Any FNP out there that went to a for profit online university out there?

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I was wondering if there are any FNP out there that experienced trouble finding a job due to the fact that they attended an online for profit school. I have been debating whether to attend an online for profit school or attend an online program from a traditional university. I have read a lot of negative comments towards for profit schools but often wonder if they are so bad why do hospitals promote them? I work at a large hospital and they offer discount tuition to Chamberlain, university of Phoenix, and Capella university. I plan on being an FNP and was wondering if there are any out there that attended these universities and if you all had trouble securing a job after graduation. I have mixed feelings about it but I also feel like if you pass the same certification test as anyone who attended a regular university it really shouldn't matter. I also want to know how long the FNP program took online and how hard finding a preceptor for clinicals was. I live in Texas. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

Interesting thread.

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I wholeheartedly agree with you SlyFox. I am the Director of Advanced PRactice Provders for a major premier academic healthcare organization. I am an NP myself and if we don't hold ourselves as a profession to a high standard of education, no one else will. At our organization, we do not take NP students from online programs and we do not hire NPs from for profit online programs. So when all of the posters ask whether it matters where you get your degree, absolutely it does and it should.

Any school that makes a student organize their own preceptorships should be avoided. Basically, the student ends up asking everyone and their brother to precept them, and not all preceptors are created equally. Bricks and Mortar schools have a person hired to organize student preceptorships. Relationships are established with schools and healthcare organizations and preceptors are identified who are excellent teachers and want to precept stuents. If the student has a specific person they know they want to precept with, then the school can contact that preceptor and help set up the student. Too many students don't realize they have to find their own preceptors and have already spent $$$ at the school. I have received MANY, MANY cold calls from NP students that go to school online asking if we have someone that can precept them. When I tell them "no, we only take students that attend programs in our state that we have affilatation agreements with," they say, "I wish I had known going into this program that I had to get my own preceptors. I would have gone to a different school."

If we want to be viewed as credibile NPs from MDs and DOs we need to be going to well respected institutions like they did, otherwise our profession will never get the respect we are trying to obtain.

NP programs need to be rigorous and skills need to be practiced. Anyone can study for a certification exam and pass, but can all NPs recognize abnormalities during a physical exam and know what to do with them? Quality clinical exposure with excellent preceptors will give the student those skills.

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I wholeheartedly agree with you SlyFox. I am the Director of Advanced PRactice Provders for a major premier academic healthcare organization. I am an NP myself and if we don't hold ourselves as a profession to a high standard of education, no one else will. At our organization, we do not take NP students from online programs and we do not hire NPs from for profit online programs. So when all of the posters ask whether it matters where you get your degree, absolutely it does and it should.

Any school that makes a student organize their own preceptorships should be avoided. Basically, the student ends up asking everyone and their brother to precept them, and not all preceptors are created equally. Bricks and Mortar schools have a person hired to organize student preceptorships. Relationships are established with schools and healthcare organizations and preceptors are identified who are excellent teachers and want to precept stuents. If the student has a specific person they know they want to precept with, then the school can contact that preceptor and help set up the student. Too many students don't realize they have to find their own preceptors and have already spent $$$ at the school. I have received MANY, MANY cold calls from NP students that go to school online asking if we have someone that can precept them. When I tell them "no, we only take students that attend programs in our state that we have affilatation agreements with," they say, "I wish I had known going into this program that I had to get my own preceptors. I would have gone to a different school."

If we want to be viewed as credibile NPs from MDs and DOs we need to be going to well respected institutions like they did, otherwise our profession will never get the respect we are trying to obtain.

NP programs need to be rigorous and skills need to be practiced. Anyone can study for a certification exam and pass, but can all NPs recognize abnormalities during a physical exam and know what to do with them? Quality clinical exposure with excellent preceptors will give the student those skills.

These posts have always confused me, especially since most MSN FNP programs I've been researching have ALL be online, regardless if it's a state school or for profit. In the state of Missouri there is ONE FNP program that a state school still offers in class, and fun fact, it's going online. I understand the resistance towards online programs and the fear that an NP may be ill prepared, but in the end you get the grades, and job with the amount of effort you put in. Even the school I go to currently has their FNP program online and requires you to find your own preceptors. Not all brick and mortar schools have people who find you a clinical site, most have you do it on your own and that seems to be the norm. I just really wish people would stop putting online programs down. They are not a bad thing at all.

