Northern Kentucky University (NKU) - You get what you pay for

[Ally4587]

I have to say this program is well, questionable. If I can do it over, I would pay extra to go elsewhere. One technical glitch after another in the physical exam class has soured my attitude towards this program and I regret coming here.

The only professor who teaches the class apparently has been the only professor to mess up running a class. The other classes I have had have been on par with online classes. I was in another program before that was online and new before I had to quit due to a divorce and needing to work full time. That program was great and involved two in campus events. One was the physical assessment and you learned genital exams with a group that is contracted with medical and NP schools. It cost a lot more.

Like maybe this teacher was having an off semester. I don’t know.

1. Messing up the practice and actual assignments. Their ihuman grades are weird. No one could figure out how they are graded. It seems more dependent on the TA. First week they listed the grades assignment as Harvey Hoya instead of Carolyn Cross so several people did Cross first thinking she was the practice. Nope.

2. Changing due dates. They moved the due dates from a Saturday to all being on a Tuesday. More time, right? Oops. No. “Technical glitch.” Everything is due on Saturday (it was Thursday).

3. The test. Every answer was the first option. Instead of being a normal instructor, the instructor put the question like

What meows?

A. Dog

B. Cat

C. Dog

D. Chicken

1. B

2. A

3. D

4. C

Not joking. Yes, she randomized the questions by putting the options in the question instead of putting the answers by the numbers. First test she did not randomize the questions.

4. She accused a bunch of people of cheating on the first test. Sent out a mass email with a linked policy describing the policy for investigating academic dishonesty which she did not follow and then tell everyone they failed. Kudos to NKU conduct office for making her backtrack and actually follow the proper procedures. Shame on her for not following to the letter and even lying. She told people that there was no way that every answer was A. She even lied to one girl by telling her that the appeal process started with the girl emailing her an account. Anyway, most were cleared of the accusations but many withdrew when she first threatened them. Some had to repeat a week. The student conduct office really came to bat for the students since the policy clearly said she would have to meet with a phone call to the students and present evidence. She still didn’t present all the evidence as some people were accused of participating in a Google doc and had to make up an extra week but claim they didn’t talk about the doc in their meeting.

5. Changes in the head to toe. They decided no one can use papers for their physical assessment. OK. You had to scan the room too. Except... you had a strict 25 minute limit and they didn’t add time in for this new requirement. Also now you have to get vitals too. They also never made their own assessment and instead used a Youtube video from another school as an example which didn’t cover half of the stuff they wanted like rinne test, weber test, mini mental cog, reflexes, etc. Did spend like 8 minutes on a breast exam which we did not have to do. I think the instructors should have their own physical assessment video to clearly show it can be done and have clear expectations of what they want. Otherwise it seems like they’re a step above stealing others work to make their job easier.

6. Forgot this one. 2nd test had multiple errors like “material BP” instead “maternal BP” and one question was even missing other options besides D.

7. Professional requirement. So they did waive this but normally they require you to have a professional office setting for the final exam. They also don’t mention this till you’re in the class or if they do, it is buried. How easy is it to actually get permission to use an office? Or book several days at campus if they really offered time for students to go there to practice (some said they did but they seemed to ignore people who asked about how to do it). I’m guessing 90% of the people utilize their work without asking. Oh and the modules were locked so you couldn’t do the final exam early.

You get what you pay for. Maybe they will overhaul the class. Probably not. It was one issue after another. I’m stuck since I invested money with other classes but I have seen people happier with Walden and other for profits. If you read nothing about a school, it isn’t a good thing.

[LL143KnB, BSN, RN]

Ally any updates? Contemplating this school because they’re available in Florida but I can’t find much information. The reviews are so so ?.

[BlueSandBeach, RN]

Thank you so much for this review.  I've read another review talking about third party this and third party that, "InPlace" is a nightmare so along with your review this school is out.  Thank you.  If you happen to have heard anything about EKU and or MT Carmel please let me know, this decision is so hard without any actual information like what you just posted about NKU.

[NKUHelp]

Hello Everyone.......  I literally just FAILED my PMHNP program due to not taking the APEA placement exam.  The Director and Professor said since I took the wrong exam they are removing me from the ENTIRE program.  I am an honor roll student and have a Family NP certication for the past 15 years.  Does anyone know of this happening to someone else.  I think this is illegal and a University can not fail a student from their entire prgram for a ONE credit class.  Any Advice?

