Going back to school can be good not only for an

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oing back to school can be good not only for an RN’s career, experts say, but also for the profes-sion and the country. While the Affordable Care Act’s sweeping changes demand a heavy influx of nurses in leadership roles, the 2010 Institute of Medicine report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” called for improvements to nursing education and for RNs to climb the educational ladder. With half of the report’s eight recommendations involving nursing education, and one of its four key messages stating nurses “should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression,” innovative ways to meet the demand for educating RNs are a necessity.

Although it may be a national imperative, pursuing an advanced degree is about personal and professional growth, according to Michael Bleich, RN, PhD, FAAN, a member of the Future of Nursing committee, a professor and former dean at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing in Portland, Ore. “[It’s about] creating a set of experiences to enliven the cognitive capacity of a person, the spiritual and human dimensions of caring,” Bleich said.

However, a nurse’s decision to go back to school can be complicated by circumstances. Many returning students have to factor family and professional obligations into their decision-making. Luckily tools and resources, such as those on the following pages, can help nurses start the journey on the right foot.

Compiled by staff writer Cathryn Domrose and freelance writers Karen Patterson and Marcia Frellick.

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achelor’s degrees and ad-vanced degrees exponen-tially increase career options for nurses. Here are just a few of the options available:

• Advanced practice registered nurses • Nurse educators • Nurse researchers • Clinical nurse leaders • Nurse administrators • Public health nurses • Nurse informaticists • Public policy

specialist

Learn more about charting your career by taking this Nurse.com CE module: CE.Nurse.com/60137 Source: National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing

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ccording to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, more than 150 U.S. educational programs are available to allow RNs to progress from a diploma or associate degree to a master’s degree, and more than 600 RN-to-BSN programs are offered. A majority of those programs include at least some online component. RN students and leaders offered the following tips for choosing a program:

Ask others who have been through a program about its difficulty, the quality of its professors, whether assignments were relevant and engaging and whether the program fostered personal growth, said Michael Bleich, RN, PhD, FAAN. .

Online programs are popular, but if a student prefers face-to-face interaction, online may not be a good choice. However, online learners have a lot of scheduling flex-ibility and can pursue programs that might not be available locally.

Ask about a nursing program’s accreditation, clinical rotation oppor-tunities and graduation rate. Be sure to learn admission require-ments, such as whether Graduate Record Examination scores are required. Also ask what students are expected to be able to achieve after completing the program. RNs with an associate degree or diploma

$65,470

Nurse practitioners with a master’s degree

$89,600

— U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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bout six years ago, the Oregon Con-sortium for Nursing Education created the country’s first program to provide a seamless transition from ADN-to-BSN by simultaneously enrolling community college nursing students into a four-year program at the Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing in Portland, Ore. After prerequisites, the nursing curriculum for both programs is identical for the first five quarters. Students have the choice of gradu-ating with an ADN or continuing one more year to get a BSN, either through online courses or at an OHSU campus.

It allows more students into the BSN program while providing them with options and opportunities to stay and work in their communities, Paula Gubrud-Howe, RN, EdD, associate professor and senior as-sociate dean for statewide programs and simulation at OHSU and co-director of the OCNE program, said. The program has become a model for other states.

One challenge has been to find enough clinical instruction for students in their communities. Gubrud-Howe said this has led to creating alternatives to hospital clini-cal training and includes home visits and community health settings, such as senior centers and simulation centers.

When Basilia Basin, RN-BC, BSN, started the program through Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., she expected to stop at her ADN. But instructors at Mt. Hood encouraged students to continue, and she real-ized one more year would not be a hardship. That year — which emphasized theory and leadership — made a world of difference, Basin said. “It makes you look at the nursing profession as a whole differently,” she said.

Visit AACN.nche.edu for more information on educational programs at every level of nursing education.

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ichigan’s former Gov. Jennifer Granholm es-tablished funding in 2007 for the Michigan Nursing Corps, which offers grants for students to complete doctoral or accelerated master’s degree programs in exchange for a promise to teach full time for five years in state nursing schools.

The grant serves as an incentive to get students out of school quickly and into teaching, based on evidence showing many postgraduate students have delays in the last year or two of their programs, said Jeanette Klemczak, RN, MSN, FAAN, former chief nursing executive for the Michigan Department of Community Health.