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I attend an online program. It has enabled me to keep working and go to school at the same time. If I was required to attend classes as well as attend clinical rotations it would be impossible for me to get an advanced degree. Because I attend an online university, does that mean I am not worthy of obtaining a job as a FNP? I certainly hope that is not the attitude I come across when looking for my first FNP job. This is very disconcerting.

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I've been a NP for 19 years and everyone in our class was working and going to school at the same time. Online NP programs were not abundant 19 years ago. I went back and did the DNP in 2007 and the DNP was a hybrid between online and in class. Every 6th week we met for 2.5 days over a weekend in class, so I have experienced both. I learned much more in class than online.

The concern is for profit online NP programs such as Walden and Chamberlain. Walden does not require as many practicum hours as bricks and mortar schools do. We have hired Walden grads and they are not up to par clinically when they graduate.

When students attend a bricks and mortar school in the state either in class or online we owe them an education because they are paying tuition to a school in the state we are practicing in. They are the first to get access to our preceptors. We have developed relationships with the professors and clinical placement coordinators in those schools. Their students get first priority. Unfortunately for those that to to the Walden and Chamberlin programs it makes it that much more difficult to find a preceptor.

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Unfortunately, so many NP programs are moving to the online model, even for LOCAL students, that your statement may speak more to the quality of the B&M programs rather than vice versa.

I do not need to be in an NP program to be "qualified" to make the statements I have made. The bottom line is no medical education should be offered online - ever. Period. One needs reinforcement of skills until they are muscle memory. A future clinician should practice health assessments, exams, procedures, etc OVER AND OVER with a skilled instructor watching to ensure they provide the best care possible to their patients.

No other medical program allows fully online programs that are so rampant in NP programs. PAs do not allow it. MDs and DOs do not allow it. Why has nursing allowed such a horrible practice? "Local preceptors" vary in quality, and being an NP does not suddenly mean you are able to teach. While other professions are becoming more educated, I fear the NP profession is devolving. Poorly prepared online NP graduates preparing more poorly prepared online NP graduates until the public loses all respect for NPs. It's a recipe for disaster and no NP should be advocating for for-profit, online programs where you precept with some random NP from your hometown. If such a thing were to be suggested for MD or PA education, their members would do everything in their power to prevent it from happening and protect their credibility. Why must nursing be the only profession where cheap, easy, online education is actually valued?

If one DOES have to pursue and online NP education (which I recommend only if there are no other options), then PLEASE do yourself a favor and go OUTSIDE your program for extra education. Attend conferences, skill sessions, NP boot camps, etc. Ensure your clinical preceptor has experience precepting other students and do everything to make the best of your education!

NP students do not expect to be solely spoon-fed by their schools to earn their education and skills.

While I was in school, our cohort attended conferences, live reviews, extra classes, skills lab, meetings, etc. to learn new skills or learn more about a drug or disease. Some of us went to clinicals beyond the required hours because we wanted to get the most amount of experience possible. I think your statements are plain assumptions (based on what you heard, read, or thought). You really have to go through the program to know more about what we do, what kind of preceptors we get, how much studying we do, how tedious our projects are, how much interaction we do on blackboard, etc.

Now I agree that some students may not do more than what's expected or may choose to do just the minimum required. But i don't think it is right to think that ALL NPs who went to online schools are not competent like the PAs and MDs in the health care field.

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I wholeheartedly agree with you SlyFox. I am the Director of Advanced PRactice Provders for a major premier academic healthcare organization. I am an NP myself and if we don't hold ourselves as a profession to a high standard of education, no one else will. At our organization, we do not take NP students from online programs and we do not hire NPs from for profit online programs. So when all of the posters ask whether it matters where you get your degree, absolutely it does and it should.

Any school that makes a student organize their own preceptorships should be avoided. Basically, the student ends up asking everyone and their brother to precept them, and not all preceptors are created equally. Bricks and Mortar schools have a person hired to organize student preceptorships. Relationships are established with schools and healthcare organizations and preceptors are identified who are excellent teachers and want to precept stuents. If the student has a specific person they know they want to precept with, then the school can contact that preceptor and help set up the student. Too many students don't realize they have to find their own preceptors and have already spent $$$ at the school. I have received MANY, MANY cold calls from NP students that go to school online asking if we have someone that can precept them. When I tell them "no, we only take students that attend programs in our state that we have affilatation agreements with," they say, "I wish I had known going into this program that I had to get my own preceptors. I would have gone to a different school."

If we want to be viewed as credibile NPs from MDs and DOs we need to be going to well respected institutions like they did, otherwise our profession will never get the respect we are trying to obtain.

