Registered nurses returning for a baccalaureate degree in nursing: A qualitative analysis of a life experience

Graduates of the returning RN program at Barton College have known a unique life experience, that of Registered Nurses returning to school as adults to pursue a bachelors degree in nursing. There has been a great deal of research about RNs returning to school for a BSN degree, but most of it has dealt with areas other than the felt experiences of the RNs themselves. As the largest, and still growing, portion of the nursing population, the ADN and Diploma nurses form an enormous pool of candidates to meet the future demand for nurses with the needed BSN degree. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of some RNs, who returned to school for their BSN degrees, from the viewpoint of their own recollected feelings about how it was for them.; This work used a case study approach to investigate the feelings and concerns held by these adult returning RNs as they passed through the program set up for them at Barton College. Interviews were held with 15 randomly chosen RN/BSNs from the graduating classes of the last five years at Barton College. Review of the contents of these interviews provided the data base for the study.; The principle themes and concerns that emerged from this sample of graduates were: (1) Nursing education system practices used at the time needed to be altered to make nursing school more user friendly for working adults with multiple responsibilities. (2) The social forces that operated in classes in this program were very supportive of RNs but may have been detrimental to the generic students. (3) The experiences within the RN group were very positively felt by the RNs but the interaction between other groups and the RNs was minimal. (4) Family influence questions proved family support to be essential to success and program completion for these RNs. (5) Students were important to each other across-the-board in class but outside of class the RNs and generic students sorted themselves into separate and rarely interacting groups. (6) The assistance available through employment practices, at the time of student enrollment, appeared to have been relative to the need for BSN prepared RNs. (7) Faculty were seen as friendly role models, but needed to increase their use of adult educational principles.; This dissertation explores the feelings and sense that these returning RNs recollected about their personal experience as adult RNs returning to school for a BSN degree. These are valuable insights for those nurses who might be considering the same path. And, these experiences have implications for nurse educators to seek continued implementation of an overall educational philosophy for returning RN programs based on adult education principles.