Family Nurse Practitioner at South University.

JMHanna · Jan 1, 2014

I am either starting in Feb or March. I am very nervous about it. It's been 9 years since I graduated from college.

rmicu, MSN, NP · Jan 1, 2014

My friend attends South University-- there are a lot of "growing pains" in offering NP online... She hopes she will graduate on time as planned. If there are other school options available to you, you may want to consider them.

Chrissi2424 · Jan 2, 2014

My friend attends South University-- there are a lot of "growing pains" in offering NP online... She hopes she will graduate on time as planned. If there are other school options available to you, you may want to consider them.

Can you please elaborate on what problems she is having?

rmicu, MSN, NP · Jan 3, 2014

The course syllabus was changed several times--while the course was still in progress; 3 weeks notice given to attend a required weekend clinical on campus; unable to use Minute Clinics or TakeCare clinics for clinical; 180 hours clinical per quarter- plan accordingly, "guinea pigs" is the term she used for the online FNP.

She does not condemn the program nor does she recommend it, just be aware of what you are going into and plan accordingly. Network and start to set up clinical sites now-- get the dates of the courses so you can line up your sites. You must do Peds clinical during Peds course; Women's health clinical during women's health course, etc. If you know students from other schools, talk to them about clinical sites.

Hope this helps

lhflanurseNP, APRN · Jan 3, 2014

Oh my. I don't know when this happened, but there are no required "on-site" clinicals now. The school will send the evaluator to your practicum site once or twice during the practicum. There is 1 practicum that is 60 hours, the rest are 120 hours. You are also having class at the same time. That was one thing I drilled the clinical director on as well as the admissions representative. I have not had any changes in the syllabus for any of my classes. I am completing the core requirements and will be starting the practicum NP courses Feb 6th. You are responsible for obtaining practicum sites. Because this is a NP program, at least half of the practicums must be done with a NP. If you are in an extremely rural area where pickings are short, you may talk to the clinical director for some adjustment. I have had a fairly good experience with SU. The biggest thing to remember with any online program is that you get out what you put in. If you are not disciplined enough to do more than the "required", you will probably not feel you are getting anything out of it.

rmicu, MSN, NP · Jan 4, 2014

lhfla,

I'm glad it's going well for you. It's working for my friend as well, she graduates this year. Good luck to you ..the weekend clinical on campus was not the practicum/clinical with preceptor-my mistake. The on campus visit was called clinical immersion .. her class is the first of their online FNP and it sounds like changes have been made since she started. Fantastic.

The on campus clinical immersion occurred with 3 weeks notice about 1 month ago. Her issue was the lack of notice, not the Saturday immersion itself.

She's plugging along and looks forward to graduation in a few months..She just wishes she was more informed going into the program ..

School, like life, is what you make it.

It sounds like South is serving your purpose, helping you and many other students reach their goals as UAB did for me.

Take care and I wish you the best in your studies.

Happy New Year!

cardnation · Jan 10, 2014

I was accepted to South and Simmons this week. I'm so confused on which way to go. I love Simmons interactive learning concept but I'm not sure I want the stress of two classes simultaneously. South you can take one class at a time but I worry about how interactive the program is... All info good and bad I would love.

lhflanurseNP, APRN · Jan 10, 2014

I have only had one class that we had any "live" sessions, and they were basically set up for a group project. The interaction you have with your instructor and fellow classmates takes place in the discussion forums. The more you participate and engage, the more interaction you receive. I have developed many "friends" this way and we support each other personally also...kind of like an actual classroom setting where you find yourself with some "buddies". If you have ANY problems, contacting the instructor personally via email, skype, or telephone provides quick feedback. During the time my dad got sick and passed away, I managed to get through two classes with the support of my instructors. They called me at some of the hardest times and just listened. They worked around my problems and I still managed to get As. South provides the opportunity to "stagger" classes. Unfortunately, I was not able to do that because of my dad, but basically, you start one class then about 3 weeks in you can start another. I would NOT take any other classes with advanced research...I am currently taking it with Pharmacology and am at my whits end...luckily I am not working now so I can devote the time necessary for both of these classes.

freedomrn1 · Jan 21, 2014

I agree. Look at other schools before you try South. You need to be very computer savvy for their program.

lhflanurseNP, APRN · Jan 21, 2014

I agree. Look at other schools before you try South. You need to be very computer savvy for their program.

Funny...I find their program easier to manage than my RN-BSN program! Guess it depends what one is used to :)

freedomrn1 · Jan 21, 2014

Some SU students on this site really enjoy the robust learning environment SU offers. For me, its a "canned Pearson elearning program with overly rich format content and much more than what is really required. But that is how Pearson teaches and thats what Pearson sells to their schools. Then you add the individual nuances each instructor brings to that class. And this can be very confusing to the student-how one wants it done this way; the other another way. What this means to you? Your grade and points off assignments you put hours and hours in of hard work. For example, the e text offers APA e text citation. But one instructor accepts it and another doesnt. Can get very aggravating arguing over this minutia when we really want to focus on direct clinical care and case management. Here's an idea- gross anatomy, grand rounds, less APA writing. Besides, if you ever publish anything, the editor of your publication will thoroughly check you work. So why the heavy grading on APA? And if APA is so error rich with students; then perhaps provide a range of acceptable minor errors before pulling a students labor intensive work down an entire grade. Tip: if you get an instructor with a name that rhymes with haze; run.