Answered by Phoenix Tuesday Apr 29th 2008

Hi Lynn,

I looked into your question about qualifying for the MSN Bridge program for nurses. Traditionally most univerisities offer this program to RN’s who have a BA/BS degree in a field other than nursing and wish to pursue the MSN degree. If you have a bachelors in nursing this is also accepted as well. So the requirements from all the universities I reviewed indicate you needed a bachelor of arts or science in any field (nursing included) and a RN license to practice in the United States. If you do not have a bachelors degree and just an associates or diploma you may need to complete you bachelors first before completing the MSN bridge program.

One program that is very popular and might be of interest to you is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN) program. Liberty University offers a highly regarded online program:
http://www.distance-education.org/Degrees/Programs/Bachelor-of-Science-in-Nursing--RN-to-BSN-/Liberty-University-554.html

It seems that the MSN Bridge Program is really designed for people that do not have previous RN credentials and gives them the ability to use their previous bachelors degree towards their Masters in Nursing. I hope that helps answer your questions.