Nursing Journey: Completing My BSN at Capella University

Her journey through nursing school showcases determination and effective study habits, proving that it's possible to excel while managing personal responsibilities.

### My Capella Nursing Journey: From Associate's Degree to DNP
* 🎓 On my channel, I share my educational journey from earning my **associate's degree in nursing** to pursuing my **Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)**, including **study habits and experiences** with various programs.
* 📚 I recently graduated from Capella University's BSN program, where I completed the FlexPath option in just **8 weeks**, despite the program being structured for **12-week terms** at a cost of **$3,250 per term**.
* ⏳ While some students may take longer to complete their studies, I was motivated by another student who finished in **about four and a half weeks**, which inspired me to set my goal to complete all eight core classes in **eight weeks**.
* 📝 I utilized a strategic approach to my assignments, focusing on the **scoring guide** rather than just the rubric, which helped me **understand the expectations and manage my time effectively**.
* 🏆 Throughout the program, I maintained a strong academic record, achieving **three B pluses and the rest 100s**, and I successfully navigated the capstone project, which included a **video presentation and an e-portfolio showcasing my work**.
* 💡 I appreciated the valuable skills I gained, such as **effective research techniques** and the ability to **communicate my findings through presentations**, which I believe will be beneficial in my nursing career.
* 🤝 Although I faced challenges with instructor feedback timing and coaching support, I found ways to **adapt and succeed**, ultimately feeling **well-prepared for future advanced studies**.
* 🎉 With my graduation date set for July 31 and a **25-day processing period** for my degree, I look forward to sharing more about my next steps, including my plans for pursuing my **master's degree**.

Hey guys, I'm back! If you're new to my channel, on my channel I discuss my journey from associate's degree, retaining my associate's degree in nursing, and I will continue up until I receive my DNP in nursing. Um, I upload my I speak about my experiences

my journey through these programs. I upload my study habits, share my study habits, answer any questions that you may have because I know how it is to start something new and want to research um reviews about programs out here to ensure that you're making the right

decision. So my last video I spoke about the overview of Capella, which is the program, BSN program. I just graduated, so now I will speak about my experience. So I completed the flex path in 12 weeks, you you don't have to get done in 12 weeks.

It's the terms are 12 weeks and the cost is $3250 per term and you can take as many classes as you can in that 12-week term and uh for that one flat fee of $3250. So my goal was to get done in 12 weeks.

I had to take eight core credits because all of my other uh classes transferred. So I want to get done in 12 weeks, I only want to pay one flat fee. It may take people uh a little longer, maybe two times, three times, or whatnot.

But you can get complete this program uh within four or five weeks. Uh, a young lady who I met here on YouTube, she actually completed the program about four and a half, between four and five weeks, um, and it's possible. I have a child, um, a significant other.

a 22-year-old, my little baby Aiden, you guys know he's he'll be two next month. I'm still nursing, uh, so I had a lot going on with this program. We're trying to complete this program, so uh, but still in awe

that I had to deal with. I was able to complete the program in eight weeks, so I uh got done prior to 12, which was my original goal once I got in the program and I seen the young lady get done with the program so fast, it

gave me hope, and um I decided I could complete a class in one class per week. So it was eight classes, so I said my goal would be to complete it in eight weeks, and so I did. And the way that you do that is you will

look at your syllabus and your scoring, uh, two, and that's what I go off the scoring, too. Um, a lot of people will tell you the uh just follow the rubric or whatnot, but the rubric has additional advice and things of that nature on there, so you can end up doing

more than you need to do, or uh, the assignment can seem more congested that it than it really is. So I would go off the scoring, too, and I will show you guys what that entails in a moment. So uh, you go, you see what what they want you to

be able to understand and show your proficiency in, and um, so you do all your research. I would do all my research, get my references, start my reference page, and um, like whatever question that they have, I would uh title the section with that question and I would do my research, and then I

would copy and paste the um URL under it so when I was ready to write my paper I can just click on that and go back to that resource so I would and then once I get my resource that I would that I'm going to use I would go ahead and um just start my

