Published Sep 1, 2010
rr0416
22 Posts
I am looking for advice. I have been a Social Worker for the past 10 years, currently finishing up prerequisites to hopefully get into the alternate entry program for PMHNP in Austin, Texas. I am not employed, just have the family on my plate. I am wondering what a typical week would look like for a PMHNP student. Am I looking at an 80 hour week, 60 hour week? I have a very supportive spouse, but want to make the best decision for my family. Thanks
RN007
541 Posts
[color=darkslategray]the first part of the program where you work on getting the rn will likely be intense, but if you have supportive family and are not working, it should be very doable. the msn part you can plan on spending an estimated 4 hours/ graduate credit hour studying (they say). some classes are harder than others, like advanced pathophysiology and pharmacology, for example, where you have to learn facts. theory isn't so bad, except that you likely will have to write some papers. i just started a pmhnp program with family, kids in school, an elderly mother and working part time (prn). so far, so good.
UVA Grad Nursing
1,068 Posts
The workload will likely vary from school to school, as well as from term to term.
We polled the students in our Direct Entry MSN program about average hours spent on the program (classroom time, readings, clinicals, clinical prep, writing logs, papers, etc). The responses indicate that the number of hours spent in our program was 40-85 hours a week depending on where a person was in the curriculum (term 1 to term 6).
It is great that you have a supportive family for this new stage in your life.