The Fastest & Easiest RN to BSN: How to Get Your BSN Degree at an Accelerated Pace Without Sacrificing Knowledge
As a practicing RN, you already know how to successfully juggle your job, shifts, and time spent with your family and kids. But what if you want more from your nursing career? How can you take the next step in advancing your career without sacrificing your personal life, family time, or work?
According to the Nursing Workforce Fact Sheet published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), since 2022, over 51% of entry-level registered nurses have had a BSN or higher degree, with nearly 72% of all practicing RNs having completed BSN-level or higher education. In an ever-changing nursing environment that urgently needs well-trained professionals to increase the quality of care, a BSN degree is becoming a de facto standard.
Becoming a BSN-prepared nurse is now the main priority for many RNs, and this sought-after degree is why nursing school has become so competitive. Rest assured, you will be a great working parent, partner, and learner with the right tools and mindset.
Here’s what you need to look for in a program to get your BSN degree in the fastest and easiest way without losing time away from your family and work:
1. Choose a Flexible Online Program with Asynchronous Classes
The first thing you may look for when trying to get your BSN degree is a short, fast-track RN-to-BSN program. However, short can sometimes mean a full-time effort that completely removes you from work and family.
If you don’t want to experience nursing school burnout, go for an accelerated program with asynchronous classes that let you complete your coursework at your own pace and on your schedule. You’ll be able to work on coursework more during some weeks or less when things are too hectic, so you don’t have to worry about compromising your work responsibilities for your school activities or vice-versa.
Learn how to deal with work while in nursing school, regardless of your chosen educational program.
This accelerated program is designed to be the fastest way for working professionals to get a BSN degree. Even though you have the most flexible schedule, you must work hard to complete all the coursework.
All your didactic or theory learning will happen online through interactive modules and quizzes; all the other relevant guidance you need to succeed in the course will be included. Plus, you must complete interactive learning modules requiring you to take graded quizzes. The learning modules will guide you through applying the knowledge gained in various ways so you can engage with the content you’re learning.
Then, you can use your newly gained understanding of concepts in case studies and online discussion boards (where you experiment with the benefits of a close-knit community of peers).
Although it is an online RN-to-BSN program, learning will take at least 25 hours per week. So be prepared to work and study and then work again but with the flexibility to complete any assignment when it is convenient for you as long as you meet the deadline.
Read more about what to expect from the online RN-to-BSN Program at Nightingale.
2. Pick a Hands-on Coursework that Teaches Key Skills Applicable to Your Job
As an RN, we know time is more than precious. With night or weekend shifts and a family at home, it may seem impossible to just go back to school to get your BSN degree. Not to mention the pressure a highly experienced nurse can feel when considering being too old to get a BSN.
There are ways to balance pregnancy with nursing school, as well as taking on parenting duties and advancing your nursing education, but support on the part of the educational institution is a requirement. Not all courses are created to accommodate varying walks of life and needs. You will need to check the curriculum before enrolling and inform yourself how the institution supports students with differing requirements or those from underserved and underrepresented communities.
A good program is designed to accommodate your needs and provide concept-based, applicable, and relevant coursework to achieve better career mobility, higher pay, and the chance to be a leader.
At Nightingale College, our RN-to-BSN Track was built with those objectives in mind while also maintaining rigorous academic standards. All learners engage in online didactic and Capstone Project experiences in key nursing concepts like community nursing and leadership, critical care, gerontology, disease prevention, and nurse informatics. These experiences provide insights to apply at your everyday job, so you are improving as a nurse professional while in the Program. During the RN-to-BSN accelerated program, you delve into advanced critical thinking, problem-solving and leadership, policy, and ethics. You will be able to implement what you learned at work daily.
Here’s how the online RN-to-BSN Program at Nightingale College can help you:
- Advanced understanding of management, public health, social sciences, and communication courses.
- Leadership training that helps nurses who wish to advance to administrative, research, or teaching positions.
- Nursing theory and informatics teach you how to use new technology in the workplace.
- Additional courses will help nurses better understand complex issues affecting patients and the healthcare environment.
Find out more about the job-friendly RN-to-BSN Track curriculum!
3. Allocate Between 8 Months to 1 Year to Get Your Degree
No matter how motivated and prepared you are to return to school and get that BSN degree, you will still need to allocate up to twelve months for the whole process. Steer away from any fast-track program that promises to train you to the BSN level in under 8 months.
See how long nursing school is, depending on your chosen academic program.
At Nightingale, the nine nursing courses in the RN-to-BSN Track are taught over approximately three semesters (or 12 months) for 24 semester credits (if the required GE courses still need to be completed). If you have completed all GE requirements, you can complete an RN-to-BSN Program in just 2 semesters (or just 8 months).
Experiential learning hours are dedicated to the Community Health and Capstone Projects, and you can complete them in your community or local facilities. This way, your active role in the community’s well-being benefits your studies and the people you care about without having to travel anywhere.
Even though it is the fastest way to get your BSN degree as an RN, this doesn’t mean you have to cram for your assignments or exams.
On the contrary, instead of neglecting your current abilities, knowledge, and clinical experience, the Program is designed to help you reach advanced nursing skills and the most relevant know-how needed in modern healthcare settings. This allows nurse learners to build upon what they have learned and improve their know-how, not sacrifice it.
Find out more about the credits needed for your BSN degree with Nightingale College!
4. Always Enroll in a Fast Track Program That Has Prerequisites (and is Accredited!)
Many potential nurse learners are wondering about prerequisites. Are they important? Wouldn't it be best to enroll in an RN-to-BSN program that doesn’t have such strict requirements?
However, nursing school is not easy and requires a lot of work. As we mentioned, it is essential to start with fundamental knowledge to ensure you get the best education. It is also just as important to know what to expect from a good RN-to-BSN nursing program like Nightingale’s and why prerequisites matter for your education and success.
Some topics seem harder because they require prerequisite knowledge, which most learners don’t have. Moreover, prerequisites for a fast RN-to-BSN online program may seem difficult to some people because they might have passed through previous study programs without retaining much or are missing key nursing concepts and skills that would help them understand advanced courses.
The breadth of BSN prerequisites is a good indicator of a course’s quality and is a factor that should be considered alongside the course’s length and affordability. That’s why the easiest RN-to-BSN would be one with a fair level of prerequisites to make learning more accessible; you’d build your education upon what you already knew.
Find out how an RN-to-BSN program with no prerequisites can hurt your nursing career.
At Nightingale College, the RN-to-BSN Program allows you to complete the BSN prerequisites during your nursing core courses.
Enroll in Nightingale College’s 12-month online program
A good nursing program is always challenging and requires dedication. Still, it doesn’t have to take away from your meaningful work or valuable family time or sacrifice knowledge and coursework to have another diploma under your belt.
At Nightingale College, the RN-to-BSN Program is designed to help learners with full-time jobs and can be completed in as few as 12 months or 3 semesters if the required general education (GE) courses still need to be completed. If a learner has completed all GE requirements, the Program can be completed in 8 months or 2 semesters.
Learners who hold an associate of science degree in nursing and transfer at least 27 semester credits of general education, including the required Physical Sciences credits, can complete the RN-to-BSN Program within 3 semesters or forty-eight (48) weeks of instruction.
To make things even easier for working RNs, Nightingale College’s accelerated RN-to-BSN Track has three start dates per year for enrollment: the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters.