changeagent1

I did have experience with MSr,which this answer is a little late for you. it was 6 years ago and was not a positive experience. i was an experienced HEDIS data collector. there were some positives, but they were slow to reimburse and not responsive. they finally found that i was one of the few that they could depend upon to get the work done.

hi. (just to let you know, i am a she) regarding school and loans. loan information can be obtained at the school to which you apply. they always have a financial aid office. do not be so quick to file for loans, though. there are many more grants for nursing education especially to go into advanced practice. there are programs with the federal government that if you offer to serve in an underserved area, such as rural america or indian health service, there are g rants and loan forgiveness. all this requires mobility. i don't know what your status is as far as mobility to move, but the more mobile you are willing to be, the more opportunities are for you. time management is an issue regarding school. school is stressful no matter what. i liked class room because my bsn was done in an external degree program. it was the statewide nursing program in ca. the program has probably become more online now, but back then, they offered courses at local hospitals. you went to class once every two or three weeks for 4 or so hours. i liked that rather than sitting at computer every night trying to understand what someone was saying in their thread on line. rabbit trails happen a lot when on line. my msn was in a traditional university setting, however, they program was geared to working nurses. class was once a week and then sometimes you had to meet with your work group during the week. it was more of a team approach for some classes. but class was after work like 6-10. i liked it like that because you usually got out early. i worked different shifts while i was going to school, 12-hr nights for the bsn and 8-5 weekdays for my msn. i liked working the night shift because when i was quiet at night, i could get some work done. face it, when you are in school, it is stressful, no matter what program you take because it are using up personal time with requirements. there is always something else you have to do. to complete school, you have to have tunnel vision to get to your final goal of being a midwife. always keep that in sight. like i said, the bsn will seem to take forever, that is why i recommended some of the previous schools that have a bsn to msn program. you can do it all at once and graduate much sooner. but you may have to relocate. if you can't relocate, that changes your options. if i had to do it over again, that is what i would do. however, they did not have those types of programs around in the early 80's (wow, it sounds like so long ago, yet it seems like yesterday). the external degree program that i attended is now run out of cal state at dominquez hills. they have it all over the state of california. but i know there is a lot of federal grant money out there to get nurses to do advanced practice degrees because we are desperately needed. so you see why i would like classroom much better, i just have too much to say. i am trying to keep it brief and i still rattle on. and on and on and on.... oh well, keep exploring until you find the program right for you. talk to a lot of nurses especially ones in the field you are in. find them in the professional organization of their field and interview them. find out if that is what you really want to do. good luck.

Getting back to your original question about which is best for schools, you stated that you wanted to go to a Masters program to become a nurse midwife. I have found a website that may help you in your search. it lists all the schoolsl that have courses in this field. what is really exciting is that many of them have a RN to BSN program in the undergrad and some hve RN to MSn with a program in midwifery. if you are willing to move for graduate school there are some of these universities that are in very inexpense places. What i just found out is there are online schools for advanced practice for midwifery. How about that. anyway, here is the link. http://www.allnursingschools.com/featured/nurse-midwife/ I can vouch for the Emory School of nursing here in Atlanta because i have attended an orientation program for their graduate programs. They all were excellent. Very strongly clinical based. Good luck. keep going. the BSN will seem like it takes forever, but it will go by fast. Graduate school will go much quicker. Keep on going. I am excited for you to know what you want and to go for it!!!! Wish all nurses had your determination.

to respond to the above, You are right in that on line classes may go more in depth. But I think it is what you make it. if it is a subject that interests you, won't you be motivated to explore and read more. the important thing is to know yourself and the best way you learn. I learn best by discussion. i can't type as fast as i can speak, so it is very laborious to type out my thoughts. also i find that others do not type exactly what they want to say, and it comes accross the discussion thread in a convoluted or not clear manner. i am also a relationship oriented person. to me, in life, it is about relationships. I like to create them and maintain them. so to sit at computer at home alone, is not a great way for me. And unfortunately, i still have only dial up which makes transactions on the computer even slower. We all learn differently, so if you go to school, know what method works for you and go for it. Also, i found that once you have a masters, it does not really matter where it is from. It is just the fact that you have it. So if ucsf has your speciality that you want, that will be the place to go. but explore other universtities that may not cost as much or be in a less expensive place to live. that is all. could go on withthis thread forever. Exactly what i am trying to say. i use too many words becuase i am verbal person, where as the previous speaker said it in a few words.

Before you decide whether or not to take a degree via online or not, there is an important thing to consider. You must consider how it is that you learn. Each of us has a learning style. some are visual, some are auditory, some are kinesthetic others are hands on. If your style is hands on, an online program may not be for you. I know that i love classroom discussion. i like to hear lectures becuase i absorb more learning by hearing than i do by reading or looking. I had to take one online college course for my job. I got through it ok, but i was frustrated by not being able to ask immediate questions or talk to my classmate. i ended up calling them offline. I did not really retain that much from class becuase i had to read so much, and i don't really learn from reading. I got my BSN from an external degree program which was the "new way" in the early 80's for not having to attend a regular program. but at least it got me in a classroom where i could learn. My MSN was from a traditional program at a university. I would not want to do my MSN at an online program becuase that is a degree that requires interaction between peers. At a masters level, it is not so much that you learn new things, it is more taking what you already know and looking at it from a new perspective, questioning it and rearranging your paradigms. I would find that really hard to do without being able to immediately interact with people. typing conversations out is just not the same. So after 30 years of nursing, would I say go for your masters: yes. does it matter where you go: ;not really, alhtough ucsf is a great nursing school. there are other great nursing schools. but go the traditional program is my recommendation. if online is the ONLY way you can do it, then your decision is made for you. do it no matter what. if you have a choice, go traditional. you will get more out of it. that is my thought.

Hi there, Boy, can i appreciate your position (the originator of this thread). I have been a nurse 30 years and my first two jobs were similiar to yours. there are always going to be those people that make life miserable. (i don't know why nurses eat their young, but they do). The best response, when you are ready to try again, is find another field of nursing. med-surg is one of the most difficult areas. after about 5 years of nursing i was ready to leave it, but then i was working on my BSN and discovered it as a profession rather than a job. i went into pediatric intensive care, had a lousy preceptor, but loved thejob. once we got the preceptor part worked out, i loved it. but then i went to work in Quality Assurance. and let me tell you, i found my nitch. i love investigating and collecting data to improve things for nursing. there is always soemthing going on. I have been fortunate to have a career with several managed care organizations and thus have worked in several different states. i have had to travel for my position. I have had the opportunity to teach. QA is all about improving things which is what nursing is all about. it is usually a monday through friday job and is different every day. Nursing is a great career because you can do almost anything you want to do with it. you can be in a hospital, clinic, outpatient, ambulatory, ER, ICU, OR, office, managed care, case management, nurse call line center, insurance, occupational health, school nursing, teaching, pharmaceutical sales, pharmaceutical drug safety, and a whole plethera of other opportunities. if you are an entrapaneur, you can create your own nursing speciality. don't give up on your first year. there is too much out there to try. start with baby steps. volunteer at a free clinic. get a feel for other areas. join professional organizations and talk to experienced nurses. get a real prespective before you give up. go for it. and good luck.

i have done hedis data collection many times. i have worked in the managed care arena for quite a while. the first thing to tell you about hedis data collection is that it is not a full time job. it is a part time job. it is not intended to give you a salary that you can live off of, but to supplement and give you extra spending money. it is especially a good deal if you work 12 hour shifts because you can do this on your day off. it is tedious. you have to schedule your appointments in physician offices. if it is a solo practice there may be only 5-6 charts to review. on some companies you are scheduled by support staff. i do not recommend this type of data collection because usually the schedulers are in another location and are not aware of local traffic patterns. so only take a job where you are in control of the scheduling. get on map quest and map out the offices you have to attend and plan the route. the physician offices, for the most part know about hedis, but you may come upon new people that have not been exposed to it before. be aware, this data collection effort is not to measure the physicians per se; it is to measure the health plans of managed care. therefore, there may be only a few charts per office. some offices are nice and helpful and others are rude. be that as it may, your responsibility to is to be appropriate to them. their job is to take care of the customer/patients, not nurses doing chart review. you are on their turf. be pleasant and flexible. they will try to accommodate you, but never allow them to accommodate you at the expense of the customer. you may be placed in a small room, on a stool or in storage room. be flexible and smile. it can be a fun thing to go around to different offices and see another side of the health care continuum. it is a change from the normal routine of nursing. i have done this type of data collection for years and always enjoy being in the community. also, if you goal is to get into qi or managed care, getting this type of experience can always help with that. put it on your resume. remember hedis are quality measures for managed care, not individual physicians. they cover the whole gamut of health care areas such as diabetes, heart, depression, immunizations and prenatal care.