The Pros and Cons of Online Nursing Education
In recent years there has been a flooding of online courses and degrees for various fields of study and online nursing education is no exception. Before enrolling in any online nursing course or degree, it is important to examine both the pros and cons of this type of education and the impact it will have on your life. Some students benefit greatly from the online nursing education experience while others do not.
The advantages of taking online nursing education:
There is an excellent selection of online nursing education courses available on the Internet. These courses and nursing degree programs range from an associate's degree at the college level to the bachelor's and onto the master's of science in nursing (MSN).
Online nursing education is important for individuals who live in remote or rural areas. They do not have to travel long distances to universities, which often would mean that they would have to live on campus. Nor do they have to battle the elements or get caught up in traffic jams traveling back and forth.
The convenience of working from home is also beneficial for the disabled, or students recovering from an accident.
The advantage of flexi schedules that come with online nursing education is one of the biggest advantages. Flexi schedules are so important for people who are working fulltime or have a young family to take care of. These students can do their course load during their own time and not have to adhere to the preset time schedules on campus. Students can do just about everything online, including homework, research papers, and exams. Online nursing education oftentimes has generous completion times to accommodate students with hectic schedules. These generous schedules allow students to work at their own pace, without being rushed and losing important information in the process. In turn, a well-disciplined hard-working individual can complete the degree requirement in less time than it takes with a real-life campus.
The disadvantages of online nursing education:
Now, the downside of online nursing education is that there are no college professors demanding work at a given time. This means the students have to be mature enough to pace themselves. They must be self-disciplined and not wait until the last minute, to do their assignments or fail to do their assignments; otherwise they have wasted their time and money.
Students must be very comfortable with computers, and different computer programs such as chat, and the Internet in general.
Students who require a real life professor to help them pace themselves, or if they need tutorials, or even the classroom dynamics to motivate them, will not do well in an online program.
Students taking their courses online will lack the teamwork and social camaraderie of the university campus experience.
A further disappointment is that even though students are taking an online nursing education program because they do not have time to visit a campus, they must find the time for their practical coursework, which cannot be done online.
Another major obstacle with online nursing education courses is that of accreditation. Students have to watch out for these online sites and make sure the school comes with a good reputation and valid accreditation. Even when the online schools are accredited they are not always accepted in the real world and certain employers will not hire nurses that possess an online degree. Therefore it is important to weigh the pros and cons of online training before investing in the program.
Published: 2009-09-16
