spaghetti321

It looks like this can be completed in a year? I'm currently working as an adjunct instructor and want to move forward in academia. I am not taking out loans, and this flex path option looks to be potentially more bang for my buck. I'm wondering if it's reasonable to plan to finish this in a year, as I am only working part time. If anyone has completed the program or is currently enrolled, please share anything you are comfortable sharing.

They don’t offer any dual programs because it’s competency based and you pay for time (6 month increments). They do have an MBA Healthcare Management program, but it’s not the same as the MSN. They also won’t allow you to complete more than one masters in a 6-month term (so if it takes you 7 months, you have to wait for a new term before you can begin working on an additional masters) That said... a little bird told me WGU might be rolling out some post-masters certificate programs in the next year. I don’t know details, just that they are expanding.

@nurseyrn14 I finished 38 units last term and absolutely didn’t cheat. (RN to MSN) That’s kind of offensive to imply one would have to “have someone else’s work” to progress quickly. Some people have more experience and can get through courses faster, which is why I chose this “competency based” approach. I have over a decade of experience in a variety of roles, and I am currently working as an adjunct educator at a local university. I have a supportive mentor, and if anyone is unhappy with their mentor, they can ask for a new one. But, they are not supposed to do the work for you- they are a resource, their role is not to hold your hand or tell you when do you school work. I have encouraged other seasoned nurses to go to WGU, and have appropriately cautioned nascent nurses that it is a competency based program. I realize we all have different experience and goals, and it’s unfortunate you have had a negative experience while I have had such a positive one.

This totally depends on what you want. Where do you want to be in 5 years, 10 years? A friend of mine took a new grad residency program in Bakersfield. (After nearly a year of dead end applications and interviews in the Bay Area) She hated it at first, but she cut back on expenses by renting a room, and when her commitment to the hospital was over, she had a fat down payment saved up for a house in Santa Barbara. She’s so glad she got the experience, networking and now she makes her own schedule and is phasing into teaching. (She’s been a nurse for about 7 years now) Where do you want to work? What is important to you? Venturing about 1 hour outside of the cities can also really increase your chances of being hired without experience.

I have an almost 2 year old. I was going to take some travel contracts around the country to see where would be a good fit for our little family (we don’t want to raise him where we are currently living). Hopefully by this time next year we will be on the road! Finishing my MSN to kill time for now!

It depends on what state you live/work in. In my state, there is no hour requirement. But I know California does have an hour requirement.

I think this really depends on your experience. I did 30 units in 2 months because I was already familiar with the information. While there is a higher standard in the MSN portion, the revisions haven’t prevented my progress. My mentor opens up the next course once I have submitted the PA for my current course. I think having a supportive mentor is really helpful. You can ask for a new mentor at any time if you feel they are hindering your progress! Also, most universities require you take their versions of courses because it is their degree. If you took 95% of your classes at UCLA then 5% at WGU, it wouldn’t really be “their degree”, you would be UCLA educated. You know? That is how it was explained to me. I know it is annoying, but generally I think they want more than 50% of the units of that degree to be completed with them because their name is on the diploma.

They do not help with finding a preceptor, but I posted on the “nextdoor” app and had 3 people generously respond within the same day. Every state has different requirements, my state does not require “hours” for the capstone, but I believe some states do.

I’m looking for a comprehensive list of each states RN scope for Botox/Filler injections. Which require additional certification? Which need to be under an MD, which can be under an NP. I can find the information digging through specific states RN scope through the corresponding Board of Nursing. But I feel like there is probably a list somewhere I haven’t stumbled across yet.

It depends on what your state requirements are. For example, California requires MSN clinical hours, Oregon and South Carolina do not (I’m a traveler)

I have not had any that were chats or conferences, but there might be one or two near the end of the program. I can’t see that kind of detailed information on courses I have not activated yet. Some are video recorded, some are papers. An example performance assessment is dissecting a qualitative and a quantitative research study, this assignment was about 8-9 pages (for the Evidence Based Practice course). Another example is doing a video recorded head to toe (with an actual person) which took about twenty minutes. (You can see these on YouTube). Another is going through a virtual city clicking about 300 times (not exaggerating) then completing 3 worksheets on what was observed. So they really vary. They are not difficult, if you follow the prompts and rubrics, but they are time consuming. Extensive materials are provided, but the actual site is not very user friendly. I highly recommend a printer. There are no “textbooks” it’s all a web-interface that involves a lot of clicking and no way to “bookmark” or “highlight” information. In saying this, my point is to stress that if you are not computer savvy, there is a learning curve and you may struggle.

I’m currently enrolled in the RN to MSN education program. It is truly self paced and you can get a lot done in a short period of time if you want to. With a few exceptions... My biggest complaint is that it takes a really long time for assignments to be returned/graded. Sometimes I wait 3 days, then the smallest revision is required, so I resubmit, then 3 more days and a different evaluator decides something else minor needs to be revised. It’s really inconsistent and a headache. The actual course instructors do not grade the work. This is where you can have a big hang-up on it being “self-paced”. The assigned program mentor is helpful, to a degree. You will have weekly phone meetings for the first month or so, then go to every other week. It is kind of a waste of time, but I know the goal is to keep you on track. They cannot answer any questions about the courses specifically, and are basically a glorified directory/operator that will tell you who to contact when you have a question. This specific program only has 2 courses that have objective assessments, (I think there is 1 in the BSN to MSN track) so it is a good amount of work. I should be done the RN to MSN in 2 terms though. You could finish RN to MSN in 6 months if you really wanted to, just start strong so you can get your hours in. Just an insider tip- spell everything out in the performance assessments. I don’t think the people grading them have medical experience, so you can’t imply common medical knowledge like “vitals”. You have to say “respirations, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature”. Annoying and tedious. I happy to answer any specific questions if you have them.

THANK YOU for sharing this, very important information if you are planning on attending CRNA school

Following, would like to know how quickly this program is able to comfortably be completed