Sherri Fannon, RN, MSN, now a full-time instruc-tor at Lansing (Mich.) Community College, credits the program with allowing her to stay in school full time to finish her master’s degree. If she hadn’t received the grant, she said, she probably would have gone part time and taken much longer. She credits this education with preparing her to enter the job market immediately as a professor at the community college where she started her nursing career.

“I think its great that I can give back because [the program] gave so much to me and my family,” Fannon said.

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hrough the Hillman Scholars Program in Nursing Innovation at the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, students apply to become simultaneous bachelor’s and doctoral degree candidates starting either in the junior year of their bachelor’s program or immediately, for second-degree students. They spend five years earning a doctorate and working on research projects with Penn nursing faculty, including top nurse researchers. Appli-cants are the “best and brightest” student nurses who want to change the world, said Therese S. Richmond RN, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, associate professor and program director. “From the moment they slip in the door, they are embedded in research,” she said. “It comes alive for them.”

The intent is to graduate thoughtful nurse scientists who will come up with creative solutions to healthcare prob-lems, Richmond said. “We’re looking to develop nurse innovators,” she said.

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ane Dolan, RN, MSN, would like to dispel the myth that there isn’t much money available for graduate nursing students. “There is money out there, and students should take advantage of it,” said Dolan, graduate clinical and recruitment coordinator at Pace University’s Lienhard School of Nursing in Pleasantville, N.Y.

At Pace, Dolan said, the first two stops are the graduate admissions office to review eligibility for merit scholarships and the financial aid office for information about loans or other assistance. A separate office is dedicated to helping RNs track down additional funding opportunities.

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any nursing schools partner with foun-dations to create scholarships to ease the financial burden. A program called the New Jersey Nursing Initiative, a joint venture by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foun-dation and nine schools of nursing, aims to help nurses achieve advanced degrees and to create a pipeline of future nursing faculty.

Nurses accepted into the multiyear program — 40 at the master’s level and 21 at the PhD level — received full scholarships to cover tuition and fees, a $50,000-a-year stipend and a laptop. They also receive financial incentives for teaching nursing at least part time in the state after graduation. Covering full tuition allows experienced nurses to go to school full time and graduate more quickly to address a critical need for nursing faculty, said Susan Bakewell-Sachs, RN, PhD, PNP-BC, the ini-tiative’s program director. Nursing faculty vacancies in New Jersey are at 10.5%, she said, and those numbers are expected to rise. She said she hopes the second cohort of 11 doctoral scholars graduating this year will help decrease that vacancy rate.

DOLAN OFFERS THE

following tips:

• Partial or full tuition reimbursement might be available from an employer, Dolan said, adding it’s important to explore this option up front because it would affect financial aid options.

• Many forms of aid have a grade-point average requirement and some specify thresholds of financial need.

• Federal scholarship and loan programs of-ten require a commitment such as a requirement that family nurse practitioners work in certain high-need settings after graduation, or that nurses with advanced degrees teach in a college setting. Dolan said graduate assistantships can allow students to work with faculty on research and teach in a variety of settings.

For information on the Hillman Scholars Program in Nursing Innovation, visit RAHF.org/grant-programs/scholars.

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roviding easier access was the motivation behind the Washington State University College of Nursing’s hybrid course design when the school created its DNP program last year.

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focus on seamless progression allow nurses to enter practice at whichever level they like, whether with an associate degree or baccalaureate degree, and know they can pursue a higher degree without having to retake classes or move to another area of the country, said Jane Kirschling, RN, PhD, FAAN, president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. One example is the RN-to-MSN partnership between South-east Hospital College of Nursing & Health Sciences in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Cox College in Springfield, Mo., nearly 200 miles away. Students with associate degrees from Southeast can take classes online through Cox to get master’s degrees and have to travel to the Springfield campus only once or twice a year, said B.J. Whiffen, RN, DNP, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC, assistant professor at Southeast and coordinator of the clinical program for mas-ter’s candidates. Students complete several hundred clinical hours locally with supervi-sion from Southeast professors.

This approach allows nurses to work full time while they study, which is crucial because many are support-ing their families, Whiffen said. They also will be more likely to stay in the area when they get their advanced degrees.

“They’re not going to move to Springfield to work, they’re going to stay right here with their families,” Whiffen said. “And we need them here. We’re in a rural, poor area where we need a lot of providers.” To save students travel time, the nursing school groups classes needed for

a particular degree track on one given day of the week. “We’ve made very intentional decisions over the years not to become an online program,” said Cindy Fitzgerald, RN, PhD, FNP-BC, director of the school’s DNP program. “I think there’s a certain group of students who would rather have a classroom environment, who would rather be able to form study groups with people they communicate with on a regular basis.”

