Johns Hopkins Entry into Nursing (MSN) Fall 2021

WlkrCJ · Feb 5, 2021

On 2/2/2021 at 1:23 AM, RN Imposter said:

Hey Guys,

I hate to be the "negative natalie" but as a recent graduate of this program (Spring 2020)- yay Covid ? I'd like to give some real information that I truly wish someone gave me before going to this school. #1, you are seriously and I mean SERIOUSLY, overpaying for your education. Don't get me wrong, the lectures and very knowledgeable professors who are teaching are excellent but the clinicals were literally CRAP. I barely got to practice any clinical skills aside from checking glucose levels, taking vitals, and administering PO meds. All of the skills you learn in simulation and lab, you won't have much opportunity to practice with real patients in your clinical rotations much less your instructor explain to you where you should be charting in EPIC, what you should be looking for in terms of your orders, where to find labs. That 30 min video module is useless. I'm in a residency program and have found just how profoundly poor my clinical rotations were in preparing me for the real job compared with other school like UW or Towson University or even community college nursing students are getting and this came from feedback from my unit manager, preceptor, and residency education program manager who train dozens of new nurses in their residency program. I paid 100K for an education that did me a disservice in not properly teaching me or providing a standard level of skills practice in my clinical rotations to ensure I would survive an RN residency program. I'm actually contemplating returning to a previous career in corporate should I get fired from my current new RN position. And just so you know, I studied HARD. I mean, I slept 3-4 hours a day, worked my *** off, NEVER missed a lecture or clinical day not even when I was sick. I graduated as a member of the national honor society for nurses, so it wasn't because I'm a poor student that I'm performing horribly as a new nurse. You should know all of this before considering plunking down a sizeable chunk of money for an education that may not properly train you! And no, hospitals truly do not care where you graduate from. I had a lot of rejections until I finally found a place willing to take me and that shiny name of "Hopkins" did nothing for me. Current hospital took me because of my previous volunteer experience on a similar unit prior to my attending nursing school. You'd do better to go to a cheaper school while working as a nursing assistant because what really helps, is having hospital work experience to lessen that gap between nursing student to real nurse. That gap is REAL if you've never working in the acute care setting or have a prior background in healthcare. New nurse salaries are quite low especially when you factor in monthly student loan payments and the high interest rates. Do your due diligence. Go to a cheaper school. Interview current nurses working at Hopkins Hospital, you'll find many of them did not go to Hopkins for their schooling so that should tell you, it doesn't matter where you graduate from.

I really appreciate this. I was waitlisted at Hopkins for Fall 2021. I was accepted into an ABSN program in my home state that begins this Summer. The entire cost is just 40k! Had I not been waitlisted I may have jumped the gun, and accepted the offer. I have to say, deep down I am relieved.

NewMSNCa, MSN, RN · Feb 5, 2021

48 minutes ago, WlkrCJ said:

I really appreciate this. I was waitlisted at Hopkins for Fall 2021. I was accepted into an ABSN program in my home state that begins this Summer. The entire cost is just 40k! Had I not been waitlisted I may have jumped the gun, and accepted the offer. I have to say, deep down I am relieved.

I had no idea they were sending out decisions this early. When did you submit your application?

amanda12 · Feb 5, 2021

39 minutes ago, sarahrebecca said:

I had no idea they were sending out decisions this early. When did you submit your application?

If you applied before the early deadline (Nov 1), the decision were already sent out, but if you applied for the regular decision date (Jan 1), you will be notified in march

WlkrCJ · Feb 5, 2021

49 minutes ago, sarahrebecca said:

I had no idea they were sending out decisions this early. When did you submit your application?

I applied early decision.

wildepanda · Feb 5, 2021

On 2/1/2021 at 10:23 PM, RN Imposter said:

