March 25, 2022 – The Millikin University School of Nursing will begin offering an online RN to BSN degree program next fall designed to fit the busy schedules of registered nurses who want to earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).
Students in the redesigned program can complete their bachelor’s degree part-time in five semesters or full-time in three semesters, with eight-week courses and two in-person clinical projects that can be arranged to take place at their own workplace for maximum convenience.
Brianne Wren, a senior nursing major from Decatur, Ill., will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in May 2022 and plans to become an emergency room nurse.
“What actually got me into wanting to be a nurse was when my grandfather got sick,” Wren said in an interview with the Herald & Review. “He had cancer. I thought I wanted to do oncology, but I realized that the emergency room gives me all aspects of life, from birth to end of life and for me, the emergency room gives me the opportunity to pursue that path.”
Dr. Pam Lindsey, dean of the College of Professional Studies and interim director of the School of Nursing at Millikin said, “We’ve had an RN to BSN program for years. It started as an in-person evening program, offered in the evenings through what used to be known as our PACE Program. Several years ago, we transitioned to an online format but we still were offering it more in a traditional 16-week format. There are a lot of RN to BSN programs out there that are online. There’s a lot of competition, especially with a lot of large, for-profit schools.”
Over the past academic year, the School of Nursing faculty evaluated Millikin’s program and other institutions’ programs and course offerings.
Teresa Gulley, undergraduate chair of the School of Nursing, said the faculty focused on trying to make the degree program very achievable and manageable for working registered nurses.
“These are working nurses who are going back to school and it’s a little bit of a different population,” she said. “The biggest need for those working nurses was eight-week courses that they could do one at a time.”
Millikin’s RN to BSN courses add up to 33 credit hours, and because it is online, nurses can do their school work at any hour of the day or night depending on their work schedule.
A Bachelor of Science in Nursing will allow nurses to advance in their careers, and hold leadership positions that aren’t possible with an associate’s degree, as well as pursue other certifications such as nurse anesthetist, a master’s in nursing or a doctorate.
“We’re very excited to be able to offer this modified format and jump off to a fresh start,” Gulley said.
The program will begin in the fall and students can choose start dates in the fall, spring or summer. Nursing students with a state, nationally-approved associate degree or a diploma from a nursing school and a registered professional nurse license in the State of Illinois can get the admission process started by visiting here for more information.
