Online accelerated BSN programs take a hybrid approach, combining online coursework with in-person nursing skills and simulation labs. You’ll also complete in-person clinical rotations at nearby healthcare facilities. This hybrid approach to learning combines the best of both worlds to help students earn their nursing degree.
Online classes can make it easier and more convenient to earn a degree. While some degree programs can be completed entirely online, nursing programs are an exception. Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs typically require in-person learning components. In contrast, online accelerated BSN programs offer a hybrid approach.
Are there any online accelerated BSN programs in Houston, Texas? Yes. The University of St. Thomas’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program in Houston takes a hybrid approach to delivering students a quality nursing education. That starts with the coursework students complete online and continues with hands-on labs and clinical rotations in the Houston metropolitan area.
What is an ABSN program, exactly? Discover how it works and what you can expect.
The benefits of online nursing education also include our ability to deliver curriculum in a way that stimulates all different types of learners and your ability to go at your own pace within deadlines set by your instructor. In addition to considering the benefits of online classes, you might want to evaluate the program’s structure and what you can expect from it before deciding if it’s right for you.
Can I Get My BSN Online Through an Accelerated Program?
Although UST’s ABSN program offers online coursework, you still must complete hands-on work in skills and simulation labs, and you’ll need to go to an ABSN learning site or our downtown campus for testing, so you’ll be on-site often. As a UST ABSN student, you can choose from our ABSN learning sites in Shenandoah and Sugar Land, or our downtown campus in Houston.
In addition to skills and simulation labs, you’ll complete a series of clinical rotations at our clinical partners’ healthcare facilities in the Houston area.
Nursing Skills and Simulation Labs
In these lab spaces, you’ll put what you’ve learned online to work in safe settings that mimic the clinical environment. During skills labs, you and your fellow cohort members will meet to learn how to apply safely core nursing skills like caring for wounds, checking vital signs, and inserting catheters and IVs.
The labs include amenities such as:
- Advanced hospital equipment
- Medical supplies
- Manikins (patient simulators)
- Break rooms
- Testing rooms
- Classrooms
- Lockers
- Simulation rooms
During simulation labs, ABSN students will apply these foundational skills to a mock clinical scenario, making this portion of the curriculum the most realistic compared to what they’ll experience as nurses in a hospital setting. Simulation lab scenarios are designed to give you this practice to develop your problem-solving skills, one of the most important characteristics a nurse needs to have. You’ll practice applying the nursing process as you work through clinical scenarios ranging from allergic reactions to heart attacks.
Clinical Rotations
Clinical rotations are where our ABSN students put all they learned in coursework and labs into real-world practice at top healthcare facilities in the Houston area.
During clinicals, students experience how to deliver holistic patient care to diverse patient populations firsthand. Students partner with some of the best nurses and doctors in Texas and work under the guidance of experienced clinical instructors.
Students can complete clinicals across a variety of specialties, including:
- Adult health
- Community health
- Mental health
- Obstetrics
- Pediatrics
Clinical placements ensure you’ll be comfortable with patients and competent to begin practicing once you graduate and pass the NCLEX-RN® licensure exam.
Why Choose Online Nursing Education to Earn Your BSN?
There are many compelling reasons to choose our online accelerated BSN program. Students often appreciate the convenience of taking coursework online while receiving a quality education.
Our online accelerated nursing program comprises the same nursing education you’d receive in a traditional classroom-based program, just on an expedited timeline. Our online-based ABSN program provides the nursing knowledge and skills that will prepare you to sit for the NCLEX-RN licensure exam and practice the profession in various healthcare settings.
Students also find that online nursing education puts them in control. If you stick to the due dates set by your instructor, you can complete your work at your own pace.
Plus, you’ll be able to work through the material using a multisensory approach. Our online coursework incorporates videos and PowerPoints as visual elements, pre-recorded lectures, discussion boards and video conferences for interaction and stimulation, and interactive simulation and case studies for active learning.
Although much of your coursework will be virtual, social learners won’t miss out on face-to-face interaction due to in-person skills labs and clinical rotations. This way, hybrid ABSN programs provide the best of both worlds, allowing you to study from the comfort of your home without sacrificing the social element that in-person learning with a cohort provides.
Why should you choose a nursing school in Houston? Look at the local healthcare facilities and nursing workforce.
Why ABSN Online Programs Are Ideal for Career Changers
Online accelerated BSN programs are designed specifically for nontraditional students who have already earned a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 60 non-nursing college credits. Typically, ABSN students have already started a career, perhaps in healthcare or another field.
Online ABSN programs are ideal for these students because they provide flexibility. If you’ve already started a family, you may find that online coursework offers the flexibility you need to care for your family while also attending school. In addition, the ABSN nursing cohorts bring together students from all walks of life and all age ranges.
What to Expect From an Online ABSN Program
As stated above, UST’s ABSN program blends together virtual and in-person components. Our hybrid ABSN program is fast-paced and rigorous, designed to allow you to graduate in as few as 12 months. You’ll work through consecutive semesters with no summer vacation. Although the coursework is online, and you can work at your own pace in accordance with the instructor’s requirements, you’ll need to hold yourself accountable for the work.
Are You Ready to Start Your Accelerated Nursing Education?
The University of St. Thomas’ Accelerated BSN program in Houston provides a clear pathway to become the best nurse you can be, with online coursework for convenience and in-person clinical experiences for skill development. Our students also have access to our Academic Success Coaches and benefit from small class sizes. With no waitlist and three enrollment locations in Houston, you could get started sooner and graduate with a BSN in as few as 12 months upon completing the prerequisites.
If you’re ready to take a bold step forward in your nursing journey, reach out to one of our admissions advisors. Your dedicated advisor will walk you through the admissions process and help you decide if online learning is right for you. Contact us today.