NP programs need to be rigorous and skills need to be practiced. Anyone can study for a certification exam and pass, but can all NPs recognize abnormalities during a physical exam and know what to do with them? Quality clinical exposure with excellent preceptors will give the student those skills.

It's frustrating that this type of thinking exists. Hiring managers should hire employees based on their education, credentials, experience, leadership, awards, and of course, the interview. The university they attended shouldn't be the only deciding factor for hiring.

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I wholeheartedly agree with you SlyFox. I am the Director of Advanced PRactice Provders for a major premier academic healthcare organization. I am an NP myself and if we don't hold ourselves as a profession to a high standard of education, no one else will. At our organization, we do not take NP students from online programs and we do not hire NPs from for profit online programs. So when all of the posters ask whether it matters where you get your degree, absolutely it does and it should.

Any school that makes a student organize their own preceptorships should be avoided. Basically, the student ends up asking everyone and their brother to precept them, and not all preceptors are created equally. Bricks and Mortar schools have a person hired to organize student preceptorships. Relationships are established with schools and healthcare organizations and preceptors are identified who are excellent teachers and want to precept stuents. If the student has a specific person they know they want to precept with, then the school can contact that preceptor and help set up the student. Too many students don't realize they have to find their own preceptors and have already spent $$$ at the school. I have received MANY, MANY cold calls from NP students that go to school online asking if we have someone that can precept them. When I tell them "no, we only take students that attend programs in our state that we have affilatation agreements with," they say, "I wish I had known going into this program that I had to get my own preceptors. I would have gone to a different school."

If we want to be viewed as credibile NPs from MDs and DOs we need to be going to well respected institutions like they did, otherwise our profession will never get the respect we are trying to obtain.

NP programs need to be rigorous and skills need to be practiced. Anyone can study for a certification exam and pass, but can all NPs recognize abnormalities during a physical exam and know what to do with them? Quality clinical exposure with excellent preceptors will give the student those skills.

I couldn't disagree with you more. The top nursing schools in the country have online programs.

Vanderbilt, is a top school and requires students to find their own preceptors. They will help if you are stuck but will not do it for you.

Frontier Nursing University has the #1 ranked CNM program in the country. They also, require you to find your own preceptor and are online.

Frankly, your organization is really limiting their options.

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Cocoa, my new friend, where did you go to school? [it really doesn't matter, except I'm curious. You passed the certification, and that is what matters.]

California State University in the Los Angeles area. How about you, WK?

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I'm at the "infamous" Walden. I really wanted to do the dual FNP/ACNP at USA but my undergrad GPA was too low to be accepted. I did not put in the effort at that time to reflect my desire to succeed and I'm paying for it. But that's ok. I am more than making up for it now and working my derriere off. I know how some people feel about it, but it doesn't bother me because I know of what I am capable and if Walden is lacking anything, I will bridge those gaps with my networking and contacts.

It's very exciting actually.

Yes! Very exciting ;-)

You know, sometimes, it depends on how much the person wants to put in and how much he/she wants to learn. For example, there are doctors who attended universities in other countries, although not recognized by the US standards, that are still really good at being doctors. Some even become great nurses!

Heck, my school is probably not good enough for other people. One manager in the AN community already proclaimed that they only hire graduates from "a particular" school (which is a poor manifestation of leadership to me). They are missing out on other great NPs that could potentially bring in so much to their organization!

In the end, we eventually become great NPs (as long as you put in the right amount of effort, time, and determination), no matter how long it takes.

Hey, good luck with your studies, WK!

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NP Skills are more advanced and practice is necessary vs RN. Take suturing for example. In an online program, you may never get to practice in lab. That's an important skill to try out before you go trying to stitch up a real person. In addition, it's not as simple as just pulling the skin together and sewing like a teddy bear - there are so many different techniques based on wound size, shape, location. Suturing alone should be a few weeks practice in a lab before trying on someone...

I next month I will be graduating from an online program that also has a B&M school (in a different city than me). I had an extensive suturing lab during our immersion campus visits where we also did other competencies and testing prior to starting clinicals. I experience the exact curriculum online that the in person students get.

This online school also found me clinical sites and preceptors which some of my local B&M schools don't even do.

Some online schools do not adequately prepare you for real practice, however I do think my online program has.

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BeeGee RN, have you completed your FNP from Chamberlain yet? If so can you explain what is expected out of clinicals? Example: catalog states that you should experience joint injections and toe nail removals. What if the site/sites do not perform those?? Ty!!

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