terfernay

As far as staying organized while on the road: I have a portable clipboard that I bring to every home visit that has educational and community resources I commonly reference, pens, sticky notes, and my clients working chart. If I know I will do a weight check at a home visit I bring my scale but if not I leave it behind. I usually have a bag of toys that I bring along to occupy the kiddos and to do developmental screenings. And that's about it! I try to be as lean as possible because the bags get heavy and some people's homes aren't the cleanest so it's best not to bring anything you don't need. I might have other bags in my car that have other client's charts, my laptop, etc. but I don't bring that into a client's home. As far as tracking mileage I usually have a sticky note in each of my client's charts and I track my travel time, visit time, and mileage for each visit there until I'm able to enter it into the computer. I keep track of mileage using my odometer or will look up the directions using google maps and jot down the mileage if I forgot to reset my odometer. I hope this helps! I too had experience in OB before becoming a family home visitor and it was a little adjustment but I've grown to love it!

Hi! I'm a PHN in MN. My understanding is most public health nursing jobs require you to either have your PHN certification or be willing to get it. The nice thing about attending a BSN program that offers public health courses is that you can apply for the certification as soon as you pass your NCLEX. If you attend a program that does not offer public health courses then I think you would have to complete courses in public health in order to qualify to get your PHN certification. None of this matters if you never have any intention in working in public health however! That being said you never know where your career may bring you and it's nice to know that it's an option to work in public health if you're already certified.

What's the big differences between the two other than this new requirement CCNE is putting out about preceptors?

Is this only for CCNE accreditated programs? What about ACEN?

At my school you can do clinicals at your place of employment it just can't be within the same unit. For example if you work in L&D and go back to become a CNM you can't do your clinicals there because you work there as an L&D nurse. However if you work in the ER you could do your clinicals as a CNM there because you'd be working in L&D not the ER as a student. It makes it difficult to ask MDs and NPs you work with at your job because most of the MDs and NPs you work with are on your unit and you can't do a clinical rotation on your unit. Also what a previous poster mentioned about not being able to do inpatient rotations as an FNP student and most RNs work inpatient so most of their contacts are inpatient providers as well.

You could also try attending local NP meetings and network network network! Let EVERYBODY know you're in NP school and if they know ANYONE who may be interested in precepting. You could also try Public Health depts, family planning clinics, FQHCs, Indian Health Services, etc. These types of clinics are more likely to take students because they aren't as productivity based as other clinic types. Many clinics don't allow students even though the providers there would like to precept because having a student slows down productivity.

NP school doesn't require you to be working as a bedside nurse or in a clinical setting. You could do case management while in NP school but like the previous poster mentioned it may get more difficult as you get to the clinical portion of your program because most NP clinicals are M-F 8-5 type hours and most case management positions are also M-F 8-5 type hours so depending on how many hours a week you are required to do clinicals and how many hours per week your job is there may not be enough hours during the work week to do both.

I think this is something you'll have to decide on your own. I took the time to shadow various NPs in different areas to get an idea of where I would like to practice when I graduate. I found out that I am most interested in Family Medicine and OB/GYN.

I was going to mention Frontier being ACEN accredited as well. I have heard they've hired a new clinical faculty member whose role will be to help students find preceptors however they are still in the very early stages of coordinating this and as of right now students still need to identify their own preceptors but it's hopeful for the future. I also like to add that even though students at Frontier are responsible for finding a preceptor Frontier provides a lot of resources and tips for identifying preceptors including a map of sites and preceptors they've used in the past and information about how those sites want students to contact them to start the credentialing process. They are have regional clinical faculty members who have connections with clinical sites in their region of the country that students are in contact with throughout the program. This regional clinical faculty member can help point students in the right direction with finding sites as well.

I'm going to be starting Frontier Nursing University's online FNP program this fall. From what I can see it's a very reputable school!

Nursing school was one of the hardest and most stressful times of my life but also one of the most fun times of my life. It is a lot of work. You're learning a lot of new things. It's very time consuming with classes and studying and clinicals and the dreaded care plans which you never have to do again once you graduate thank goodness!! But that being said remind yourself of how many thousands of people have gone through nursing school and passed and you will too. Good luck!

Go with whoever you feel like wrote you a better letter. It doesn't matter if they are adjunct or not.

I know someone who graduated from this program. She had very good things to say about the program and she is now an amazing midwife at a birth center. Her education prepared her well.