reference page putting that in order so that'll be one last thing I'll have to do once I write the paper so you do your research say at night or during the day and then vice versa night day that's when you write your paper so in

order to get done in four to five weeks you need to be writing a paper every day that's how you get done and it's possible so I received a 30% discount and they're offering 30% discounts to nurses so I think I had

three payments of uh around 770 dollars a total of a little over 2000 uh with the discount and like I said I had the eight core classes and I wrote some you guys know I usually freestyle but being that I waited till I got done

with the program to do these videos I had to write some stuff down so I didn't leave anything out and you guys know this is going to be a much longer video than the last video because I'm actually going in depth about my experience with the program

so I had to do the eight core classes and I'll go over what those classes were in a second um my first class was my most challenging class um because you got to get a fee you know how you started class and you got to get a feel

of the teacher and how she tests and how she grades, and it's basically the same thing when you're doing online. So I was like kind of overwhelmed a little bit with the first one. I'm like, I haven't written a paper in so long. I was like, just or whatever.

But I got through it, and in this this class is where I received my lowest scores, also. Um, and my lowest scores throughout the program was a B plus. Now, I'm mad at myself once I got to the end of the program and calculated my GPA.

I met I didn't I I got throughout the program I got um I received three B pluses and the rest 100, and I only had to resubmit an assignment assessment in my first course one time and then uh in my fifth course one time and then

in the capstone, the eighth course, one paper, I just I got non-performance on two sections. I really misunderstood what she was asking, but once she broke it down to me and asked me certain specific questions, I was I understood, and then I was able to resubmit.

and I was able to receive a 100 percent in which I got all 100 um on all five of those assignments in the capstone. So like I said, the first uh assessment was three, the first course was three assessments, three assignments, um and you had an example paper um

I think the first three classes you got an example, or three of the uh eight classes you got an example paper, and then you're going to go through it and you're not going to get any more example papers, and you're just going to have to

show that you understand it in order to get a proficiency. So, um, that's that uh, additional to these assessments are activities, but activities are optional. They're not graded, but they are to help you uh, with your assignment, understand your assignment a little bit more. Um, let's talk about the last class, the

capstone. So, like I said, the capstone, the first, the first uh, class is three assessments, three assignments. The second to seventh class is four assignments, four assessments, and the eighth and final class is your capstone, and that is five assessments. And, like I said, it's basically

three assignments, um, a video, non-script. Uh, when I say non-script, most of the time when you do a presentation, um, a video presentation, PowerPoint, whatever, you have to also submit a uh, uh, your script notes or whatnot. So, on this one, you don't have to do a

script. You don't have to submit that. Um, and then the uh, fifth assignment is the e-portfolio, and that's when you uh, pick eight papers and you answer four questions. Um, you put group two papers together, and you answer four uh, questions, basically four sections, and maybe more than one

question, and you basically talk about how those assessments help better you as a student and a nurse. And you also upload your resume to this e-portfolio, also. And the purpose of this e-portfolio, other than um, it being assignments, is for you to take with you on job interviews and show

that uh, these PowerPoints and uh, these papers, they are actually, I really, really, really enjoyed them. I really enjoyed Capella. I really enjoyed the assignments. I enjoyed being able to uh, effectively research uh, evidence-based uh, articles and journals or whatnot. Um, I'm not a pro, but I feel close to it.

