Online FNP Programs vs B&M

futureeastcoastNP · Jan 20, 2014

I think it's not so much about traditional being better than online, but rather some programs are just better. There are quite a few traditional programs in my area that have horrible reputations, yet programs like Duke University or Frontier that are online and graduate wonderful providers.

Would you mind sharing the online program and traditional program? Thanks and good luck!

PNW_NPstudent · Jan 20, 2014

I'm very excited about starting school at Simmons. Granted, the program is very new online, but they have been educating NPs since 1973. I have started the first module online and there is some reading, along with video lectures from the instructor.

I have a required class, weekly, where I login to the Simmons nursing site along with 14 classmates. Class is 2 hours long and we are required to be there. Class starts this week, so I don't exactly know how the content will proceed during the synchronous learning time. I have been required to login twice now for face to face "class time" in a welcome call and a student support session. It's actually pretty cool to interact with the instructors and others in class. This is not Blackboard or something similar. In class, you can raise your hand, type like a chat room, ask the instructor to slow down or for further clarification by the click of a button.

We are encouraged to set up and join study groups which we can set up in a virtual classroom and interact just like we were at the library or Barnes & Noble. The instructors have office hours where we can have a "skype" type meeting.

I am really excited to start at this school and know it will be amazing. As a side note, if anyone has checked out youtube videos of how Georgetown NP classes work, Simmons is on the exact same format. They use the same technology. I really needed on online program so I didnt have to spend time commuting and that has required lectures oferred multiple times a week at a time convenient for me.

This probably sounds like a commercial, but I am just so stoked!! I do see the benefit of a B&M, but it just wasn't what I was looking for. I also think that it depends on the online learning. I have been amazed to read accouts of people doing solely self-study with little interaction between other students and instructors, and then figuring out everything about their own clinicals. I didn't want all that! Good luck to you.

zenman · Jan 20, 2014

I have been enrolled in an online FNP program at a private, not-for- profit school for the past year and a half. There was always this feeling however that I was not learning enough in this program, so I decided to take a couple of classes at a regular brick and mortar school that also offers this degree. The difference in the quality of education has been like night and day.

You can't compare the two because you were in a private school which was your own mistake.

For starters, I am able to communicate directly and develop personal relationships with my fellow classmates and instructors. We were able to organize group study sessions and bounce ideas off each other and have questions answered by our instructors right away instead of waiting 24-48 hours for their email response. One of our professors even offered to conduct review classes to better prepare us for the NP exams. Most on-line programs basically involve self study, which may be okay for some individuals. If I am paying $700/unit though, I would expect more than just instructor feedback on my discussion postings. I understand that not everyone has the opportunity to attend a brick & mortar school, and if taking your NP courses online is your only option and works for you, then more power to you and I wish you all the success. If one is able to attend a regular B&M school though to obtain their NP degree, I would strongly encourage them to do so.
Also, please do not post "it is what you put into it" type of answers. I got it. I am just making this post as someone who has experienced both the on-line and traditional classroom methods of instruction in this academic field of study.

I have experienced all the above as a graduate with multiple grad degrees in both types of programs. So basically, I'm making your post null and void and a waste of both our time. This is, for you, what we call an "educational moment" provided entirely on-line without you having to leave your home, dress-up, spend time driving to school and finding a parking space, wasting gas, wasting valuable study time, increasing your risk for traffic accidents, not having the ability to watch a class video over and over in your own time until you have the material down 100%, not having to listen to fellow students ask questions they would have known if they had prepared before class, not having the ability to develop friendships all across the country with fellow students (and be able to couch surf on trips), etc, etc...

futureeastcoastNP · Jan 20, 2014

You can't compare the two because you were in a private school which was your own mistake.

I am quite confused on your point about private schools? The top schools in the country (Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Duke, etc etc) are private schools.

zenman · Jan 20, 2014

I am quite confused on your point about private schools? The top schools in the country (Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Duke, etc etc) are private schools.

I was thinking of for profit schools.

futureeastcoastNP · Jan 20, 2014

I was thinking of for profit schools.

Ok, I thought that might have been what you were thinking. She actually said private, NOT for profit though. Trust me, I would have been all over that if it had a been a for-profit school - I'm very unimpressed with for-profits and it saddens me when people attend them.

zahryia, LPN · Jan 21, 2014

I was thinking of for profit schools.

So you leave a highly indignant message and you don't even bother to read her post?

And let's face it. Some of the non profit schools are not that much better than the for profit schools, but that's for another discussion at another time.

BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN · Jan 21, 2014

I went to Duke. I took most of my classes on the ground, i.e. in person -on campus, but I did take a few online if the course I needed wasn't being offered at an hour/day that could be worked into our schedules. I didn't observe any difference in quality/substance.

At least insofar as Duke goes, I'd say there is no difference in the quality of education between the online and B&M approach to the NP programs and it genuinely is, "what you put into it."

I agree that some programs are just better than others. I've always said, attend the very best one that accepts you.

CMSrn2009, ASN, BSN, MSN · Jan 21, 2014

I know this is probably totally different, but I completed my RN to BSN degree on-line and found it hard to motivate myself. I am currently attending a FNP that has the option to complete a few core courses on-line but all of the classes are offered on campus which is about an hour away from me. I am very excited to actually interact with live, warm, breathing human beings, but I suspect I will take one or two of the core classes on-line. This is only my opinion, but some of the on-line programs I applied to seemed to want to just churn out NPs, and I want to take this slow and really get a grasp on the content. One program required you take two classes a "quarter" (four quarter in a year), so you would be done very quickly, but I just don't see how I could digest all of this in like 18 months when I need to continue to work at my current job (at least until clinicals begin..). I prefer a traditional school for my NP degree, I think people will take my degree more seriously, although what someone described above (live chat sessions) seemed to be reasonable and shouldn't be discredited..

zenman · Jan 22, 2014

So you leave a highly indignant message and you don't even bother to read her post?
And let's face it. Some of the non profit schools are not that much better than the for profit schools, but that's for another discussion at another time.

Well doesn't it seems highly unlikely that I would even respond if I didn't read her post?

TammyG · Jan 22, 2014

Employers definitely prefer graduates from brick-and-mortar schools as a general matter, or at least that is what most studies have found. Not saying they are any better, but the employers think they are.

I have taken both on-line and brick-and-mortar classes in my graduate MSN program. I found the on-line classes easier and less time consuming. I think it depends on the person and the curriculum, the goals of attending the program, etc.