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highlights:

• Coursework is offered at the university’s Spokane and Vancouver campuses. • Students who live within a

50-mile radius of either campus come to classes every week.

• Those outside the radius can get permission to attend some courses from home using live video-conferencing and a real-time chat room.

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atrick Hopkins, RN, DNP, APRN, C-PNP, NNP, has lived the trade-offs academic as-pirations and family obligations create. When he decided to get a PhD, his youngest daughter, then 9, asked if he liked what he was doing already and whether he needed the new degree to continue. “She said, ‘Please don’t go back to school because when you’re in school you’re here but not here,’” recalled the assistant pro-fessor of clinical nursing at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) School of Nursing.

He abandoned the PhD plan but seven years later began preparing for a DNP program. “She said, ‘That’s OK; we’ll see how it goes for one semester,’” Hopkins said. Now he tells students they have to be prepared to sacrifice, but relation-ships are more important than anything else.

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urses returning to school should con-sider the skills they need to brush up on, said Donamarie N. Wilfong, RN, DNP, director of the Simulation, Teaching and Aca-demic Research, or STAR, Center for West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pittsburgh. Schools with a simulation lab can help freshen dormant clinical skills, for example.

Academic skills can be rusty too, said Wilfong, co-author of “Nursing School Success: Tools for Constructing Your Future.” Many returning students lack or need to review test-taking and organizing skills, she said, and can benefit from ongoing support in these areas. •

Rust removers

By Meaghan O’Keeffe, RN, BSN

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ooking for some great nursing scholarships? The search can be

tedious, but don’t get discouraged. Every bit of money counts, and the more stones you turn over, the more opportunities you’ll find. Read the eligibility requirements and instructions carefully. If you’ve missed a deadline, keep the info in your file for next year. And make sure you ask around. Your local nursing schools and nursing association chapters, as well as education departments in your healthcare facility, can be great resources for scholarships you may not find online. Here’s a list of some of the top nursing scholarships to get you started.

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Herzing Univer-sity announced an additional$100,000

in scholarship funds has been allocated, and the scholarship contributions total is expected

to exceed $500,000by

the year’s end. Herzing has 11 campuses in eight states and offers online programs.

The Health Resources and Services Adminis-tration offers a NURSE Corps Scholarship Pro-gram. In exchange for a two-year commitment to work at a designated Health Professional Shortage Area facility, the program will cover tuition,

associated fees and a monthly stipend. The Foundation of

the National Student Nurses’ Association is offering scholarships ranging

from$1,000 to $5,000. The

application period for the 2014-15 academic year just opened, with a deadline of Jan. 14, 2014.

The American Asso-ciation of Colleges of Nursing along with Cer-tifiedBackground.com awards

two $5,000 scholarships

four times each year.

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_{. Christi Reeves,}

RN, BSN, completed an online RN-to-BSN program at the University of Texas after her husband — now pursuing his own BSN — took up the slack while she was in school, she said. Now it’s her turn, according to the plan they laid out. “If your family’s not supportive, I don’t think you’ll be successful,” she said.

.A rigorous, competitive program can be hard on students accustomed to being over-achievers. Earning B’s, Hopkins said, may be a necessary sacrifice to balance school, work and family. “Some stu-dents will need to let go of living in a completely neat house,” Hopkins said. “You’ve got to make your choices and learn to live with them.”

ALL IN THE

balance

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addition:

• such as how words or phrases in a multiple choice test can provide clues to the correct answer.

• Computer skills are essential. Most school have online learning systems that the adult learner needs to know how to navigate.

• Wilfong’s ideal group has three to five motivated mem-bers, selected by a leader for a range of knowledge and skills (such as math skills).

• Scan titles and subheadings in reading materials, and skip to the back of chapters for key points and questions to see what’s most important. “It’s not how hard you study; it’s how smart you study,” Wilfong said. Students also should review notes on classroom material nightly, she said.

• Many schools offer extensive support by provid-ing mentorprovid-ing and writprovid-ing and math assistance; academic or clinical coachprovid-ing; and seminars to improve study and coping skills.

For the complete list of top 10 scholarships, visit Scrubs.Nurse.com.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers a variety of brochures tackling academic obstacles, including test anxiety, procrastination and dissertation strategies at