I enjoyed how to just speak what I've learned and educate others through the PowerPoints and other presentations. And these assignments, you could really use on the job. Like I could take if I was like in management or something, um, on my job, I could actually take

these assignments, these PowerPoints or whatnot, and um, really educate the staff and I can have in-services because you have to do in-services also. Those are product assignments, I can have uh, use them for in-services, this whatever, and just educational tools. And I really, really appreciate um

everything that I learned from Capella and um, it really prepares you for the future and it gets, it gets you excited for uh, and makes you feel more professional. And it makes you want to, like when you do these assignments, you understand, get an understanding of how

important the role of a nurse is. It's more than just passing medication. It's more than advocating for your patient. It's more than just supervising your unit. It's a, a lot more you can do more as an uh, RN than um, what you

basically normally see on the job site. And you get an a better uh, insight on uh, the role of a nurse. And it makes you want to carry yourself different. It makes you want to speak different. It makes you feel like it lets you know that you are a

professional and it makes you feel like one. And um, I feel like it prepares you for your masters. Uh, I wouldn't have it any other way other than Capella. I'm glad I went this route and chose this route even though I hadn't written, wrote a paper since

community college years ago um I I was a little skeptical but I was ready for it because I know once you get into these upper-level programs um like the MSN and whatnot DNP that it's going to be basically research so Capella really prepares you so if you're

planning on going for your MSN or your DPN the DMP then Capella is the route for you don't be scared of writing papers because you'll get used to it you'll get in the rhythm and you'll be happy that you went that route

um let me see the end of the course surveys they do expire this is when I was speaking about uh you have to do an end of course survey and you answer questions do us complete a survey about your instructor your coach and um the activities that you completed were

they helpful um the I'm going to speak about the instructors now their instructors were very uh helpful um some a little bit more the instructors have and I believe the coach also have 48 hours before they have to evaluate your assignments 48 hours in which they have to respond

to your emails that's one thing I did not like because this is a fast-paced program and if I have a question today I'm going to have it figured out in two days so it's like it that's that's crazy to me I did not

like that at all as far as grading the assignments in two days some people some of the instructors would if you submit two assignments if you have two assignments submitted um some would just like grade one and wait the 48 hours before they grade the other some would if they they'll see both of

them so they'll just grade both of them. Some will uh just not wait 48 hours and just go ahead and assign it like if I submitted it tonight, it'll be graded tomorrow. So I appreciated those instructors uh some really what uh you know, when they email you or send

you feedback they'll you know ask how you're doing and really try to connect with you as far as what's going on with you with COVID or whatnot and show concern or whatnot. So uh that's that about the assessments in the 48 hours.

My coach I think she was pretty busy um this term um and um dealing with the COVID or something because I rarely got an answer from her and like I said about the time I got an answer I already had it figured out um so the coach wasn't that helpful for

me unfortunately um and I did set up a uh appointment with one of the writing coaches um but I had scheduled it for like 3 a.m. because I would be at work and I could have you know had some free time to go over some things with her but they never

uh came to signing into the appointment so I didn't get to utilize that or whatever but it was okay because I uh you guys know me, I'll figure it out so everything that I had questions on I basically figured it out so it wasn't a big deal um and like I

said those end-of-course surveys they expire so you have to answer them especially if you have a good teacher that you really like like don't wait because I didn't know they expire and I was like I'll go back and when I went back it expired and I

felt kind of bad because I really really liked the teacher um let's see and like I said about the attempts you have three attempts before you submit your final submission for final grade and I had to read and resubmit three of my assignments out of the

30 something assignments um the papers I enjoyed those one to two papers but once you get in in a writing mode sometimes you write more than you need then the assignment the assessment requires oh that's not a bad thing but you just like man I didn't have the right artist

I could have been done blah blah blah um the papers they're not a big deal like I said they're double spaced APA they give you all they give you uh links to research and YouTube videos or whatever you need to be able to successfully be able to write

an APA style paper and they also provide a template and I just use the template and it's pretty easy anyway um you get a title you have to write a title page you know with your name and assignment and all that in a reference page um and like I said they give you a lot

of tools and uh the tools the only tools that I was successful at using like I said is speaking with my instructors and I do suggest Grammarly.com to edit your papers and proofread and whatnot it's very helpful so let me see so after the capstone

so your graduation date is the last day of the month in which you complete your all your assignments your capstone and apply for graduation so um I got done in July so my graduation date is July 31st um it's a 25 day processing period