In narrowing down my options it was helpful to have in mind what I absolutely wanted in a program like at the very least 600 hours of clinicals, at least one trip to campus to verify skills competencies, MSN only vs DNP, price less than $40,000, flexible start date, etc. and things I absolutely didn't want like for profit program, a non accreditated program, etc. Keep in mind when looking at online programs that not every program is authorized for the state you reside in so that eliminates many schools very quickly and narrows down your options. If a school wasn't authorized in my state of Minnesota then I didn't even bother looking at them further. Some schools I considered were Frontier, University of South Alabama, University of Alabama Birmingham, and Allen College, but I got into my top choice which was Frontier so I didn't have to apply to the others!

I will be starting the FNP program this fall at Frontier. I chose this school because I know some alumni who highly recommended the program and also because their mission is to prepare practitioners to work with rural and underserved women and families which aligns with my career goals. The program is 2 years full time and 3 years part time. The cost is about $36,000 which is another reason why I chose Frontier. The tuition is very reasonable and it's a highly respected school. You are required to attend campus twice. Once before you start classes as an orientation to the school and faculty and to learn how to be a successful distance learner and once before starting your clinicals to practice physical assessments, procedures, and do simulations to make sure you're prepared for clinicals. Let me know if you have any other questions and I encourage you to check their website out for more information. I've heard nothing but good things about this program! Also I would recommend staying away from for profit schools if you are able to. They can be expensive, the course work sometimes doesn't adequately prepare students for practice upon graduation, and I have started to see some employers in my state specifically saying they won't hire graduates from for profit schools as the level of preparation of graduates from for profit schools is very inconsistent.

Agreed! My goal all throughout nursing school was to become a midwife. I got a job in OB and loved the population but hated the uncertainty and unpredictability of childbirth. Was too anxiety provoking for me so I got a job in public health doing family home visiting and found my passion for preventative healthcare and will now be starting FNP school this fall. I would've never thought in a million years that I'd want to become an FNP! If I would've gone straight through I would've never figured out my likes and dislikes and would've ended up in a role that I dreaded.

Thank you for sharing this! I have been wondering too why they retired the credential. So frustrating!!

You should double check if your third choice school requires you to put down a deposit to save your place. If so then you need to ask yourself if it's worth losing the deposit to go to UC if you get in. If they don't require a deposit then you don't have to worry about that. Unless you've accepted a financial aid package from your third choice school I don't think it's necessarily bad to rescind an offer of acceptance to go to a better school. Med students do this all the time because everyone is trying to get into the best school they can. I accepted my offer to UC only to later rescind it because I got into my first choice school. I gave them as much notice as possible and did it in a kind way. Most schools expect there to be some changes in acceptance offers before the official start of the program. Good luck in making your decision!

There have been a few people who have been accepted off the waitlist so far. You should join the frontier nursing university Hopefuls page on Facebook. Lots of good info there.

Either do the entry level MSN to become an RN then enroll in an NP program or do a direct entry program where you get an RN along the way then end up with an NP. The entry level MSN will not make you an NP but an RN. Or you can get your BSN and then enroll in an NP program.

If you want to be dual-certified as a CNM and FNP you'd have to either attend a dual CNM/FNP program or get one certification and then get a post-master's certificate in the other, which is usually about 1 more year of school. If you want to go to Frontier then it's fastest to get your CNM first and then get a post-master's certificate for your FNP afterward. Frontier has Regional Clinical Faculty that are in charge of assisting students in arranging clinicals in their state. It's best to do your own networking to find potential preceptors and then your RCF will help you with getting the paperwork completed, so you can do your clinicals at those sites. They also are responsible for doing a site visit to verify that the clinical site will be a good learning experience and help provide training to your preceptors. If you are struggling with finding your own preceptors they can give you a list of clinical sites that other Frontier students have used in your area for you to try to contact. You are required to travel to campus once before you start the program and once before you start the clinical portion of the program. Everything else can be done in your home community.

Congrats on your acceptance to UC!

If you know any NPs or other healthcare workers you could ask if they know anyone you could contact to shadow. If not then you can call around to clinics and explain your situation and ask if there is an NP you can shadow. You may have to ask several places before you find someone that will say yes because of patient confidentially but I've been surprised with the number of clinics that have allowed me to shadow so it's definitely possibly. Good luck!

My understanding is there used to be an Advanced Public Health Nurse certification but it has been retired. There is an option to get your CPH which is Certified in Public Health but it's a public health certification and not a nursing certification. I don't know if this helps. And then obviously you can get your Public Health Nurse certification but that only requires your BSN.

Aren't there other quality programs that aren't as expensive as Simmons but more reputable than West Coast University? Those are definitely not the only two options for schools in this country. I would think you'd want to go to a school that your BON recognizes.