Discouraged FNP student

allnurses Guide · Feb 26, 2018

I don't blame you for feeling this way. No one feels completely confident, but it doesn't seem like you're even getting the bare minimum of what you need. This is why school choice is so important.

What are your clinicals like? Do you have good preceptors that are helping you learn more about physical exams and differential diagnosis?

You are going to have to fill your knowledge gaps on your own. This may mean doing extra studying or attending CE programs at your own expense.

I'm sorry you're feeling this way. Again, the choice of what program you attend can make all the difference between graduating as a competent novice or floundering.

Missybaby36 · Feb 26, 2018

Thanks for your comment. I do wish I had chosen another school, but I assumed it woukd be lime all online education...you get out what you put in. The stress of finding clinical sites, reading entire books because there is virtually no teaching...this is beyond exhausting. I wish I could switch to a different program.

allnurses Guide · Feb 26, 2018

It might be worth looking into other programs and starting over, even if you lose money and time. Being a NP is a tremendous responsibility, and your patients deserve a provider who is competent and well educated. You also deserve to get a quality education. Don't throw good money after bad.

Oldmahubbard · Feb 26, 2018

NP education has gone through so many permutations over the years. For decades, becoming an NP was a full time, year long program that an experienced ADN could do.

Most NPs were prepared at the ADN level.

Then came the requirement for the BSN, plus the 1 year NP certificate. That only lasted for a few years.

We soon had the MSN requirement. The expectation was that experienced nurses, within a given nursing field, would take part-time classes at a brick and mortar school, while they worked full time, and continued to gain experience.

Now people think they can do an online program in 2 years, with minimal RN experience for their NP, and be competent.

I cannot imagine doing any legitimate exams online, and I question why the exam was in Spanish.

As I have said before, I attended a brick and mortar program over 5 years, and did very extensive self preparation.

Otherwise, I would not have had a single clue.

This is sad.

Cococure · Feb 27, 2018

I cannot imagine doing any legitimate exams online...
As I have said before, I attended a brick and mortar program over 5 years...
This is sad.

I attend a brick and mortar school and I do exams online and they are not as easy as one may think. The questions are structured in such a way that it would be a waste of time to search for answers...they are all application like questions....if you don't know the information you can't answer the questions...they are also proctored ...most of the time and they don't give as much time to answer the questions. I cannot speak for all programs but I do agree that students need to lock at a programs curriculum. No matter what school you choose it's massive amounts of information and the professors expect you to communicate with them you are struggling with a topic. Can you transfer at this point? How many more clinical hours do you have left? I would suggest that you do more and find a good preceptor.

blixkanaan, MSN, APRN · Feb 28, 2018

I am a big proponent of brick and mortar schools. I know someone that went to South University as well and she came out feeling very unprepared and eventually wen't back to floor nursing. As was mentioned before, school choice is very important. This is not to say that you can't find a job or a physician that will be wiling to teach you and take you under their wing. But I think that most clinical settings would prefer some experience (both RN and NP clinical experience). On my resume, I was able to speak to a lot of the clinical experience I had as an FNP student because my rotations were very versatile and involved. My school required about 1000 hours for clinical rotations and minimum of 1 year RN experience to be admitted (I had 5 years RN experience in my class and I was one of the youngest). Additionally, we had no online courses. I am a new grad and started practicing in family medicine about 3 months ago and without a single day of training. I started seeing patients solo on day 1. That's not to discourage you because I still ask my colleagues a lot of questions and refer when I need to. But I say this to let you know who your competition is and so that people realize that to confer a degree as an NP should be no joke. I've been practicing only 3 months but loving my work and don't feel overwhelmed because my training in school and as an RN was great. Now regarding your case, it sounds like you have a large learning curve to tackle. But I think if you just keep at it, stay motivated, and maybe look for some kind of residency program or something at a good school, you will come out on top. Good luck.

Rnis, BSN, DNP, APRN, NP · Mar 1, 2018

It's hard to know since I don't know the details of your specific program. I think it's normal at this stage to be a little terrified and to have the imposter phenomena (there are articles written on this) . I honestly was stressed for the first year as a new nurse practitioner but that confidence comes with time. Things that used to terrify me when i would look ahead in my schedule now are no biggies. Hang in there.

lavendou · Mar 12, 2018

I graduate with my FNP next month and have often felt like you, and after talking to many Nurse Practitioners, they often feel the same - that hey felt like they did not learn enough.

Some things that helped me feel more comfortable:

1. Youtube - it is a magical world of learning! I found MD USMLE prep videos especially helpful. MD programs have a great way of using memory tools like mnemonics to help you remember information. DirtyUSMLE is one of the youtubers I follow.

2. Consider using board preparation courses now - very informative and I learn a lot that my program never even touched on. I started listening to the programs a year ago when in the car. I have Barkley, Fitzgerald, and APEA (Amelie Hollier) and so far, APEA is my favorite. You can buy them used on ebay or amazon to save a little money, but do not get CEUs if you go this route.

3. Try to have some MD preceptors if you can. I learned very different information from my MD preceptors. The depth of knowledge of MDs was a great experience for me.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Mar 12, 2018

Thanks for your comment. I do wish I had chosen another school, but I assumed it woukd be lime all online education...you get out what you put in. The stress of finding clinical sites, reading entire books because there is virtually no teaching...this is beyond exhausting. I wish I could switch to a different program.

Why don't you? What is keeping you from finding something better?

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Mar 12, 2018

Why don't you? What is keeping you from finding something better?

Most graduate schools will only accept 6 to 12 transfer credits (2 to 4 classes). Once you pass a certain point in your program, you would have to repeat more courses than you would transfer. That's a lot of time and money to lose. I'm in the process of trying to transfer to another school. I've completed 18 credits (6 courses). I'm finding that most will only take 9 transfer credits. I did find a few that would accept more, but they were for-profit programs, which I'm trying to avoid.

For someone who's already in clinicals, it wouldn't be worth the monetary loss to transfer. Definitely shows why it's worth it to choose a school that is a good fit upfront.