ccuRN24

I've been trying to look for focus groups here and there (I need to get on a list for someone to call so I can do them more often). I just did one on albumin and they interviewed me for a little over an hour and gave me $225 just for my two cents about it. So easy and timing is super flexible you basically just tell them when you're available. It's not steady work, but good money for the amount of time you put in!

First semester you take 4 classes - patho/pharm, nursing skills, nursing history, and nursing concepts. This semester you really need to hit the ground running - it's A LOT of work. I used to come home from school and study for 4 hours some days. You cannot wait until the night before to start studying for a test, which was a huge change for me because I didn't study in undergrad. Tests are 50 multiple choice questions with select all that apply included. Professors will give you hints in class on what may show up on the test, so be sure you're paying attention. I'd also use quizlet to study (wish I had known that earlier in the program!). Class is set up with a powerpoint and lecture (print out the powerpoints in the library before class) and get a colored pen to take notes on the side. I think I did like 6 slides a page so I had room to write, but I also didn't want a ton of papers. The schedule may have changed but you take all 4 classes each week except patho/pharm was two (the integrate them together - which is good because pharm is really hard so the patho helps bring up your grade!) and then you're assigned to a lab section. For us we had no classes on Wednesdays (just lab times - 3 different slots) and then one on Fridays after a class in the morning. So it was kind of nice having an easier Friday if you didn't have lab! You're assigned to the labs, but they let you switch with other students. For example, some of my peers wanted the Friday afternoon lab so they could work Wednesday's. Speaking of work, it's doable, but I would say part time at the MOST. I worked per diem an hour away from the school and I hardly ever worked. Instead, I got a couple babysitting gigs, which allowed me to say yes or no depending on my schedule. Also, babysitting is super easy and you basically get paid for the kids to sleep, meaning you get paid to study (win/win!). Other things to note with the schedule - they'll give you a major schedule at the beginning of the semester and you may see other stuff like math quiz, HESI, and IPE (interprofessional education). The math quiz is a big deal - can't use calculators, have to get over a 96% i believe, and must pass it (you get multiple tries) and heads up 0.5 is not the same as 1/2 (when halving pills)!! so ridiculous, but you'll do fine. theres one at the start of each semester. HESI exams are your final exams and they're not written by the professors, but theres Elsevier where you can do a bunch of practice questions. IPE is when you spend time with the other cohort from PA, PT, etc. and all discuss a patient case. It's basically just to get you to understand what other professions do and how you'll be working with them in real life. That was a lot - sorry! But feel free to ask anything else!

I know this thread has kind of died off, but I graduated from the program a couple years ago and can answer any questions as not much has changed! I kinda wanna give back since I'm currently searching this site for NP programs and there's not a lot of information out there!

What kinds of jobs can ACNP have that aren’t in hospital? Maybe urgent care? I have always thought I’d go back to school to be a provider, just not this soon. But you’re right I will definitely need to shadow!

The Boston market is definitely flooded I’m sure! I know other Massachusetts cities are so Boston definitely is - this is also a concern, but I haven’t heard anyone say that who actually works here. Two of my friends just graduated and both got jobs right away so I think that may be affecting what I think too.

Thank you for your input! I do really like cardiology and was thinking maybe a clinic position as there aren’t a lot of inpatient cardiology NP positions at my hospital (they are beginning to make some positions). Although I might have to change my place of work - even though I love where I am now! I’ve been trying to put some feelers out but don’t want to “alert” anyone on my unit. I also don’t want to seem sketchy like i’m hiding something, but ultimately I’ve realized I’m furthering my career for myself and shouldn’t care what people are going to say. I’d rather just not have to hear it before I even apply to school!

This is good to know! I will definitely stay per diem at my current job (assuming I would be allowed to - I don’t see why not) so I can still do some bedside critical care. I just no longer want it all the time! Thanks for your input!

I love it, but most days I'm so over it! I'm thinking worst case I can always stay per diem in the ICU and still work as an NP.

Totally agree with both being respectable positions! I love critical care, but I know I wont love it at the NP level. Plus, my hospital doesn't even have NPs in our units (only PAs in cardiac surgery). In a way my experience in critical care has made me want to work in the prevention/primary care side as soo many people just need education and someone to check in on them in order to be successful. I'm thinking worst case in a saturated market I don't get a job right away and I continue to work as an RN on my unit, still gaining a ton of new knowledge and fine tuning my skills. Since I posted I have been thinking about the FNP route as you're right - it's the future I need to be thinking about. Thank you so much for your help - it's so nice to be able to reach out to unbiased people whose responses aren't based off of unit competition and staffing issues! (not kidding if some people on my unit found out I was thinking about this they would try to change my mind or be like why is she going to school again?? so frustrating!)

The market is definitely starting to become saturated where I am, but I also have a really great rapport with my hospital (started as a nurses aide and have worked my way up) and know that they're coming up with new programs where NPs will be highly utilized (clinics and floors where they don't do any off shifts), which is where I'm hoping to end up. I'm thinking by the time I graduate these programs will have worked out the kinks. If I can't find a job right away I will still have my current RN position to work at in the meantime, although it would be nice to start working shortly after graduation. I've also read a bunch of posts on here stating their schools make them find preceptors - much less work on the schools and more stress for us! Thank you so much for your feedback!