so I would expect to receive my BSN degree in the mail in 25 days and the same as far as your transcripts to be able to send them to your next school with your graduation date on there. Um, they are going to have a virtual

graduation in which they will state your name. Excelsior did, uh, I watched the Excelsior video. I'm glad I didn't put my cap on and sit down through it, through the graduation ceremony because they did not mention any students' names other than those who

received awards. Um, I wanted to talk about something else and I don't know if I wrote it down. Graduation, so you after your last class, oh I want to talk about, um, that's on this page, that's why I missed it, um, the assignments, um,

some seem difficult when you don't clearly understand what the scoring tool was asking you. A lot of times what I would do is type the whole question in Google and then things will pop up and it will, you can get a better understanding of what they're asking you

on the screen, too. Um, for the most part, all the assignments were not difficult. Um, the challenge was understanding what they were asking you. Once you understood it, it was pretty, pretty easy. The assignments, in my opinion, um, like I said, I got three or four B pluses and

all the rest 100. Um, so when you register for your classes, so you can be registered for two classes at a time, you don't have to work on both classes. You can come work on one, complete that, and then start another one and, um, stop the second one and register for the

third one I always wanted to have two classes, being that I could be registered for two classes, I wanted to always be registered for two classes in case something went wrong with the, went wrong with the, um, system, their system or something and you couldn't register for a class or

whatnot. I didn't want nothing to hold me back, so I was always registered for two classes, even though I would only work on one at a time. Um, and as soon as I would like complete one and start the second one, I would register for the third one, uh

eyes itching on here. I don't even have allergies, but anyways, um, holidays. So as I told you guys, I was like pushing myself, pushing myself so hard to get done with this program. Um, I wanted to get done. I want to spend time with my son. I was tired of pushing

my son away or whatnot. I was tired of him becoming a nurse while I was trying to write a paper and all types of things. Oh, I'll talk about that. I don't have my console, but I just wanted to get done, so I was like waking up doing

a home, uh, homework, going to sleep, doing homework, like just breathing homework. Like I did not take breaks or whatever, so God made me take a break. So, um, my eighth week was Fourth of July weekend, so the teachers took five days off from grading, so I was like, I had a couple assignments

left and I was like, um, I need to get this done before the Fourth because I want to enjoy, um, the fireworks and stuff with my son. I want to take him outside, blah, blah, blah. I need to get done. I need to get done, but God, like, no, you need to take a break.

so then that's when I got the email saying they weren't grading any papers until the following Tuesday after the holiday so that's when I went and I just went on and just took my time finishing up the capstone instead of trying to rush it before

uh that uh Saturday or whatnot so then she had to grade my assignments I had done all uh five assignments so I had to wait for her to grade all my assignments so she basically was that eight weeks or did that end up being nine weeks because

I had to wait for her to grade the assignments or whatnot but so be prepared for that for holidays they take some time off and your papers are not going to get

assessed so um that's that Oh so this is what I want to tell you how to write a paper without typing I did not type any papers Had I had to type papers because I'm not a fast typer I can I'm just like a beginner average typer I

know how to type without looking at the keyboard or whatever but I'm not I don't type fast Had I had to type my papers I probably wouldn't have been done in eight weeks um how I came up with this plan to not write papers is because

every time I try to write my son would come and try to take the pencil out my hand so it was a challenge so I um I have Word on my phone so I would open up a blank Word document first I would handwrite my papers and then after I

I would handwrite my papers. I would talk it into my phone or my word document. And then, once I spoke the whole paper and it was on a word document, I would copy and paste it, uh, email it to myself. Paste it in a, in a body part and email it to myself.

Then, once I receive the email, I would copy and paste it to a word document, and uh, I would, uh, either take it to Grammarly to edit it or I would just edit it myself. And that's how I wrote my papers. There wasn't no typing, and you guys

don't have to type, write your paper down. Um, or you can just write your paper talking in your phone. You don't even have to write it down on paper, but I have to write it down because I think in right, and it's sometimes kind

of slow. So just talking it into the phone wouldn't have been helpful for me. So I just wrote the paper with my pen, my pencil on my notebook. And then, I spoke it into my phone on a word document, copied and pasted, sent it to my email.