Hey Guys,

I hate to be the "negative natalie" but as a recent graduate of this program (Spring 2020)- yay Covid ? I'd like to give some real information that I truly wish someone gave me before going to this school. #1, you are seriously and I mean SERIOUSLY, overpaying for your education. Don't get me wrong, the lectures and very knowledgeable professors who are teaching are excellent but the clinicals were literally CRAP. I barely got to practice any clinical skills aside from checking glucose levels, taking vitals, and administering PO meds. All of the skills you learn in simulation and lab, you won't have much opportunity to practice with real patients in your clinical rotations much less your instructor explain to you where you should be charting in EPIC, what you should be looking for in terms of your orders, where to find labs. That 30 min video module is useless. I'm in a residency program and have found just how profoundly poor my clinical rotations were in preparing me for the real job compared with other school like UW or Towson University or even community college nursing students are getting and this came from feedback from my unit manager, preceptor, and residency education program manager who train dozens of new nurses in their residency program. I paid 100K for an education that did me a disservice in not properly teaching me or providing a standard level of skills practice in my clinical rotations to ensure I would survive an RN residency program. I'm actually contemplating returning to a previous career in corporate should I get fired from my current new RN position. And just so you know, I studied HARD. I mean, I slept 3-4 hours a day, worked my *** off, NEVER missed a lecture or clinical day not even when I was sick. I graduated as a member of the national honor society for nurses, so it wasn't because I'm a poor student that I'm performing horribly as a new nurse. You should know all of this before considering plunking down a sizeable chunk of money for an education that may not properly train you! And no, hospitals truly do not care where you graduate from. I had a lot of rejections until I finally found a place willing to take me and that shiny name of "Hopkins" did nothing for me. Current hospital took me because of my previous volunteer experience on a similar unit prior to my attending nursing school. You'd do better to go to a cheaper school while working as a nursing assistant because what really helps, is having hospital work experience to lessen that gap between nursing student to real nurse. That gap is REAL if you've never working in the acute care setting or have a prior background in healthcare. New nurse salaries are quite low especially when you factor in monthly student loan payments and the high interest rates. Do your due diligence. Go to a cheaper school. Interview current nurses working at Hopkins Hospital, you'll find many of them did not go to Hopkins for their schooling so that should tell you, it doesn't matter where you graduate from.

I so appreciate your honesty. I applied to Hopkins as sort of a consolation with the intent of only going if I had significant scholarship help and it certainly wasn't my first choice. I've heavily researched all the programs I've applied (all in different states) and sometimes this info just isn't out there. Maybe this isn't everyone's experience but it is extremely important to hear them out! Thank you again!

RN Imposter · Feb 5, 2021

1 hour ago, wildepanda said:

I so appreciate your honesty. I applied to Hopkins as sort of a consolation with the intent of only going if I had significant scholarship help and it certainly wasn't my first choice. I've heavily researched all the programs I've applied (all in different states) and sometimes this info just isn't out there. Maybe this isn't everyone's experience but it is extremely important to hear them out! Thank you again!

You're very welcome. I know there are some folks who had a positive clinical experience in the MEPN program but you'll find most if not all of them had healthcare backgrounds or made the smart decision to work part-time as a Nursing Assistant (CNA) while in school so they were able to supplement their clinical education outside of school. Personally, if I'm paying more than double to be educated, I shouldn't have to find extra work outside of the program to supplement my training. That should be provided in my education. Also, I'd expect my class sizes to be a lot smaller. I mean, isn't that why people choose to pay more to attend a private school??? [shrug]

RN Imposter · Feb 5, 2021

5 hours ago, WlkrCJ said:

I really appreciate this. I was waitlisted at Hopkins for Fall 2021. I was accepted into an ABSN program in my home state that begins this Summer. The entire cost is just 40k! Had I not been waitlisted I may have jumped the gun, and accepted the offer. I have to say, deep down I am relieved.

Count yourself "Saved" from having a 25 year loan repayment plan with 7% interest my friend. You dodged a bullet there. Don't get me wrong, Hopkins is an EXCELLENT place if your eventual goal is to do research, become a nursing professor, etc. but if your end goal is to become a bedside nurse, there are plenty of quality institutions that you can get trained at for a loan you can reasonably pay off in 5-8 years vs. 20-25 years. Also, hospitals don't pay you more for graduating from Hopkins and not even if you have a Master's degree. If you're a new nurse, you're NEW period. Very few places will be willing to negotiate with you on salary if you're a new nurse no matter how many other degrees you hold or how much prior work experience you have outside of nursing.

RN Imposter · Feb 5, 2021

15 hours ago, randocurmudgeon said:

@RN Imposter

Thank you for sharing. I'm so sorry to hear about all the negative experiences you've had. The fact that the lack of clinical training has left you feeling unprepared and inadequate for your current position is truly unfortunate. If I were in your position, I would feel extremely demoralized as well - especially if my supervisors mentioned that new grads from other programs were performing noticeably better than I was. Do you think part of the reason is that they have much higher standards for JHU grads?

The learning curve for new nursing grads can be quite steep, but do you think the training at Hopkins has set you so far back that you feel unable to overcome the initial obstacles (I imagine you are getting a lot more practice now in a real clinical setting)?

You make a lot of good points about the cost of JHU. $100k+ is actually mind-boggling... I agree that with such a high cost of attendance, we need to make sure that the quality of education, training, opportunities, etc. all match what we are paying. The price shouldn't just be for a brand name on our resume. Even if we're paying for connections with top nursing faculty or clinical placements at a top hospital, I'm not sure the cost is justified.

Thanks again for your input!