Hi everyone! I'm thinking about going back to school, but have so many questions and no one in my personal or work life to ask. I'd also like some brutally honest answers on what you think. I currently have almost 2 years experience working in an ICU that sees mostly cardiac but a little bit of everything (the unit is basically the overflow for other units). Long story short I'm slowly over it. The older nurses are leaving they've said the unit has never been like this (it's been really, really heavy acuity wise for 6 months, trying to call nurses in pretty much everyday) and honestly can't see myself doing this for the next 5 years anymore. I find myself resenting work, resenting patients (we're "fixing" people who will never live a normal life due to pt families not letting them go). This basically isn't the ICU I signed up for in the beginning (I loved it so much - and I feel that 6 months plus to give it a chance to turn around has been very fair). It's turned into a high acuity rehab essentially. Anyway - one of the nurses said if she could do it all over again she would've finished NP school so she could have a nice job that doesn't force you to work nights and weekends and make you feel bad for spending time with your loved ones (or bother you at home constantly). This got me thinking, I always knew I didn't want to stay bedside forever, but now is the time I should start thinking about school as I'd like to be done when I'm in my early 30s (late 20s now). My reasoning is for better hours (haven't spent a full weekend with my family in months due to scheduling - want to be with my kids that I don't currently have haha), not inpatient where I'm working nights and weekends (wouldn't mind clinic or inpatient where I can oversee a few patients), and I've wanted a higher degree in my field with more autonomy so this has somewhat been in the back of my mind, I had just thought I'd stay bedside for longer. Are these good reasons? Need brutal honesty. Then, I'd need to decide critical care or family NP. Again, I don't want to be working in the actual ICU as an NP (one of my friends has a job on the floor where it's only weekday day shifts and they oversee 5 patients) so maybe critical care isn't even a good option and I should go with FNP instead, but I'm wondering if with either of these I would be limiting myself. I also work in critical care now so I'm not sure if FNP doesn't really make sense. I love critical care, but can't actually see myself being a provider on the unit at that level if that makes sense. Furthermore, I will need to be able to work during the time I'm in school (nursing is already my second degree) and I have some loans from that. Has anyone done an online program? Or do they not suggest it? Money will definitely be a deciding factor for me school-wise as I have loans from undergrad, post bac BSN, and now this. I'll also need to keep my job for insurance, etc. and probably won't be able to go down too much in hours (could maybe swing 24). I have so many more questions, but I've made this long enough. I really appreciate any and all feedback as I feel like I'm in a rut right now!

I recently graduated and passed my NCLEX and have a job lined up. I took two weeks off around the holidays to just relax and not think about nursing. I had access to Hurst, Kaplan, and UWorld. Honestly, I only did about 1000 questions on UWorld and read all of the rationales. I thought this was the most helpful. I really didn't go through Kaplan (I got it for free) and reviewed the Hurst book a bit. I didn't put a time limit on studying each day because I realized I was blowing through questions just to get to my goal of 150 questions for that day. Questions are definitely the way to go! While studying I had a hospital job that I went to very little (it was far away from me, I didn't want to cloud my brain with non perfect NCLEX scenarios). Instead, I babysat for a little side gig. I'd do something small if you can so you at least have some spending money. If you don't already have a job at a hospital I wouldn't spend your time applying for one now. Plus, once you receive your RN license states have different rules on whether or not you can continue to work as an aide. I'd go for a job that you can get rather quickly! I really wanted a new grad residency program so I applied only to those programs before I received my RN license number. I found a lot of places that didn't have programs required me to type in a license number to move on, which I didn't have, so it turned out to be a huge waste of time for me. New grad programs know that you probably won't have a license when you apply and they don't require one in order to move through the process (from what I've experienced). That being said, definitely apply if you want something! I had planned on applying to non-new grad program jobs once I received my license number, but if you find the jobs around you still accept applications without then definitely apply! Hopefully some of this helped! Good luck on NCLEX!

i no longer have the sheet but the timeline was something like this: first round of interviews started last week and everyone should hear by the 26th or 29th second interviews (with managers) will be first or second week of february. and then i believe it doesn't start until sometime in march. (kind of a long time to wait if you ask me!)

I know I was like that's the whole summer depending on when we start! I'm not sure if we aren't guaranteed a job until 2 weeks in or just a unit? So nerve wracking! Also if it starts the 5th that's a short turn around for us to find out and then for it to start so I hope it's earlier! I'm also curious as to what the hours are like and if it's only 36 do we only go 3 times a week? And do we work when our preceptor works? I should've asked yesterday!

I had it yesterday! It wasn't what I was expecting, but nurses are adaptable hahah. So it seems the program is 6 months. I was so nervous when she was explaining it I missed half of it! Good luck at yours!!