And I was able to open it up on my laptop in the word, word document, and edit it there. I did my edit, and that's how I wrote my papers, guys. So you never have to write a paper ever, ever. You never have to type a paper ever.

So that was that. Um, so it's getting a little dark out here, so hopefully you guys will be able to see [Music] my, um, computer screen. You should, because it's lit. Not lit like, I mean, I do got a lit laptop, but um, I'm saying

because of the lighting on it, so I am going to, oh, I can't. Can I change the? Nope, okay, so I have to turn it like this and uh, get it at an angle so you guys can see it. This is the Dell XPS, so here's Capella's website home page, campus. And campus is where you would have all of your, uh, whatever you're registered for will be in the center. Uh, they said the first class stay on here for whatever reason, but it will disappear

later, but um, so the two classes you're enrolled in, register for would be in this area and then your previous courses would be in this area. I hope you guys can see. I thought I could drink [Music]. So this was my first class, Developing a Health Care

admission perspective, so you click there. Internet is slow because I need a new box, Wi-Fi box. Let's see if I'm even connected to the internet. Yes, maybe I need to sign back in or something. I don't know. Let's see. Come on, my people don't want a long

video, and they know I don't edit in the future. I'll try to figure out how I can edit. Well, while we're waiting, you guys know Sam's Club, uh, have a recall on sanitizer by Blumen, B-l-u-m-e-n

because they have um, methanol or something in it that's supposed to be poison. Let's see. I wonder why this popped up. Yeah, Sam's Club's hand sanitizer recall due to toxic methanol. So it doesn't have it listed in there, but they, uh, the Food and Drug Administration

administration due to the presence of methanol or wood alcohol which can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested and it's supposed to be deadly. So, but what's up with Capella? Let me see. So one of the young ladies on YouTube, um

she suggested doing things in a certain order and I follow her advice and um I seem to get through the courses with no problem. Um, let me just close it all out and open everything back up. Propeller log in. So I did 4000 first

and then I went to 430, which was her suggestion, and then I jumped back to the second course which was 410 and then instead of doing 450 then 460, I followed her advice and I did um 460 first and then I did 450.

Um, dang, what's her name? I think of her name who gave that advice. So let's go in here, see if it just opens up or not. Come on. I'm trying to give my people an in-depth outlook on the program. Maybe I'll have to do it in another

video because this is already a 30-minute video. So yeah guys, I'll get this figured out and um I'll do it in another video. Yeah, it may be tomorrow guys. Um, I was on the ball. Oh, let me give you some advice if you are starting the

program when I, before I started, I was asking some of the ladies who had YouTube videos up for some advice to prepare um for the program because I like to be kind of prepared or get a head start and they all were like don't just follow the rubric, follow the rubric, but

[Music] No, that wasn't no. And then I don't, I don't say follow the rubric, I say follow the scoring guide. That is how they grade your paper, off the scoring tool. So therefore, follow the scoring tool. Um, so other advice I would give

is to start Googling some things and familiarizing yourself with some things. Um, you're waiting for your start date. Uh, Google YouTube, uh, APA style references, how to do an APA style reference page. Get familiar with that because you're gonna need that for all

your assignments, so you might as well get familiar with that, get that down pat before you start. Um, Google, um, annotated bibliography. You're gonna have some, a few papers, I think, like three of them, and one of them is like extremely long, so YouTube that. Um, it's an old guy, a older guy, I forget

his name, but he really breaks it down real good on YouTube, so get familiar with what that entails. Um, third advice I would give is Google how to research evidence-based peer review resources, um, articles, journals, etc., because those are the only type of paper resources you can

use other than if you Google something, it has to end in dot gov, which is government websites, or dot edu. If it doesn't end in those, uh, with those edu.org or uh, it's not peer-reviewed, you're not going to be able to use it

as a reference. So get, um, used to those three things. So that was my advice. Um, APA style references, how to do a reference sheet, APA style, uh, annotated bibliography, learn how to do that and what that entails and how to research evidence-based peer review articles.