 

[NKUHelp]

I suggest for any nurse wanting to find a college NKU it NOT IT!  They cram all your clinical hours into a 7 week boxes and then expect you to be able to pull this off when the professors won't approve your hours the first week for some random "error" on their calendar.  It is really odd to me that the program is not supportive.  When you try and find other people that could have experienced this, NKU has clouded the Google search and Yahoo search so much you can't find any reviews or the truth of what other Nurses are going through.  I am in shock to be honest.  Looking for some MSN students and others who may know of experienced this!  

[Bo Wilcutts]

I recently graduated from NKU's FNP program. To begin with, there are too many negatives for me to recommend this program to any prospective student. If you expect to gain an acceptable amount of medicine-based knowledge you will be disappointed. Education in the first 1-1/2 years, give-or-take, regards theoretical concepts, how to address and educate minority groups, nurse practitioner legislation, full practice authority, etc. That's awesome. However, in real life you cannot medically care for every patient with a nursing philosophy alone. At some point you will need to address a patient's medical needs with medically-based education but apparently this program has a different philosophy. 

I enjoyed my pharmacology class, but it was taught by a physician. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it but I feel I gained more medical knowledge from his class than all the others. It may also be that I was more interested in gaining medical knowledge and decision making skills than I was in learning the nursing philosophy taught by many NP programs. I also feel that much of the nursing philosophy was very repetitive and we kept relearning the same concepts and information as it applied to different minority groups. Yes, you are probably correct. I should have enrolled in a PA program instead of an NP Program.

I thought my advanced physical assessment classes were okay but not great. We learned advanced physical assessment for various illnesses from web-based avatar patients. It is helpful information but not the same quality of experience as with real patients. The avatar patients take 3-4 hours to complete. However, I was trying to get everything out of the assignment so it took me a bit longer. If you're quick, I've heard that some people can finish an avatar assignment in 1-2 hours. Writing assignments can take much longer. You will receive an illness for each week's writing assignment. You must research the illness using EBP journal articles, read the articles, and write a formal style paper. Other classes requiring SOAP note assignments work pretty much the same way but in a different format. I'm a slow reader and writer, therefore it was not uncommon for me to put 10-15 hours into one paper per week and a total of 30-40 hours per week when multiple papers were due. There are many other assignment, but almost all of them are written papers of one kind or another.

Finding preceptors is HELL! I finally resorted to paying for my preceptors but it was very expensive. Don't think all paid preceptors are there to teach you. Some were very good but others were just there to collect your money. Some preceptors don't give you the luxury of seeing one patient per hour; they want you to see all their patients. This doesn't give you the opportunity to research the most effective intervention. They also hate it when you spend too much time in the room with a patient. They want you to keep up the pace so that they can complete their documentation while you visit their patients. Of course, they think every student should have everything memorized on the first day of their first clinical rotation. What they don't know is that NKU's FNP program does not teach you the medical knowledge you need to be adequately prepared for your clinical rotation.

As I have previously stated, you will write papers for the week based on assigned illnesses. That's a problem! You only learn one illness for the week, whereas in RN programs you learn the most significant aspects of many illnesses during the week. I addressed this to one instructor, but they got offended and lashed out. To gain a deeper understanding of other illnesses, the instructors will tell you to study the papers of other students regarding the illnesses they researched. However, the problem is that you cannot tell what is correct or incorrect in their paper because you do not have access to other students' grade marks. Canvas allows students to see the average class grade for each assignment. For example, if Canvas reported that the class average grade was 80% for an assignment, then 20% of what we were supposed to learn from other classmates was incorrect. I don't think it's fair that they asked us to learn from other students when they should teach us! 

There are so many other issues but who's got the time!?!? NKU's FNP program provided poor support! They tell you, after the program starts, that this is an online program and you are responsible for everything! I know every program has its issues but NKU's FNP program is truly underperforming for their students. I truly wish I had attended a different FNP program. Based on my review you may think that I'm disgruntled and that's why I've reviewed the program poorly. However, the truth is I graduated with a 3.81 GPA. However, due to the program, I know the education I received was poor and most of the knowledge I've gained comes from outside sources. Lastly, use whatever works best for you to gain the knowledge you'll need to care for your patients. If all FNP programs are similar to this one, you will heavily rely on sources like practice questions, osmosis, Leik, FNP Mastery, Sara M., etc to pass the AANP or ANCC. Also, start studying whatever outside source that works for you when you begin your FNP program. 10, 20, or 30 practice questions per day will help you gain the knowledge needed to be a better provider and to pass the board certification exam. Good luck to everyone.

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

Caveat emptor.

NP students need to make the effort to go to reputable schools!  It is not that hard.  

Online NP schools are a BAD idea.  So do yourself a favor if you are contemplating NP school and go to a reputable school!