Just how busy is an online NP master program?

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 11, 2018

Most (not all, but most) MSN programs require a BSN to enroll. ADN + non- nursing BS/ BA =/= BSN

nurselambda · Aug 11, 2018

Right, obviously I'm only considering those program who would consider my academic background.

SweetSouthernLove, ASN, BSN · Aug 11, 2018

Greetings nurselambda,

I will give you my personal experience versus my advice because I am sure as you have probably learned from pre-licensure nursing school, studying in general is very unique to each individual.

My background: I graduated with my ADN degree in December of '15 and finished my BSN bridge program while working as an RN full-time in April of '17. I was president of my chapter's Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society for nurses a graduated with an overall 3.8GPA for my undergraduate studies. My bridge program was approximately 16 months long and during that time I was working a 40-hour work week as well as 20+ days on-call shifts per month on a cardiothoracic/cardiovascular surgical service in my hospital. This was all very doable for me because I always enjoyed the content I was studying and found passion in my full-time job, which immensely gave me happiness and the strength to succeed when times were tough.

January of 2018: I was easily accepted into Georgetown's online full-time FNP program. I had a plan prior to going and was going to continue my studies and work full-time as well with a drop down to part-time when clinicals started. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE EVEN FOR THE BEST OF STUDENTS. With 9 credits and ANY kind of work-schedule I could recreate with my employer, the demands of both became extremely severe and impacted me in a terribly negative way.

February of 2018: My response to this negativity was to correct what was causing the problem and continue with my education. So, I left my full-time job in a specialty I really enjoyed at a place I had worked in different areas of healthcare for almost a decade.

April of 2018: I ultimately decided to leave the program after the first semester to seriously reflect and reevaluate IF I wanted this badly enough and HOW I would cut almost every aspect of my lifestyle to achieve this long-term goal. Even my type-A personality of a plan wasn't enough to maintain my drive for this rigor of a program.

Like most nurses, I strive for excellence in all areas of my life, but this is NOTHING like undergraduate education.

I thought I could maintain it all, and that I just had to be disciplined and motivated as I was in undergrad for it to become a reality. I could not have been more wrong.

August of 2018 (Present): I reenrolled into Simmon's online PART-TIME FNP program. I worked DAILY with my Admissions Manager, who spoke with me whenever I needed to be reassured, comforted, or advised on what I was doing. I felt like my situation and what I had been through the first half of this year mattered to her, and we worked all summer together to not only get me admitted on a track that fit my lifestyle, but also a scholarship that will be provided to me throughout the entire program. I also have obtained a new part-time job, and I hope this will be the last of the major adjustments I have to endure to begin fulfilling my dream.

My point of all this is that graduate nursing education is not to be taken lightly be any means, and even the best of us falter to failure. If I could advise you I would ask you three questions and take a week or even a month to answer them if you need to:

1. Why FNP school? What is it about this degree that you want so badly?

2. Are you willing to sacrifice and change your lifestyle to obtain this degree?

3. Would you be happier as a regular RN doing a specialty you love forever?

Education is important, yes, but so is your life and your time. Time is more valuable than money because we can't get it back. Take some time and map it out. Have a plan for things: finances, work (part/full-time), family on board, RESEARCHING SCHOOLS (cost, credits, CLINICAL PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE, and if your life agrees with their plan).

I say all this to you because as one nurse to another we need to love and respect the choices and paths we each choose to follow. Full-time grad school without working? Totally doable. Full-time grad school and full-time work? Totally NOT doable, and advisors at these schools will warn you of that (don't be hard-headed and think you can do-it-all-dolly like I did). Part-time grad school and full-time work? DOABLE. Part-time grad school and part-time work? DOABLE. Again, maybe other nurses have had better experiences than I, and this is JUST MY EXPERIENCE. As stated above, take time and plan it out because after all, it is your time and effort you are trading for this goal.

