— Audio Transcript —

Hi. My name’s Brittany Hodge. I completed the associates program here at Galen, and in about a couple weeks, I’m going to finish the online RN to BSN program.

When did you decide to be a nurse?

I started out being a pre-K teacher, and I remember one day at school, one of my students becoming really sick. I was like, “Oh, her fever’s so high. What do I do?” I remember getting ice packs for this girl, and it was that moment that I knew, “Okay, I don’t need to be a teacher. That’s not my career path. I need to go into nursing.”

How did Galen compare to other colleges?

One of the things I really loved about Galen was the fact that it’s solely nursing. You don’t really have to worry about, “When do I finish my prereqs so I can start my nursing classes? I just want to do clinicals. I just want to get to that part of nursing.” That’s the beautiful thing about Galen, is actually, you start doing your clinicals towards the beginning of the program, and it continues throughout.

One clinical instructor that is very near and dear to my heart is Mr. Chalk. I remember, he was very compassionate, very helpful. He was not only just a great instructor, but as a person, he was just so wonderful, and he felt almost like family, really.

When did you start the Online RN to BSN program?

I remember the moment I signed up for Galen’s online RN to BSN program. I actually was sitting in my last course before graduating, and I remember looking at all of the information online, and I actually went to my school’s counselor in between classes and signed up for the program. So for me, I remember graduating Galen, I took the NCLEX, and I think it was like three or four days later I actually started the online program. So for me, I never took a break. I just kept rolling and kept going on with school.

How has the program been?

The online RN to BSN is wonderful. Online can sound intimidating, but honestly, through Galen it’s really not. They provide videos that you’re able to watch. Sometimes, it’s through the actual instructor videoing themselves going over the material, able to explain it a little bit better than you would normally just reading through a textbook. They have online discussion forums, so you’re able to communicate and interact with your classmates. It felt very family-oriented, very small. Even though it was online, I still had that same feeling as I did when I did the first program here at Galen.

Any advice for future nursing students?

So, if you’re sitting there and you’re wondering, “Hmm, should I do a career change? Should I go back to school? Should I even consider nursing school? Will I be able to do it?” Absolutely, I think you should. At first, it all seemed intimidating: “Oh my goodness, I’m changing my whole life. I’m going back to school.” But for me, with Galen, it was so easy and so flawless, and I had no issues. So if you’re wondering, “Should I take the leap?” Absolutely.