Maybe our outlook isn't too gloomy

PG2018 · Sep 22, 2015

Well shoot.

I just signed up for the University of Phoenix DNP/PhD program. I was told I could pay seventy thousand dollars and have two doctorates by December.

synaptic · Sep 22, 2015

for an extra 30k you can get another masters on top of it. Only sucky thing is our credentialing people are approving this stuff. They must not care much about us. Mds and dos have great national representation that keep for profit out of their areas. Except Rocky Mountain vista which I think is one of the only if not the only for profit medics school in the us.

Jules A, MSN · Sep 22, 2015

for an extra 30k you can get another masters on top of it. Only sucky thing is our credentialing people are approving this stuff. They must not care much about us. Mds and dos have great national representation that keep for profit out of their areas. Except Rocky Mountain vista which I think is one of the only if not the only for profit medics school in the us.

Yes, I can't believe the Boards of Nursing approve all these schools. I went to a well known, well respected state university and the program was rather shoddy, instructors with minimal if any practicing experience so I can only imagine what the less than stellar schools are like and from what I have seen from a few of their graduates it has been less than impressive.

synaptic · Sep 23, 2015

I agree, school I went to was rated fairly well also but still wasn't impressive. I can only imagine how some of them are. Unfortunately the purest form definition of nurse practitioner education (whether or not it correlates directly with patient quality of care or not) is weaksauce.

weak sauce weak sauce weak sauce.

PG2018 · Sep 23, 2015

Yes, I can't believe the Boards of Nursing approve all these schools. I went to a well known, well respected state university and the program was rather shoddy, instructors with minimal if any practicing experience so I can only imagine what the less than stellar schools are like and from what I have seen from a few of their graduates it has been less than impressive.

I've been thinking. Is there really a "good" nursing school? If so, what is good? It makes me wonder. For examples, does developing a care plan with efficiency or mixing meds qualify? In hindsight, there wasn't a lot covered in nursing that I wanted to know. I'm a fool, but I legitimately went in thinking I was going to learn to diagnose and treat stuff. Nursing doesn't do that so my expectations weren't met. I always felt like the faculty were ego-inflated idiots, but in reality they had no clue - no conception - of what it is I wanted to learn and do. The only classes I liked were pathophysiology and pharmacology, and I recall sitting through them thinking they were surface skimming at best.

My school had really high NCLEX pass rates, but this was mostly because the graduation rate is really low. We had a 31% pass rate in my cohort. Of those, I bet half could've passed the NCLEX after the first semester.

PG2018 · Sep 23, 2015

I agree, school I went to was rated fairly well also but still wasn't impressive. I can only imagine how some of them are. Unfortunately the purest form definition of nurse practitioner education (whether or not it correlates directly with patient quality of care or not) is weaksauce.
weak sauce weak sauce weak sauce.

Weak sauce is right! It's really disappointing and demoralizing. I wish nursing enforced quality, uniform, science-grounded education across the board. NPs will tell you; half of their colleagues are near quacks, and the other half are bright, efficient clinicians. Of course, this applies to physicians too, but at least physicians are offered, by mandate, an education that is sufficient to draw from. Whether they choose to use it or not is up to them. Most NPs have to study, on their own, their entire tradecraft. But a dedicated, intelligent student can excel. It's really resting entirely on the individual's shoulders.

Neuro Guy NP, DNP, PhD, APRN · Sep 23, 2015

Psych Guy

Can I please come to one of your therapy sessions? You're a hoot; besides my current is really dry.

Neuro Guy NP, DNP, PhD, APRN · Sep 23, 2015

And I'm sorry to see so many felt their education was inadequate. I feel my program was excellent. The instructors were also ACNPs and were quite knowledgeable and we learned procedures. We had a small class also. 7 of us per year. There of course were things that could be improved but at the end they asked for our feedback on what could be done better. And honestly, I'm a fairly critical person but i feel there are still good schools out there. There are definitely issues but overall i don't feel like our profession is doomed. After all, as a whole we've done this well so far.

Dranger · Sep 23, 2015

My BSN is from Phoenix.
My MSN is from Walden.
maybe my DNP too.
But thank you for the article link.

I think people get too defensive when for-profit school are scrutinized. No one is saying that all students that these programs are sub-par nor are the programs and professors always sub-par.

In general for-profit schools are bad idea for a profession because they open up a can of worms with accreditation, saturation, admission standards etc . There is a reason no other touted health care profession with terminal masters/doctorate have such a proliferation of fro-profit programs.

No matter the situation for-profit is never good for a profession.

Dranger · Sep 23, 2015

Touted wasn't the word I wanted....stupid phone.

Trauma Columnist · Sep 23, 2015

Education is a product that you buy. Accreditation is the key. It's the same folks that accredit all colleges.

ive been an APN for 9 years. I did my MSN thru university of Phoenix and two post MSNs thru my local college. No difference in the education. I'm credentialed at multiple hospital systems and no one cares where I went to school.

we are adult learners and responsible for our own education.