203bravo, MSN, APRN · Aug 12, 2018

Greetings nurselambda,
I will give you my personal experience versus my advice because I am sure as you have probably learned from pre-licensure nursing school, studying in general is very unique to each individual.
My background: I graduated with my ADN degree in December of '15 and finished my BSN bridge program while working as an RN full-time in April of '17. I was president of my chapter's Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society for nurses a graduated with an overall 3.8GPA for my undergraduate studies. My bridge program was approximately 16 months long and during that time I was working a 40-hour work week as well as 20+ days on-call shifts per month on a cardiothoracic/cardiovascular surgical service in my hospital. This was all very doable for me because I always enjoyed the content I was studying and found passion in my full-time job, which immensely gave me happiness and the strength to succeed when times were tough.
January of 2018: I was easily accepted into Georgetown's online full-time FNP program. I had a plan prior to going and was going to continue my studies and work full-time as well with a drop down to part-time when clinicals started. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE EVEN FOR THE BEST OF STUDENTS. With 9 credits and ANY kind of work-schedule I could recreate with my employer, the demands of both became extremely severe and impacted me in a terribly negative way.
February of 2018: My response to this negativity was to correct what was causing the problem and continue with my education. So, I left my full-time job in a specialty I really enjoyed at a place I had worked in different areas of healthcare for almost a decade.
April of 2018: I ultimately decided to leave the program after the first semester to seriously reflect and reevaluate IF I wanted this badly enough and HOW I would cut almost every aspect of my lifestyle to achieve this long-term goal. Even my type-A personality of a plan wasn't enough to maintain my drive for this rigor of a program.
Like most nurses, I strive for excellence in all areas of my life, but this is NOTHING like undergraduate education.
I thought I could maintain it all, and that I just had to be disciplined and motivated as I was in undergrad for it to become a reality. I could not have been more wrong.
August of 2018 (Present): I reenrolled into Simmon's online PART-TIME FNP program. I worked DAILY with my Admissions Manager, Tina Patel, who spoke with me whenever I needed to be reassured, comforted, or advised on what I was doing. I felt like my situation and what I had been through the first half of this year mattered to her, and we worked all summer together to not only get me admitted on a track that fit my lifestyle, but also a scholarship that will be provided to me throughout the entire program. I also have obtained a new part-time job, and I hope this will be the last of the major adjustments I have to endure to begin fulfilling my dream.
My point of all this is that graduate nursing education is not to be taken lightly be any means, and even the best of us falter to failure. If I could advise you I would ask you three questions and take a week or even a month to answer them if you need to:
1.Why FNP school? What is it about this degree that you want so badly?
2.Are you willing to sacrifice and change your lifestyle to obtain this degree?
3.Would you be happier as a regular RN doing a specialty you love forever?
Education is important, yes, but so is your life and your time. Time is more valuable than money because we can't get it back. Take some time and map it out. Have a plan for things: finances, work (part/full-time), family on board, RESEARCHING SCHOOLS (cost, credits, CLINICAL PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE, and if your life agrees with their plan).
I say all this to you because as one nurse to another we need to love and respect the choices and paths we each choose to follow. Full-time grad school without working? Totally doable. Full-time grad school and full-time work? Totally NOT doable, and advisors at these schools will warn you of that (don't be hard-headed and think you can do-it-all-dolly like I did). Part-time grad school and full-time work? DOABLE. Part-time grad school and part-time work? DOABLE. Again, maybe other nurses have had better experiences than I, and this is JUST MY EXPERIENCE. As stated above, take time and plan it out because after all, it is your time and effort you are trading for this goal.

I 2nd everything said here.

BirkieGirl · Aug 13, 2018

Entered MSN as a practicing RN (did my BSN right out of high school) after 20 years in practice. Definitely a little older than the typical student (late 30s/early 40s) took anywhere from 6-9 credits per semester, worked full time, 2 very busy kiddos at home, multiple school committees, wife, daughter to aging parents AND managed to stay sane through it all.

Yes it was TOUGH. I am in my last couple semesters right now. I did my MSN in a non-FNP track and am now doing the post master certificate for NP. I will sit for my boards this winter. I have grown accustomed to being so busy that when I have free time I don't know what to do with it. BUT...It is supposed to be hard. after all, we are preparing to become providers. My school expects you to have a pretty strong knowledge base of general medical issues, and the curriculum moved FAST. The reading was absolutely required, not like undergrad where you could peruse the pages. You actually had to read, absorb and be prepared to answer just about anything.

