Walden University has new FNP and AGNP Programs

Nursing Students School Programs

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Walden has started new a new FNP and AGNP enrolling now for start date in Sept, Oct, and Dec. hope this is helpful to people that are interested.

Is anyone uncomfortable with this being the first FNP class, and the fact that there have been no Walden DNP grads yet (the program started in 2011) so we don't have any pass rate information?

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Hello Guys, I will be starting Walden in Sept 2012 also in the FNP program. I am excited and also alittle concerned as I have been looking at jobs in the DFW area and have not seen many posting.

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Hi, I'm from Texas as well and will be in the program starting in September if I can get confirmation from the Tx BON about being an approved program. Has anyone gotten this yet? Help! I've called and emailed but it sometimes takes a week to hear back from them.

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Specializes in Primary Care.

Does this program require campus visits at all during the whole course of the program? Any other FNP Masters program I've ever looked into, requires at least two campus visits. One in the beginning of the program and the second right before the clinical/preceptorship portion starts. I can't seem to find the answer to my question regarding Walden on its website.

Thanks.

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There are no on-campus visits required. There are other universities, such as U of M-Flint, that does not require on campus visits and Georgetown.

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It doesn't require any campus visits, however, I did speak with the Texas BON and they stated that the program must meet and teach all subjects required (which it does) and be CCNE certified (which it is) AND be approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which Walden IS NOT. This means the clinicals won't count and we won't be allowed to sit for apn boards. I have contacted Walden regarding this and they don't have an answer for me yet, but are trying to find out what to do. The THECB said that Walden must submit an application for authorization for each clinical site used in the state of Texas in order for the clinical portion to be valid. Will post more once I hear from Walden. Very disappointed to say the least. Below is the email I received from the BON telling me what to check for:

"Thank you for your inquiry to the Board of Nursing. If your goal is to be authorized to practice as an Advanced Practice Nurse (APRN) in Texas, it will be important for you to study the requirements in Rule 221.3 Education. This rule may be accessed on the Board web page (www.bon.texas.gov) under Nursing Law & Rules. This will help you determine if the program has the essential courses to meet Texas requirements. Rule 221.2 lists the titles and roles recognized by the Texas Board. One of the requirements is for the graduate program to hold nursing accreditation by CCNE or NLNAC.

If you are resident in Texas and plan to take an online program, you might inquire about how they conduct their clinicals and how they arrange the supervision, if you are planning to carry out the clinical requirements in Texas. When a program conducts clinicals in Texas, they must receive approval from The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to operate in Texas.

The Texas Board does not have purview over graduate nursing programs so we do not have a list of approved programs on our web site. CCNE and NLNAC both list the accredited programs on their web sites.

If you have further questions, please let me know. Thank you."

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Specializes in Primary Care.
There are no on-campus visits required. There are other universities, such as U of M-Flint, that does not require on campus visits and Georgetown.

Thank you... But after reading so many diverse opinions and mixed information, I feel safer to attend another university that's already been established. I'll check into Georgetown, but I know they are quite expensive. I have to find a good yet inexpensive program.

Thanks.

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Specializes in Primary Care.

There are 2 required campus visits for the online FNP program at Georgetown. Just looked into that. Thanks.

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Specializes in Primary Care.
There are no on-campus visits required. There are other universities, such as U of M-Flint, that does not require on campus visits and Georgetown.

The FNP program online for Masters also requires 6-8 campus visits. The MSN to DNP is completely online with no campus visits. The BSN to FNP requires about 1 campus visit per year in the four year program.

Nursing (Accelerated - MSN) | UM-Flint?

So, another reason why I'm hesitant on Walden University not requiring any campus visits when all other established and reputable universities do require campus visits.......

Thanks again!

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I have another concern. I spoke to my counselor regarding testing. He said that grades are based on paper writing only, and there are no tests. In my opinion this cannot possibly prepare one for passing the board exam. He said he would check into it further and let me know. He never did get back to me.

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I just wanted to say that I spoke with the Texas BON on 8/2/12 and per the BON, the college that is supervising/offering clinicals (even if the student secures their own site) MUST be authorized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to have clinicals in Texas, they must obtain authorization for EACH site used in the state of Texas. Walden is NOT authorized nor have they applied for authorization for any site in Texas, emailed and spoke with the THECB regarding this matter myself. According to the THECB and BON, the clinicals performed, will be completely invalid and you will NOT be allowed to sit for boards. I notified my advisor of this and they've yet to provide me with any answer, except that they'll check into it. They pushed and pushed me to withdraw from my currently MSN program and join theirs but I researched the heck out of everything the BON told me to and found this out, just in time. BEWARE Texas residents and other states, make sure you check your BON requirements, they are being very fraudulent with the information and not telling students the truth.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ICU.

I am wondering what they mean when they say they have the "approval" of the states listed on their sites. I previously spoke to the SBON in Missouri (my state) and was never told the information I received today. They told me today that the BON has no jurisdiction over graduate nursing programs and that any out-of-state on-line program must have the approval from that states Board of Higher Education. I have e-mailed my board of higher education as well as Walden, I will post replies here. I have asked since May, when I first looked at the program and never recieved a single bit of information regarding the clinical side of things. I was always told "it will be fine" and "I'll look in to it". Today I got an email ([email protected]) and have submitted my questions. Frustrated to say the least. To be continued.....

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