FNP Graduate from Chamberlain College of Nursing Dec 2015

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I'm a family nurse practitioner and graduated from Chamberlain College of Nursing's FNP program as of December 2015.

Lately I have been getting a lot of questions from nurses either looking to start Chamberlains FNP program or who are in the program.

I decided that I would create a blog to address these questions. Feel free to ask me anything about Chamberlain's FNP program.

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Hello. I am currently in the FNP program and am about to go to the immersion weekend. Can you give me your blog info? I am interested to ask you some questions. Thanks in advance.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Your thread has been moved to our Chamberlain College forum to reach students who are specifically looking into attending this school. Thanks for volunteering to provide firsthand feedback on your experiences!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Can you give me your blog info?
Welcome! Ask your questions about the FNP program here on this thread, and the original poster will likely return in a day or two with an answer. This is what he/she means by a blog style post.
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Momernurse,

Sorry for the confusion but I do not have a blog elsewhere. This is my blog on allnurses. What questions do you have about the immersion weekend?

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Congrats!! I'm starting in July 2016. I've heard negatives and positives about Chamberlain. Did you feel that you learned enough between course work and the clinicals to feel confident as a new FNP?

I I work with FNPs who graduated from Frontier and swear by their program. I'm still leaning toward Chamberlain. I like their set up AND I can do my clinicals where I work. This will be so much easier for me and I won't feel nervous asking questions!

Any advice, comments, concerns, did you feel prepared for certification etc?

ty

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843all4God,

Congrats on starting your FNP degree at Chamberlain in July 2016!

I do feel that I learned enough between course work, the immersion weekend, and the clinicals to feel confident as a new FNP. The discussion boards in the FNP track prepares you like you are the nurse practitioner taking care of patients.

For example the first discussion board that opens on Sunday presents a patient (name, age, and other pertinent information) who comes into your clinic with a complaint/problem (history of present illness), current medications, past medical history, social history, and family history and you need to create a list of differential diagnoses (at least 3), list of questions you would ask, and possible assessments and lab work you would complete for that patient using scholarly sources.

Then the second discussion board opens on Wednesday and presents assessment findings, pertinent laboratory findings, and anything else your patient has explained to you and asks you to create a SOAP note (S: subjective, O: objective, A: Assessment, P: plan). You would then narrow down your list of differential diagnoses or create new diagnoses based on the information you obtained. You would also complete your SOAP note by adding any additional lab work you may order, prescriptions, education, referrals/consultations, and follow up plan again using scholarly sources.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it really does prepare you for being a nurse practitioner and when you go to clinical it really helps you be prepared and you learn so much from clinical.

The last class at Chamberlain is a Capstone class in which there are no more SOAP notes (yay!) but instead you complete a review course with videos and hundreds of practice questions provided by Amelie Hollier. Amelie Hollier's claim is if you take her review course and study you will have a 98% pass rate on your first attempt. It really prepares you for taking the certification examination. Also Chamberlain provides an e-book (free) nurse practitioner certification examination and practice preparation by Margaret Fitzgerald fourth edition to review in addition to Amelie Hollier's review course. My last day of class was December 20th and I took the AANP certification examination January 20th and passed on my first attempt. I honestly thought that the AANP exam was easy but that was related to how much I studied both Amelie Hollier's and Margaret Fitzgerald's information over the four weeks.

Recommendation: If you have preceptors and clinical sites already planned that will save you stress and time in the long run especially if you know the people and are comfortable with them. Just a heads up that wherever you go for clinical Chamberlain has to have a contract agreement in place with that practice or hospital.

My advice is: Chamberlain's FNP track is tough and can be overwhelming at times especially trying to juggle clinical, work, and your life, but it is doable and worth it. It is all about finding the balance and having very supportive family, friends, and coworkers.

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You rock!!! Ty so much for that input! Puts me at ease and makes sense now!! Congrats congrats!! Are you working anywhere now? Again, thank you for taking the time to give me this feedback!!

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You're welcome! I just started applying for jobs last week. I wanted to wait until I had my certification from the american academy of nurse practitioners so I could bring that to my interviews because my license will take 6 to 8 weeks. I have two job offers already and am deciding between them and working on negotiating the contracts.

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You rock AGAIN! Good luck

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Thank you! Good luck to you too!

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One more question. Did you use all e-books?

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