How is school going so far?

Hi fellow students,

I know that some of us have started our NP programs this week. How does everyone feel so far?

I am having doubts myself about whether or not this is right for me.

Anyone else?

I started this week, I am part time with 2 classes, nursing theory and epidemiology... I am scared... we have to write a rural concept paper and do a nursing theory paper and presentation.. My theorists is Betty Neumann. .. what classes do you have???

[Christen, ANP]

Hallo! I started my masters as well! I am an "undecided," though I am leaning towards CNS with the intention of obtaining my NP as a post-masters degree.

I am taking:

- Patho

- Theory

- Research

For my projects in theory, I've picked the concept of empathy for my concept analysis; emotional intelligence as a borrowed theory; and Florance Nightingale as my theorist, because I wanted to know more about her. I mean, she was pretty much "the one" in our profession.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

How much do people study? It's the second week, and my classes are 2 nights/week. I was just wondering how many nights/hours people study this stuff.

[VTBabyNurse]

As far as studying....whenever I am not working my 24 hours a week, I am at home doing some type of work, whether it is reading, studying, projects, papers, etc. But, I am also taking 6 classes, so I feel like if I don't spend all that time doing things then I will get behind.

[Christen, ANP]

After studying for my upcoming patho test, I've decided I'll be studying that particular subject immediatly. The other two classes are mostly paperwork, so limited studying required!

Just starting week two with two classes: theory, and "roles". Both are online, and the only action seems to be postings in the "introductions" threads.

I've already posted my first assignment in the theory class, and made a couple of posts looking for clarification of the assignments for the "roles" seminar. Other than that, not much going on. I've read all of the assigned chapters for both classes, and I'm ready to get going!

For my projects in theory, I've picked the concept of empathy for my concept analysis; emotional intelligence as a borrowed theory; and Florance Nightingale as my theorist, because I wanted to know more about her. I mean, she was pretty much "the one" in our profession.

I'm with you on Nightingale; I'm going to do my theory paper on either her or Benner (the novice-to-expert stuff). Frankly, they are the only two nursing "theorists" I can stomach at this point.

EI can be a good theory to work with, I did some undergrad-level research in the subject for my psych degree. Tip: avoid the Goleman stuff, go straight to Salovey and Mayer, they did the original research that Goleman ripped off and "popularized." Also, you may want to look into the LEAS, it is a really interesting measure developed to measure some aspects of EI.

[xos4eva]

i feel as though i'm not studying enough. i'm taking 3 classes. advanced health assessment, selected topics in pathophysiology of the adult and an independent study. for the independent study i'm supposed to be looking at developing some type of policy and procedure regarding pts from the clinic being sent to the er or being admitted directly to the floor. i have no clue where to start and feel slightly overwhelmed. it's hard because i'm also working full time and have a part time job. keeping hope alive and just trying to take it one day at a time.

[marachne]

I'm with you on Nightingale; I'm going to do my theory paper on either her or Benner (the novice-to-expert stuff). Frankly, they are the only two nursing "theorists" I can stomach at this point.

EI can be a good theory to work with, I did some undergrad-level research in the subject for my psych degree. Tip: avoid the Goleman stuff, go straight to Salovey and Mayer, they did the original research that Goleman ripped off and "popularized." Also, you may want to look into the LEAS, it is a really interesting measure developed to measure some aspects of EI.

If you're interested in Benner, also check out Tanner -- she wrote with Benner but she has also developed a very interesting model based on the idea of nursing judgment (as opposed to the usual language of critical thinking, or nursing process). She's also done a lot of work on how to deal w/the nursing shortage (and she's an amazing phenomenological researcher)

This might be a good starting place if you're interested:

Tanner, C.A. (2006). Thinking like a nurse: a research-based model of clinical judgment. Journal of Nursing Education, 45(6), 204-211

and here's a little more about her and her publications: http://www.ohsu.edu/son/faculty/tanner.shtml

Thanks for the tip, I'll read up on her.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

So how's everyone doing so far? I have had mixed results - first patho exam, I literally had no time to study for it as I got slammed when I was on call the week before, and I got a B. The first 2 statistics assignments, I somehow managed to get 100% for each (I have no idea how...).

