I recently came across a very helpful thread on allnurses regarding last year's applications to the ELMSN program and thought I would try to get some dialogue going for those applying for the program starting in June 2016.
I took the GRE earlier this week and am wrapping up my applications (PLU, Seattle U, etc) now. I would be happy to answer any questions about my experiences throughout the application process, but mostly I thought this would be a great space to encourage and motivate one another!
I'm a non-traditional student and former finance professional making one of the most exciting transitions into healthcare. I'm also a current PLU student so I'm familiar with the campus, which is beautiful by the way (if some of you aren't and were curious).
If you have questions, ask away. If you have answers, we'd love to hear them. Or, if you just want to pop in and introduce yourself, we'd love that too!
Perhaps this is a question for @Nursing16lr, but does anyone have any insight on our schedule for the first year?
I have a dog that I like to let out mid-day and am having a very hard time finding a house for us to rent in the area that my boyfriend works in Puyallup.
Hello - posting on this old post in the hopes that folks who are in the ELMSN program could answer a question: about how much time did you spend on homework in the first year? I know to expect classes and clinicals to be full-time, but what about beyond that? This information would be so helpful in deciding whether the ELSMN is manageable or the BSN is preferrable. Thanks!
@farminnurse Honestly it kind of depends on the semester...and how much you're willing to put in to maintain grades. If you were getting straight A's before, you probably won't anymore unless you put in the SERIOUS time to maintain it.
I know all the posts I read when I was applying said how much work it would be and how tough it was. I brushed it off because I was coming from a situation where I was working full time, working on my prereqs, and volunteering. I dropped all of that to focus solely on this and I am still busier with just this program than all of that before. It is surprising how much they expect us to take on.
That being said, apply and see what happens! It's a competitive, TOUGH program but it's short so for me it was worth it for that reason. If time isn't really an issue for you, the BSN program might be a better way to go. I know many of the BSN students are able to work. A few of us do too, albeit super minimal. Don't ask me how :)
The other thing to consider is what is your long term goal? Are you wanting to work as a floor nurse? Admin? NP? The MSN designates you for a leadership role so there's little reason to do this program if that doesn't align with your goal as well.
I hope that answers your question! Feel free to PM me!
Hey I am a graduate of the ELM program and graduated last year. I wanted to also reply to your question. Like the previous person stated it really depends on the semester but it also really depends on the student. Coming from my bachelors degree I worked two different jobs, volunteered, and maybe went out a little too much and didn't focus on school maybe as much as I should have and ended up with about a 3.6 GPA. When I started this program I didn't work during the first summer and fall semesters. I worked hard and studied much more than I did during my bachelors degree. The first summer your really don't have any additional time other than classes, clinical, and studying. However, after that first summer I didn't think it was as difficult to balance other things outside of school. I ended up picking up a part time job at the end of fall semester and worked only about 16ish hours a week which was doable. Other students thought it was insane that people were able to work part time but there was at least 4 of us that did pick up at our old jobs and were able to manage without difficulty. Also, depending on if you were a recent student or not I felt determined how much time you had to put into studying. Those who had taken quite a few years off between bachelors and the ELM program seemed to have to spend a little more time on studying than others.
After the first year I ended up taking a residency position at one of the hospitals and worked a 0.9 FTE for the rest of the program. They will definitely not recommend this anymore and I think they make it pretty impossible for you to do this anymore in the program. It was stressful trying to schedule my work schedule, classes, and clinical. That last year of the program while also doing a residency program really burned me out. I was exhausted when the program was over and that is definitely why they tell you that you cannot take a residency position until after you graduate. However, my point is that that last year of the program switched from studying for exams to more projects and papers which seemed (to me) to free up some more time. Again this is all on a individual basis and depends on how quickly you can get work done and how long you can stand studying for at a time. I was more the student that would spend more or less 8 hours at a time studying/reading to ensure I had the weekend off so it definitely depends on how you manage your time. Saying all of that I graduated with a 3.9 GPA so it is not impossible to get A's throughout the program.
Looking back that was probably one of the hardest/most stressful 27 months of my life but it has gotten me so farther in my career already than I expected. I am so grateful that I did the ELM program over a BSN or even an Accelerated BSN. Definitely think about your long term goals, your time management skills, and how much time you want to put into a program for the next 2 years.
Yes, I believe our class was the last cohort to not have to officially sign something stating we would not work over a certain FTE.
The master's half of the program was completely different than the first half. You really don't have any exams during the last portion of the program and it switches to more projects, presentations, papers, and group work. The first summer was really nice, it's pretty much just focusing on your preceptorship, your poster presentation, and preparing to take the NCLEX. I thought it seemed really relaxing especially compared to the first summer. You are required to complete quite a few clinical hours for your preceptorship but I loved my location and I thought this was the time I really started to feel comfortable being a nurse on my own.
I thought the second fall semester was easiest of the master's portion of the program. Theory is a difficult but mostly because it is such a different way to think and the information is not straight forward like the previous classes were. I think it also depends on who teaches that course since I thought the papers and assignments were relatively difficult from the professor that taught our cohort. J-term is very busy, there is a lot of work assigned to you in just a couple of weeks. The projects that are assigned are not hard per se but just time consuming. The hardest part was most of the work was group work which can be difficult finding time to get together with classmates and most of our work was down on google docs and phone conferences.
The spring term is when you start your own individual clinicals during the master's portion. The work commitment for this semester really depends on your clinical placement and the project you decide upon. You will work with your preceptor to come up with a quality improvement project for your placement. The project is time consuming and can be really frustrating at times. You will have to come up with the project yourself, get approval by a IRB, conduct research/gather data, and then present the results. A semester is definitely not long enough to develop and implement a quality improvement project and can feel really rushed. Sometimes you feel like there is no direction and I felt frustrated at times because I felt like that I wasn't given the tools and/or assistance to be successful. Also I know some of my classmates really had issues at their clinical sites, either their preceptors weren't really available to work with them or sites not fully willing to let them implement their QI interventions.
The final summer was brutal - plus we were all ready to just graduate! You stay with you're same clinical site but are focusing on different projects that are more hands on and education based. It is a lot of clinical hours to complete in a very short amount of time. (Granted I was also working full time so it may have just been really tough for me). Not only are you working on projects with your clinical site you are also writing your morificecript for publication. I really don't enjoy writing and I was not looking forward to working on the morificecript but the professor was awesome and she made writing the morificecript bearable and really provided us with the support and motivation to develop a great morificecript that you were proud to submit to a journal at the end. My biggest piece of advice is make sure that you choose a morificecript topic that you LOVE! You will end up doing more research and reading on one topic than you ever thought you would do and you will spend so much time on that topic that you will know it inside and out. If you don't fully enjoy your topic you will really struggle getting through all of the hours you need to spend on your morificecript.
nikxi36, MSN, RN
31 Posts
Curiousrei, I sure did! I was not waiting for long