Allina Health not hiring online NP grads

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Allina Health Nurse Practitioner II Job in Minneapolis, MN | Glassdoor

"Allina Health does not hire new grads from all academic institutions. Many proprietary on-line schools do not meet Allina Health's standards due to the minimal oversight of the student's clinical experience, the high faculty/student ratio, and the lack of focus on national certification standards in the curriculum."

There are countless online programs to get your. ASN.BSN degree that have been around for over a decade, yet all RN's are RN's. The quality hasn't degraded. The same goes with online NP programs. Until we can prove otherwise, there is no evidence to suggest online degree trained NP graduates are worse than brick and mortar trained candidates. And collectively, the data has not shown any decline.

I notice some of the commenters here against online NP programs are staunch supporters of NP/MD parity movement. Dismissing the educational credentials of Online NP graduates is just as condescending and factually inaccurate as physicians dismissing the qualifications of NP graduates. We need to support each other and recognize that the school you go to actually has very little impact and the on the job training you learn has the biggest impact.

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I do have a concern with the number of NP programs available and lack of over site concerning these programs. Name another healthcare profession that had this many online programs pop up over the last 10 years. The perception from other professions is a quick money grab by schools with little assurance of standards or post graduation evaluation. Our board exams are tuff but only makes sure we are safe, not effective. I only know 3 NP's that completed online programs and they are doing well so I'm no expert on outcomes but I think more focus on actual quality of education provided is needed.

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Judging the quality of a school by the rate of students who pass the boards, although it is the standard we have to work with, is sad imo. This does little to actually demonstrate clinical competence. The PMH and FNP boards I took were heavy on nursing fluff and light on diagnosing and prescribing which I think is inexcusable. If I had to guess my psych boards had maybe 5% of content on medications and only 1 question on labs. My guess is I could probably pass any of the NP boards today without any prep. This needs to change.

This right here is the reason why MD/DOs are so against complete autonomy for NPs. Too much fluff, not enough actual medicine. Contrast that with PAs who are heavy on the medicine, have more hours of training than NPs, and more hours of clinicals than NPs but don't wish to sever the MD/PA relationship as they acknowledge their training is not the same as physicians.

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after the first half-day I sent him home and cancelled the preceptorship because he had never had a provider level physical exam course and couldn't negotiate a basic H&P.

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Wow! Glad you were not my preceptor!! My first few days in the clinical setting I was like a deer in the headlights and my charting was so very bad. However, I had a very experienced and patient preceptor who helped me right my ship and I learned more from her than I did my brick & mortar clinical instructor.

Really, one day? That is cold blooded man!!

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
Wow! Glad you were not my preceptor!! My first few days in the clinical setting I was like a deer in the headlights and my charting was so very bad. However, I had a very experienced and patient preceptor who helped me right my ship and I learned more from her than I did my brick & mortar clinical instructor.

Really, one day? That is cold blooded man!!

I just don't have time to teach someone how to do a physical exam from scratch. Deer in the headlights is normal, not knowing how to start a history or conduct a basic exam is just...too much.

All of the students I have now have completed a standardized patient course and are ready to dive into real clinic. It's hard to go back from that.

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Wow! Glad you were not my preceptor!! My first few days in the clinical setting I was like a deer in the headlights and my charting was so very bad. However, I had a very experienced and patient preceptor who helped me right my ship and I learned more from her than I did my brick & mortar clinical instructor.

Really, one day? That is cold blooded man!!

I've done a lot of precepting of graduate students from various disciplines, and I can tell you that there is a big difference between a student having "first day jitters" (or "first week jitters") and a student who just doesn't know the basic stuff s/he needs to (and can reasonably be expected to) know, and it is not hard for the preceptor to tell which is which.

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You might stumble on taking your first BP or asking questions to your first patient but simply not knowing how is extremely concerning and an example of the dangerous of online NP programs.

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But that is what clinical a are for. That's where students can relearn these skills in a protected setting before actually dealing with patients independently

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I have made it a practice to meet with the student prior to accepting them to precept. I discuss what I expect and give them a scenario or two and have them walk me through their process step by step. I think if they possess the basic understanding I can help them apply the practice, but agree if they do not possess the basic understanding of how to conduct a physical then they do not yet belong in a clinical setting.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

Clinicals are for developing advanced practice skills not being introduced to basic skills. I'm sorry but if an APN student is unable to take a basic history or conduct a basic exam because their program hasn't taught them that prior to starting clinical rotations than my patients deserve better and I will invest my time taking additional students from a quality program instead.

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

My school requires students to take the Advanced Health Assessment class directly before starting clinical. If more than one semester goes by before clinicals are started then they are mandated to take the final exam again, no matter what their grade was. If you don't have the required class within the required time-frame you are not allowed to proceed further in the program until those requirements are satisfied. You simply aren't allowed to step foot in a clinical area without having just completed this class so that it is fresh in your memory. Anything less than an 83% is a fail. It was the toughest class I did the entire program so far. Labs every single week, Shadow Health assessments and SOAP notes every week also. It was a whole lot of work but I'm grateful to have had it. I know it will stand me in good stead.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
My school requires students to take the Advanced Health Assessment class directly before starting clinical.

Sadly, some programs no longer do this and instead expect the preceptor to do it while precepting the first semester. Those programs need to go away.

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