[Michigan RN]

I am currently attending Oakland University for my RN to BSN. Is there anyone who went to Wayne State University or Oakland University for their NP? Just wanted to know what everyone's experiences were. I plan on after I get my BSN to pursue an MSN in Acute Care nurse practitioner, just need advice.

[pinoyNP]

Wayne State grad here (ACNP, December 2003). Wayne State has informational sessions for all their programs from BSN to PhD. Check their website for schedules. Admission requirements are clearly shown in their website as well. Some students I knew had trouble with admission paperwork not being received by the college but I had a smooth application process and had a decision regarding my admission to the program in a timely manner.

The program is fairly well established since the early nineties and there are many ACNP grads in the Metro Detroit area who are currently in practice. That's a great opportunity to network especially when you get to the stage where you need to look for clinical placements. There is a list of approved preceptors floating around for ACNP students. However, the program allows students to pick preceptors not on the list as long as the institution has a contractual agreement with the school for clinical placements. The school has contracts with practically every Metro Detroit area hospital so clinical placements will not be an issue. The college doesn't seem to do a good job keepting tabs of where their alumni end up working so there are a lot of practicing ACNP's who are great preceptors who are not on the school's list.

The ACNP program can be finished in 18 months full time - a student in my class did so and graduated with a 4.0! talk about an over-achiever. I did a total of 6 semesters full time. Many opportunities for private and public funded scholarship grants through the college. The tuition is one of the most affordable as far as Michigan universities go. Very diverse student population. Campus is urban setting right in Mid-town Detroit and is open to outsiders, nice area but safety can still be an issue especially at night (some of the ACNP classes go until 8:30 PM).

The nursing school itself has a fair amount of reputation, Madeline Lineinger (claim to fame - transcultural theory) once taught there and another theorist (Myra Levine) went there for her MSN. However, I feel that many faculty are heavier on research than clinical practice. There are some good NP's on the faculty roster though. There is a fair demand for ACNP jobs in Metro Detroit - all of the 14 students in my batch got jobs within 6 months.

The other ACNP programs in the state are: University of Michigan Ann Arbor and Madonna University in Livonia. Oakland University has an Adult Acute Care CNS program, or do they still have it? you should know.

[Michigan RN]

I think Oakland U still has the Acute Care CNS program but I thought CNS's have a more educative focus, although the one that oversees all the new orientees on my unit at HF actually does help out at bedside when things get rough for the RNs.

I've heard good things and bad things about WSU, but I'll probably end up there for my MSN. I'm not sure if they have an ADN to MSN bridge program but I will probably have to go to one of those informational meetings.

Thank you very much for the info!

By the way, where are you working? Just curious. My friend just recently graduated from WSU's ACNP program and is working in the ICU at St. Johns Oakland.

[Michigan RN]

Have another question. Do you think its better to have a BSN prior to going into a MSN program? I have an ADN right now and thought of looking into WSUs adn-msn program.

[pinoyNP]

The way the ADN-MSN program works at WSU is that the student enters as a BSN-completion student but can already register for graduate courses leading to the MSN. I know of 2 ADN-MSN students at Wayne and both of them took more than 3 years to finish the entire ADN-MSN route. You may ask an adviser at Wayne so you can get a more accurate assessment of your timeline towards completion based on your situation.

I am also not sure how competitive the ADN-MSN program is at Wayne. The graduate bulletin I had during my student days state that it is competitive since only those ADN grads with stellar GPA's are admitted unlike the traditional MSN where an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 and above will get you in.

It may also be faster to finish 1 year of BSN completion at Oakland and then apply anywhere for a traditional MSN.

[Michigan RN]

I went to WSUs website to get info on the ADN-MSN program. So they're gonna send me info on the Acute Care NP and Adult Primary NP programs. I'm gonna apply for this coming fall if I can, if not this year, then next year.