If I had it to do again I would make sure I was in a seriously good financial spot so I could either go per diem or just not work. That would have made it a little easier. For me, I generally was doing school stuff at least 20 hours per week, that included studying, being in class or doing assignments. Once the FNP clinical started, add another 25 hours a week for travel and being at clinical....and yes, I'm still working full time with all of that........

algae1492 · Aug 14, 2018

I am attending a top uni in the US, and it is demanding. I resigned from my previous job to work part-time elsewhere to have a more flexible schedule. It is demanding, because how much you put into the program is what you get out of it. We have exams every other week or weekly in some cases. However, there are some online schools require you to post discussion board posts, write basic papers, and call it a day. So, it does depend what school you attend.

queenanneslace, ADN, MSN, APRN, CNM · Aug 15, 2018

I entered an MSN program with a non-nursing Bachelor's degree and ADN.

I enrolled part-time (6-8 credits per term), and worked part-time (24-30 hrs/week) until clinicals.

I was at Frontier, so the clinicals come after the coursework - this would be different with concurrent academic coursework and clinicals.

When clinicals started, I went per diem at work. Though I could have maintained my work schedule and done clinicals, I just didn't want to be that insane, and my family life and finances were such that I didn't have to.

Most people have to make adjustments to their work schedules - especially if they're working full-time - to accommodate clinicals. Since I was in a midwifery program, I needed to be both on-call for births in the hospital, as well as clinic days. The clinic days were easiest and most reliable to incorporate into my schedule. So that is another thing to take into account.

There were many FNP students enrolled at Frontier, and most seemed to be working throughout their academic studies.

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Aug 15, 2018

I'm in my final year of an acute NP program in the North East. The school is a bricks and mortar very well respected school. I have worked full time throughout the program and although it's been extremely challenging, I have managed to maintain a GPA of 3.9. I have immersed myself in it however, and am not treating it like an add-on to my life, but as the most important focus of my life until this is over. I have worked full time Mon-Fri 7-4pm and managed to do clinicals by doing them on the weekend or taking ETO days while studying in the evenings. It means zero days off for the duration of the semester, and if I didn't have my wonderful wife taking care of me and literally doing everything at home (cooking, cleaning, shopping, cooking etc) I'm not sure I could have managed it thus far. I am in the process of changing jobs right now as I begin my next clinical semester, and am going back to the ICU full time. This, believe it or not, will make life easier for me as I'll only be working 3 days a week instead of 5, freeing up 2 whole days where I can study.

I have set up a really cool home office that is a haven of solitude, peace and luxury (nice black leather couch, large desk, bookshelves etc) where I can retreat and get into a good mindset to study. This makes long study sessions pleasant and I am getting through because of sheer will. You need to want to do it so bad that there is no alternative, and resign yourself to the fact that life as you know it will cease to exist for the length of the program. If you commit to this program then you must commit completely. Once the tuition bills and loans start piling up there is no return. I will succeed because I must, and because I have made up my mind to. Failure is not an option. It is a huge commitment. Life is on hold while you're in school but at least you get to look forward to summers off and Christmas to decompress.

ArmaniX, MSN, APRN · Aug 15, 2018

AGACNP program in person, full time (3 to 4 classes per semester). I worked full time the duration of the program (3-twelve hr night weekend shifts every Fr/Sa/Su). With clinicals I was often in the hospital for 6-twelve hour shifts each week and still had course work and studying to complete in non-clinical/work time.

I did it. Maintained good grades. Passed my certification exam. Graduated without any debt. The entirety of the program was a sacrifice. I have no significant other or children. I have two dogs that were more than patient throughout the program.

It was not easy and is definitely not a wise approach for many individuals.

Oldmahubbard · Aug 21, 2018

I personally think it is both bizarre and totally crazy that anyone would even briefly contemplate full time work, and full time NP school.

People are doing it and passing. That tells me the program is of very low quality.

Right there, I know the course work is mostly BS. It could be no other way.

Now you know why there are so many complaints about quality. And so many grads that can't diagnose their way out of a brown paper bag.

Yuck, yuck, yuck and more yuck. Where is the emesis basin? No wonder people obviously don't have a clue.

kelbeljo · Aug 28, 2018

I am in my second semester of FNP school and I am finding that the work is manageable and not nearly as bad as I thought (discussion board posts, papers, quizzes, and mass amounts of reading). However, I feel as if I am graded extremely easy and this bothers me. You have to realize that the majority of what you will learn will be from experience. Setting up great clinical sites will be essential. At this level, master degree students should be able to self-teach. I go out of my way every day to read new information. I work full-time, but will cut back to part-time once my clinicals start.