; in other cases, there may be a certain number of “bridge” courses students must complete — or a combination of these approaches.
After deciding whether online learning is right for them in the first place, prospective students considering a nursing bridge program should determine their long-term career goals to see if this is the ideal path to take, experts say.
[Exploretips to decide whether online education is right for you.]
If a student today wants to really advance his or her career, especially in a hospital setting, “You’ve got to understand that you’ve got to move on and get a bachelor’s degree, or you need to move on and get a master’s degree,” says Eliadi.
When choosing a specific online bridge program, it’s important for prospective students to understand the licensing requirements of the state where they want to practice, says Pearce, of Loyola.
At Loyola, for instance, RN-to-MSN students receive a bachelor’s equivalency rather than a full degree, and then go on to get a full master’s, Pearce says. She cautions students that they should research beforehand if the state they want to practice in will accept it.
And as with any nursing program, students should keep in mind that the program must be regionally and nationally accredited to eventually be accepted by employers, or other institutions should they transfer, experts say.
Prospective online learners should also determine whether there’s an in-person requirement to the program, says Barbara B. Pieper, associate dean of RN, bachelor’s and master’s programs in nursing at Excelsior.
“That becomes burdensome for some adults,” she says.
Trying to fund your online education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for Online Education center.
More from U.S. News
5 Questions to Ask When Choosing an Online Graduate Nursing Program
What Employers Think About Your Online Nursing Degree
Understand What to Expect From Faculty in Online Nursing Courses
Consider a ‘Bridge’ Program as an Online Nursing Student originally appeared on usnews.com
