New entry-level Masters program at U of A!!

U.S.A. Arizona

Published

Hi all,

In the last week, U of AZ has posted a change to their programs. They have dropped their 2nd degree BSN and have added a mepn program (master's entry to the profession of nursing (mepn) pathway). This is available to those who already have a non-nursing bachelor's degree.

check out the link for more info:

Page not found | UA College of Nursing

I called to get more info. They said tuition would probably run between 35-45k(depends on residency status). They will start having info sessions on the new program starting at the end of this month.

:yeah:

-c

I'm not sure what the AZBON rules are about that. One of the PCTs was told directly by the manager that she would look "more attractive applicant" if she was employed than if she had quit her PCT job and was just job hunting. She has a BSN and the others an ADN. So who knows? Her title is PCT not RN or GN. I did not have to go through that because I already had a contracted job. I was lucky!

Anyway, I was told that anyone with an RN can't legally work "below" his/her license. So isn't that exactly what the RNs working as PCTs are doing?

That's a frightening thought, because what's a new grad to do if they can't find employment? Where would someone look to find that information?

It's probably on the AZBON website.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but with this program, one doesn't pay for tuition, the sponsoring hospital does and the students have a job secured with them for 3 years after they graduate. Right ? Sounds like a pretty good deal in this economy. Is there an option to not accept a sponsoring hopsital and self pay ?

Yes, this sounds like a great deal. However, a couple of my friends had their secure job offers rescinded by "sponsoring" hospitals after they finished nursing school. AND they were told they had to repay the hospital for their schooling. This was not because of anything these gals did, rather ... HR blamed the unfortunate situation on "the economy." Read everything before signing on the dotted line.

Hey abend, did you go to UA? Were your friends able to find jobs?

gabby27, I don't think there is any sponsoring with this new program, I believe it's all self pay. Reason be that none of the hospitals want to employ new nurses at this time as they have too many right now. My own floor the whole night shift is new grads, which is scary. The UA accelerated class of 2009, 40 students that were suppose to be employed at Carondelet were cut, no job and possibly $28K in debt. I'm just saying, be very careful when exploring the UA programs. Go to info sessions, ask tons of questions and try to look up and ask previous students about their experience with them.

After reading the UA website, I'm not sure how it works. It says you'll have a MS in nursing, but calls it a Master's Entry in to the Profession of Nursing. And that you can sit for the RN exam (NCLEX), but there is nothing about being a nurse practioner (NP) or if you can sit for the NP exam. Usually a MSN is prep for NP. I know that UA is really pushing their DNP program which will allow you to sit for the NP exam. Northern Arizona University has an on-line MSN that allows you to sit for the NP.

I know nothing about this specific program, but there are MEPN programs that are not NP programs. They are usually Clinical Nurse Leader programs, and their graduates have an MSN, are RNs but do not always have a BSN (some programs do have that step in their program, others go straight through to the MSN).

I did not go to UA. I went to another MEPN program at "the No. 1 ranked nursing school in the nation." And no hiring manager cared where I went to school. They just want to see the BSN and the RN license. So word of warning: Get the BSN on the way to the master's. This was an option in my program and people who didn't opt for a BSN, had little to no luck working as RNs because they weren't as competitive. Yes, even though they were enrolled in a master's program. At least in my experience, almost always a BSN candidate will get the job before a candidate with an associate's degree or the old-school RN by license (though ironically many, many nurses doing the hiring only have an associate's)--fair or not.

A number of my colleagues are still in NP school. They are GREATLY in debt, and they have little to no actual experience as RNs. This doesn't bother the ones who never wanted to be an RN. And most of them are probably smart enough to pull off working as an NP with no nursing experience... if anyone will hire them. I think they rely on getting hired by one of their clinical placements or opening a private practice clinic.

So i just called the school and was told the MS program just prepares you to be a nurse generalist (an R.N) not a nurse practioner.They do however have programs for that after one becomes an RN. They offer the online certificates of the DNP. The MS program will begin in May next year and its only 15 months. There is the option to self pay. But they wont tell me the exact tuition. I do like the fact its only 15 months and although expensive the self pay option prevents one from being tied down to a contract for 3 years.

For those who graduated from the accelerated BSN program they once offered, do you feel u were prepared to become a nurse ? Did most of the students who began the program make it through to the end ?

Shar81-

The accelerated class I went thru had 79 students. One was asked to leave at winter break and we graduated 78. Your choice was either complete it or pay out $28K. You were expected to get higher than 78%, if you received 78% or less on an exam or in a class, you had to see your advisor and make a "plan" to get your grades up. There were a few people that failed the NCLEX, but I'm not sure how many because I was only in contact with the students from my hospital group as they grouped by hospital and that was the main way we went through the program. Although I've been "tied down" for the past 2 years (7 more shifts and I'm done with my contract!) I was the last new grad hired on my unit for a year. I was very thankful to have a job and not have to look as some of the students at another sponsoring hospital were "cut loose" and had a hard time finding jobs.

abend- are you working or doing a NP? Are you here in AZ? I'm on the fence, I want to return to school, but not so sure of job availability. Any thoughts?

Azdesertflower, which was the best choice of all the sponsoring hopsitals (the ones that kept their end of the contract and hired the students ?) Did u get to pick where you wanted to work ? Do you like where you ended up? They told me that the hospitals are sponsoring again but there is the option to self pay. I would think that they would have backed out if they didnt have positions to offer students.

.

Shar81-

The accelerated class I went thru had 79 students. One was asked to leave at winter break and we graduated 78. Your choice was either complete it or pay out $28K. You were expected to get higher than 78%, if you received 78% or less on an exam or in a class, you had to see your advisor and make a "plan" to get your grades up. There were a few people that failed the NCLEX, but I'm not sure how many because I was only in contact with the students from my hospital group as they grouped by hospital and that was the main way we went through the program. Although I've been "tied down" for the past 2 years (7 more shifts and I'm done with my contract!) I was the last new grad hired on my unit for a year. I was very thankful to have a job and not have to look as some of the students at another sponsoring hospital were "cut loose" and had a hard time finding jobs.

abend- are you working or doing a NP? Are you here in AZ? I'm on the fence, I want to return to school, but not so sure of job availability. Any thoughts?

I am working as an RN, and not in AZ. My MEPN program gave the NP or the straight master's (MSN) option. My particular school--as it seems all of the national nursing associations--really pushes the DNP for all NPs. At one point our school told us that all NPs would be required to be DNPs by 2013 or something. But then the economy crashed... not sure where everyone is with that but it might be worth checking into if you want to be an NP.

Personally I've never worked with or heard of a DNP in practice nor have I worked with an NP who didn't have at least 5-years of RN experience. If that's any indication of job availability. Anyway, I've never wanted to be an NP. NPs in my specialty have fairly brutal hours and do a lot of procedures that I don't particularly want to do. I just want to have the option to eventually do research or education--so that's always been the appeal of the master's for me. Plus I discovered in nursing school that I just didn't have the brainpower or perhaps the confidence to go straight through any graduate program in nursing without ever being an RN. And now that I am working as an RN, I think I made the right decision (for me) to put off the master's for a while. I'm on sabbatical :-)

Just as an aside, everyone in my MEPN class of about 50 people got through the BSN part of the program and passed the NCLEX. Not that all of them perhaps *should* have passed... but we all did.

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