journals, resources, if you do those three things and you follow the scoring tool, you will be so good, you don't have to thank me now, but thank me later after you take this advice to prepare to start, prepare for start date with Cabela. You'll be so happy that you did this.

because it's going to help you a whole, whole, whole lot and you can go ahead and um research, uh, if you haven't written a paper in a long time, you can go ahead and research that. Usually it's the introduction, basically what you're going to talk

about, paragraph, and then there's usually three body paragraphs, uh, you know, breaking down what you're with the paper, the discussion of the paper and what you put in the introduction saying what you were going to talk about, um, it could be more than three depending

on how many pages you have to write, and then your last paragraph would be the conclusion. Your body paragraph could be three, five, six paragraphs, so it depends on how many papers you have to write. Um, so that is my advice and I wish the girls would have told me that

Complete #CapellaUniversity RN-BSN #FlexPath in as little as 4 weeks! My journey! #Stoptypingpapers!

Angela Marie

Introduction and Capella University BSN Program Overview

Introduction to the channel and its focus on the speaker's nursing education journey.

Discussion of study habits and answering viewer questions about nursing programs.

Overview of the Capella University BSN program and the speaker's recent graduation.

Details about the flex path program, including duration, cost, and class load.

Explanation of the speaker's decision to complete the program in 12 weeks and the possibility of faster completion.

Personal Experience and Strategies for Accelerated Program Completion

Discussion of personal life circumstances and challenges during the program.

Successful completion of the program in eight weeks, exceeding initial expectations.

Strategy of completing one class per week and using the scoring tool as a guide.

Advice on using the scoring tool instead of the rubric to avoid unnecessary work.

Study method: research, reference page creation, and paper writing strategy.

Financial aspects: discount received and payment details.

Discussion of the challenges faced in the first class and the lowest grade received.

Overall grades received throughout the program, including resubmissions.

Experience with resubmissions and improvement in grades on subsequent attempts.

Number of assignments per course and availability of example papers.

Details about the capstone course, including assignments and e-portfolio.

Overall Program Experience and Reflections

Positive feedback on the program, assignments, and research opportunities.

Practical applications of assignments for future career development.

Appreciation for the program's impact on professional development and understanding of nursing roles.

Program's influence on the speaker's professional identity and preparedness for future studies.

Recommendation of Capella for students pursuing MSN or DNP programs.

Instructor and Coach Feedback, and End-of-Course Surveys

Discussion of end-of-course surveys and instructor feedback.

Instructor response times and grading practices.

Experience with the program coach and scheduled writing coaching appointments.

Information about the expiration of end-of-course surveys and assignment attempts.

Paper Writing Process, Tools, and Graduation

Discussion of the paper writing process, including formatting and resources provided.

Tools used for writing, including Grammarly and templates.

Graduation date, processing period, and virtual graduation ceremony.

Tips for understanding assignment requirements and overcoming challenges.

Advice on class registration and managing multiple courses concurrently.

Time Management, Holidays, and Paper Writing Techniques

Discussion of time management strategies and the importance of breaks.

Impact of holidays on assignment grading timelines.

Alternative method of writing papers using voice-to-text on a phone.

Detailed explanation of the voice-to-text paper writing process.

Demonstration of Capella University's website and course navigation.

Showing the first class, and discussing internet connection issues.

Mention of a hand sanitizer recall and a brief detour from the main topic.

Discussion of course selection order based on advice from another YouTuber.

Advice for preparing for the program before the start date.

Concluding Remarks and Future Video Plans

Additional advice on preparing for the program, including research skills.

Summary of advice for future students and call to action.

Explanation of the typical structure of academic papers.

Announcement of future videos and a call for subscribers.

Motivation for creating videos and appreciation for viewer engagement.