Can't decide between Maryville, Walden or La Salle Nurse practitioner programs

[LJewelsAPN]

Hello

I'm looking for some feedback. I got accepted into 2 online (Maryville & Walden) and 1 brick and mortar (La Salle) Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP programs starting soon. I plan on working on call at night and was looking for a program that will have flexible clinical hours. Can anyone give me feedback about their experiences with Maryville, Walden or La Salle University?

[schoolisexpensive]

All of those are terrible online programs, I hire for my clinic and anyone with an online NP degree I throw out

[LJewelsAPN]

Is La salle is horrible too? Its a brick and mortar school

[Rnis, BSN, DNP, APRN, NP]

On 11/17/2019 at 7:03 PM, LJewelsRN said:

Hello

I'm looking for some feedback. I got accepted into 2 online (Maryville & Walden) and 1 brick and mortar (La Salle) Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP programs starting soon. I plan on working on call at night and was looking for a program that will have flexible clinical hours. Can anyone give me feedback about their experiences with Maryville, Walden or La Salle University?

Flexible clinical hours are not going to be related to the school, but the clinical site. You are getting a primary care degree, the expectation will likely be weekday hours. You will probably have to find those clinical sites on your own.....so you can try to find sites with more creative hours. (although primary care only gets so creative ?

I have to say, I am getting burned out with helping students. So I will give you my 2 cents ? Go into clinical experiences with the understanding that people are helping you out and taking time out of their day to help YOU. Expecting sites to be accommodating to your schedule preferences is a bit offputting, make sure to be flexible and have the expectation that you will be flexible to what works best for them. Good luck!

[Neuro Guy NP, DNP, PhD, APRN]

Exactly. It's school. It isn't supposed to be flexible. My university's ACNP program arranges the sites. Either make it work or you don't. School is a big sacrifice and really isn't going to be any more flexible than a full time job is in most circumstances.

[LJewelsAPN]

I spoke with my advisor today. I can do 8 hours a week or 16. Thanks for all of the advice

[Dodongo, APRN, NP]

Ha, 8 hours a week. What is even the point?? These schools, and the CCNE requirements, are so lamentable.

[Bumex, DNP, NP]

I’ve begrudgingly hired two Walden grads with pressure from my boss and I then fired both within 6 months. Both had intensive orientation periods. Had no idea what they were doing in the slightest. Didn’t know how to chart, practice medicine, or even do an appropriate differential diagnosis. I think that sums up Walden education right there.

[Dodongo, APRN, NP]

1 hour ago, Bumex said:

I’ve begrudgingly hired two Walden grads with pressure from my boss and I then fired both within 6 months. Both had intensive orientation periods. Had no idea what they were doing in the slightest. Didn’t know how to chart, practice medicine, or even do an appropriate differential diagnosis. I think that sums up Walden education right there.

This is the new, smiling face of the NP profession. It'll only be a few years before the profession tanks because of schools like these.

To the OP, between those 3, go to La Salle. Walden and Maryville should be shut down. My current group just fired a NP from one of these schools. Over a year of orientation and still no clue. It made all NPs look horrible.

[Rnis, BSN, DNP, APRN, NP]

I have had students from state schools, private schools, and the schools i perceive as mill schools. I am going to be honest that the students i had from Chamberlain, frontier, and Purdue have been much more professional and prepared than some of the local students(and those students were okay.....just not as prepared ). Except chamberlain, I also thought the supervising professors were much more available and actually checked in, in a way that felt meaningful. I have no experience with the schools above, but I do believe that online schools can provide quality educations. Ultimately it will come down to the student, and I may have just lucked out. I don't take every student that asks me, there has to be something interesting/impressive on their resume for me to consider precepting which does weed out a lot of students from some of the online schools.

[Neuro Guy NP, DNP, PhD, APRN]

On 12/6/2019 at 8:20 PM, Dodongo said:

Ha, 8 hours a week. What is even the point?? These schools, and the CCNE requirements, are so lamentable.

Agree. 8 hours a week? What are you even going to learn? I'm not impressed that potential students would even consider that. At some point you've got to look past convenience and think about your education and what you'll get out of it.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

Pick a school that:

- is accredited

- has admission standards beyond "can you write a check?"

- provides clinical experiences for you

- provides evaluation of your clinical experience

- has prior graduates available that you can ask about the program

- has a comprehensive exam