The week's classes seem to roll around so fast, I can't believe this coming week will be week 6!! The term is almost half over! Midterm exam coming soon!

I am surprised that the work itself is not that hard though. It's a LOT of reading and recall, but not too much hard stuff. Yet. I think that comes next term, with pharmacology. Eek.

Hi fellow students,

I know that some of us have started our NP programs this week. How does everyone feel so far?

I am having doubts myself about whether or not this is right for me.

Anyone else?

Although I just officially started the NP program, I had already taken a few MSN level courses--theory, research, sadistics, and patho, which I earned A's in all. Well on Wednesday, October 1st, we took our first PE/DD exam. Avg grade was a 70, so avg person failed. I happen to be a bit above avg...I failed too. This was a first for me; and way disappointing considering I spent sooooooooooo much time reading and studying. The only excuse I have is that I was (and still am) sick--I'm thinking I had food poisoning. Instructor expressed his disgust with our poor performance (although there is a long history of many failing his class). Maybe this isn't for me. :-(

[Dr. Tammy, FNP/GNP-C]

I'm with you on Nightingale; I'm going to do my theory paper on either her or Benner (the novice-to-expert stuff). Frankly, they are the only two nursing "theorists" I can stomach at this point.

I'm right there with you. Check out Orem's Self-Care-Nursing Deficit Theory. Although grand, not too abstract in her concepts. Also, fits nicely with Henderson's definition of nursing (gold standard borrowed my many of the theorists in their metaparadigm development of nursing). Collectively these two can guide most projects as a comprehensive framework involving nursing practice as they complement each other and it doesn't hurt your head too much.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

sadistics

Sadistics is right!!

[xos4eva]

Please I'm doing my h&p's and haven't recieved a grade yet and the next one is due friday. I'm so "smart" I went on vacation last week and then work today and tomorrow and have to submit 2 homework questions for my groupd by tomorrow night and guess what , each question requires reading..... fun..... not..... I'm doing and independent study and have emailed my professor 2 times and have yet to hear from her. Shall I go on? I dont know how i'm gonna make it and I feel like such a loser :-(

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

So, just did my midterm exam for statistics today - was not too bad. A few tricky questions, and a little harder than I expected, but I think I was prepared.

Happy to report my second patho exam was much better - got an A+!

Just have one final report for statistics (evaluating an article) and 2 more patho exams this term, as well as a final exam for the NP role practicum.

Ack! Studying nursing theory, and actually coming to see some value in it (especially at the mid-range and practice theory level).

Quick, someone send me a referral to a psychiatrist (or psych NP, of course)!

well, another day, another test, another failed PE/DD exam. and once again, it wasn't for lack of effort or understanding of the material on my part; fortunately I failed by an even slimmer margin; class average popped up a fraction of a point from the first exam too; so we have a class of 70 and 50+ of us are failing--from all tracks, like CRNA, FNP, PNP, ACNP, ANP, etc.

does this seem right to anyone? so maybe you are asking yourself...how would the school allow the instructor to fail 70+% of a class of graduate students? well the answer is, the instructor doesn't. the instructor offers a sweet deal that if you don't pass you can wait until the final drop day to drop and even though you are failing miserably, you'll be given a "W", not a "WF"; well of course people are going to jump all over that because they wig out about grades; not me though; if I for some unfortunate reason do worse on the 3rd exam and my overall average drops below an 80 (there are a couple other things that will get factored into our grade which so far are pretty high for me) the instructor's gonna have to give me a failing grade; I'm a 4.0 student at this university, including a few graduate classes; I'm a member of Sigma Theta Tau; I don't care about my GPA at this point; I just want my degree and ultimately, certification; I'm going to hold him accountable, even if I'm the only one

just to give you an idea of the situation...if you get a 100% (which is highly unlikely) from the non test stuff, the lowest you can average on the 3 exams is a 66...well the averages on the first 2 exams are less than 5 points above that point of no return; it's absurd

[tryingtohaveitall]

I've always heard that if the class is doing that poorly, there's something wrong w/ the test or the teacher. That's crazy to fail that many grad students who are presumably doing well everywhere else!