@randocurmudgeon

I feel that JHU really prepared me in the knowledge department so I have a good grasp of pathophysiology of common diseases, nursing interventions and medications, and how to analytically read and assess various nursing journal articles on the latest and greatest evidence-based practices but preparing me to be an actual nurse- well, I'd score it a 4/10. And yes, almost all nursing schools pretty much don't really prepare you for the actual job as all new nurses will tell you how hard it is to make that jump from nursing student to real nurse. However, in my talks with other RN residency peers who graduated from various schools and many from community colleges, I feel their clinical rotations were a lot stronger in terms of giving them opportunities to actually practice a lot of the nursing skills you're required to be solid in prior to applying to an RN job. Also, their clinical instructors actually showed them what areas they should be charting in, how often, where to go check your orders etc. At JHU, my clinical instructors basicalky just told me which nurse I was assigned to and which patient and just sent me off. Um, I sort of need a little more guidance than that especially when the nurse I'm assigned to disappears and basically tries to avoid me so she won't have to teach me anything. Most of the nurses at Hopkins and anywhere else resent having nursing students. It's a burden to them because they're busy enough tryign to get all of their tasks in. They don't have the time to explain and wait around to let you practice your skills because it's going to take you twice as long to perform it your first few times and they don't have the patience .My Synthesis Practicum Preceptor literally would always try to assign me to a patient that needed 24/7 surveillance so I'd be a sitter for several of my rotations. I finally spoke up about it but then found I paid for it dearly when my preceptor made things a living nightmare for me so lesson learned. System is not set up where you can advocate for yourself. You'll pay for it either grade wise or have really bad experiences throughout your clinicals and trust me, this program is hard enough as it is. You don't want more stress in your life so you just learn to accept and go with the flow.

RN Imposter · Feb 5, 2021

@randocurmudgeon

It is INTENSE. I was used to having 18 hour days in a previous career, this program was way worse. I had 20 hour days. Grant it, I could have lowered my standards to just earning C's and gotten more sleep but I really wanted to learn the content well. Afterall, I'm paying a premium price for it out of my own pocket. I personally financed 50-60% of my education. I didn't have the luxury of having mom and dad pay for it nor would I want them to! You will have to choose between exercise, eating, or sleeping in this program. You will not have time to do all three and be able to work part-time as a CNA or some folks did research work and did leadership positions in the school. There are of course a few talented folks who just have amazing brains and managed to sleep 6-7 hours a day. I'm not mentally impaired but I was never that kid with perfect SAT scores without studying very hard. I was a straight A student but through hard work and sacrifice. I don't have photographic memory like some.

randocurmudgeon · Feb 5, 2021

randocurmudgeon · Feb 5, 2021

7 hours ago, RN Imposter said:

It is INTENSE. I was used to having 18 hour days in a previous career, this program was way worse. I had 20 hour days. Grant it, I could have lowered my standards to just earning C's and gotten more sleep but I really wanted to learn the content well. Afterall, I'm paying a premium price for it out of my own pocket. I personally financed 50-60% of my education. I didn't have the luxury of having mom and dad pay for it nor would I want them to! You will have to choose between exercise, eating, or sleeping in this program. You will not have time to do all three and be able to work part-time as a CNA or some folks did research work and did leadership positions in the school. There are of course a few talented folks who just have amazing brains and managed to sleep 6-7 hours a day. I'm not mentally impaired but I was never that kid with perfect SAT scores without studying very hard. I was a straight A student but through hard work and sacrifice. I don't have photographic memory like some.

I'm also someone who needs to work extremely hard to earn good grades, so I feel this on a deep level. 5-6 courses per semester is a lot no matter how solid one's time management is. I would probably end up with 20-hour days too if I were in this program. For all the sleep deprivation and stress, only to feel unprepared for the real thing, it doesn't seem worth it.

randocurmudgeon · Feb 5, 2021

7 hours ago, RN Imposter said:

At JHU, my clinical instructors basicalky just told me which nurse I was assigned to and which patient and just sent me off. Um, I sort of need a little more guidance than that especially when the nurse I'm assigned to disappears and basically tries to avoid me so she won't have to teach me anything. Most of the nurses at Hopkins and anywhere else resent having nursing students. It's a burden to them because they're busy enough tryign to get all of their tasks in. They don't have the time to explain and wait around to let you practice your skills because it's going to take you twice as long to perform it your first few times and they don't have the patience .My Synthesis Practicum Preceptor literally would always try to assign me to a patient that needed 24/7 surveillance so I'd be a sitter for several of my rotations. I finally spoke up about it but then found I paid for it dearly when my preceptor made things a living nightmare for me so lesson learned.

While it's understandable the nurses are busy and would prefer not to have students around, this sounds like a nightmare. Weren't they once in our shoes before as nursing students? They should let students give feedback on their preceptors too.