How does the AP program work?

[kmcinerney09]

Hello everyone, I am currently finishing up some prereqs to apply to the AP nursing program in June. I have a question for those already in the program or anyone that has more information for me. How often do you do clinical rotations and how often do they switch your days? My understanding is you have two 12 hour clinical shifts a week. Do they change each semester? I emailed my advisor but have not heard anything back so I thought I would try here. Thanks!

[glowbug, BSN, RN]

I hope I can be of some use by giving you a brief overview of the AP BSN Program.

Clinical days differ each semester and for each cohort, but exam days tend to remain the same throughout the program. Just to give you an idea, in J1 you have two clinical days and in J2 you will have three clinical days due to psych and med-surg. Also, there are no set clinical days; it changes every semester, unless the hospital that you are at has agreed to host the students for a another term in their needed department such as ob or something. Also, not all hospitals provide the same care, so for psych if your partner hospital does not have a psych unit then you will have to travel to a different site, the same thing can be said for ob, peds, community, and etc. I almost forgot to mention the length of the clinical day, which are typically between 10 to 12 hours long.

FYI the advisors really have no clue; since I've been in this program everything has been decided at the last minute (due to hospital scheduling and etc.) If you are employed, hopefully, you have a really flexible work schedule because exams are proctored and are scheduled throughout the week. So for example: you could have one clinical Mon & Tues, exam day on a Wed, and another clinical on Saturday. Approximately 100 students are accepted into the program which is primarily based on HESI scores, work history, partnership, & GPA.