Some people might not be comfortable knowing that their RN has an associate’s degree that only took one year to earn or received their RN degree online with one clinical exam at the end of their training. But no worries, there are some great explanations for these fast track/self study programs.
First of all, there is such a great demand in the nursing field that new programs have been implemented all over the country to supply the demand. To enroll in a fast track nursing school or online nursing program one must already be a licensed vocational/practical nurse. As a vocational/practical nurse you are working on your clinical skills while on the job. Regardless how many years or degrees one might have in the medical field, it is continuously changing and something new can be learned every day.
In a fast track nursing program, there is not so much focus on being a nice person, but more so on increasing your medical knowledge base and increasing your technical skills.
One thing that nursing schools of any type cannot teach is how to have a nice personality. Have you ever met a nurse that was rude and short, but her technical skills were great? Have you ever met a doctor or surgeon with a horrible bedside manner, but they were astoundingly gifted in their field of medicine? The same thing applies to a fast track nursing program. Maybe you have a really nice nurse but she just stuck you 6 times to try and start an IV. The point is, it’s all about balance. School can teach you the terminology and the technical aspects to only a certain degree; the rest is learned by practice. The mastery of these skills comes with on the job training. The longer a nurse practices, the better provider they become. (well we hope).
The ability for nurses to advance their degrees online is for the reason listed above. They are already licensed or registered nurses working in the medical field. Their technical skills are learned on the job while they increase their knowledge base of medical or case management through the online classroom. These programs be it online or accelerated are by no means easy and not all succeed at their transition up the nursing ladder by these means. But for those that do let me thank you for your dedication and hard work.
I know through my own personal experience from being a patient and working for 11 years as an operating room nurse, a good nurse is priceless! I’m an LVN, and who knows, maybe one day I’ll get an RN license? Here’s one site that allows for fast-tracking to an RN degree:
