SummitRN

This is a story about how I got accepted to a big name online for-profit: A phone number kept calling me incessantly for weeks... I finally answered, prepared for my usual, "I'm on the no-call list so please remove me from your call list." It was a rep from some school I hadn't heard of, but apparently I'd filled out some webform. Had I? OK... "are you good to go in my state? Well, I'm not interested but... OK I'll look at your application." I'd filled out the whole application in about 10 minutes while on the phone with the rep with 6 questions: "Where do I submit my references information?" "Where do I submit my CV?" "Transcripts?" "What are the application essay guidelines?" "What is the interview like?" "Is there an application fee?" The answers were: "we don't need references, no CV, only transcripts for your BSN (not the other 5 schools), no essay, no interview, no fees." I almost asked if they were a real school or if this was some kind of joke, but I played along because I was thoroughly amused. I sent one transcript, worth $5 for my amusement. Then I hit the internet to learn about this school. I learned the school is a for-profit. Oh..... now it makes sense! I learned Walden doesn't have a physical campus, only office buildings that house the servers, executives, and recruiters (aka admissions advisors). Perusing threads on this forum only darkened the reputation. Yet, they are accredited by HLC and CCNE. 36 hours later I received my acceptance email. I declined. The admissions advisor started leaving me voicemails implying I must have clicked on the wrong button... I could still change my mind. I wrote him an email politely informing him I'd declined. He left me another voicemail that was distinctly aggravated. I'm not opposed to the idea of online programs, but there have to be standards because a profession is perceived and regulated by its lowest common denominator. This selection process for lowest common denominator in NP education is a joke. No entry standards lets in good students too, but don't filter the subpar. It implies the standards once in the program won't be high either. The bar for admission should be higher than a RN license, a pulse, and the ability to sign off on student loans.

This statement is poorly explained and I'm not sure it is borne out in the real world. There is no difference in responsibility or function in the clinical realm and only very rarely is there are position that demands a DNP over MSN except in academia.

I was reaidng an old thread and found this lengthy comment quite relevant...

Something that is a combination of art and science is sometimes called a craft. Nursing fits this idea, but is hardly unique. From nursing to medicine to photography to counterintelligence, there are many fields and disciplines that are both an art and a science. Some might argue that different nursing specialties have more art or more science. I definitely see some specialties like their Jean Watson bell-ringing while others have no use for such things.

I had a friend who was a student in a respected nursing program who was outspoken enough in class, but otherwise scored invariably high As, that the professor was overheard calling the student's clinical scholar and unappologetically asking the scholar to find some way to fail the student on a subjective point in clinincal. The scholar thankfully refused to comply. I personaly was threatened with failing a clinical for an opinion I expressed in a weekly clinical log in the personal thoughts section (basically wishing for a heavier assignment to be challenged). I was basically told not to "complain" when asked for my thoughts. That person was just having a bad day, but there should be rubrics to prevent personal issues from imposing excessive influence in professional judgment. I think TheCommuter did a great job of idenfitying some pitfalls. I wonder if we might discuss some other ideas on how to change the system, a paradigm shift, to avoid some of these systemic progenitors of human drama. Ideas?

I think I read about this type of thing in the past... have they mentioned new uniforms? (The first stewardesses had to be RNs as well).

every va is different. many many people love the va. the va is the largest single employer of nurses in the usa. but all of their rn job postings have this listed under qualifications required: [color=#454442](4) graduate of a school of professional nursing approved by the appropriate state agency and accredited by the national league of nursing accrediting commission (nlnac) or the commission on collegiate nursing education (ccne).

Great post commuter! Thought I'd add a bit. The bottom line is that these schools sell a dream to make a buck. That would be find, but often the deal is a fraud and the for-profits are just screwing over their students for a buck. Benefit: The books and uniforms are included in tuition! It blows my mind when students buy that marketing line from the sales (aka admissions) department of a for-profit. Hey, the books and uniforms are included as long as you pay 1.5 to 15 times what non-profits charge. Yea, books and uniforms might appear like a relatively significant cost if tuition is $1-2K a semester at your community college. If you are paying $15K per semester in tuition, books and uniforms are a match on a fire. Great Simulation Labs Sometimes a new for-profit may have the best simulation lab in town. Unfortunately, this is often to offset the fact that students of for-profit may be less likely to have a chance to perform skills in the clinical setting (see below). Drawbacks: Subpar Clinical Sites Many for-profits advertise a long list of great hospitals that they place students at. This bill of goods is sold to potential students. The reality is often only 6 or 8 students will end up at the facility per class while the rest are sent to doctors offices, nursing homes, and day care. Some for-profit students may never see the inside of a hospital in their clinical rotations. Lower graduation rates For-profit schools as a whole have drastically lower graduation rates. Having onerous debt and no degree is a high risk. These programs are well known for kicking out students or failing out students who were not properly prepared for the program, but were let in because of the lower entry standards that for-profits have (see Commuter's post). Questionable NCLEX pass rates Many for-profit schools have much lower than average NCLEX pass rates. Others have suspiciously high pass rates. The latter is achieved by allowing students to complete the program, then hitting them with exit exams that they must pass in order to actually take NCLEX. Schools filter out anyone statistically uncertain to pass NCLEX on the first try, which can be a large portion of the class. This surprise comes after all tuition is paid (it was in the small print). No Federal Employment Regarding federal employment, it isn't that they necessarily shy away from for-profits specifically (though they do as do many hospitals), it is that some agencies will not hire graduates non-accredited programs as a matter of policy. Lack of Scholarships For-profits have few if any school specific scholarships to offset their high costs. Most private NON-profits and many public NON-profits schools have many school specific scholarship and grant programs for students. Lack of Reinvestment For-profit schools use gross profits for marketing and net profits for bonuses and shareholder payouts. Money is not reinvested for student benefit. Deceptive Practices For-profits schools are investigated and fined by federal and state regulators and sued by students at much higher rates than other schools for deceptive, unethical, and illegal practices.

Great! For-profits have been screwing the taxpayer and their students to the tune of billions. We have the right to demand quality if we are footing the bill.

What if you choice is 0330-1600 or 1530-0400? It's neither night nor day, but apparently some facilities roll that way!

I think making drugs legal would be horrible Know what would be 100x worse than legalizing, taxing, restricting, and regulating pot? What is 100x worse is using my tax dollars to continuing the war on drugs: therefore enabling massive organized crime, gang violence, militarizing police departments and their super aggro SWAT raids for everything, supporting the removal of all 4th amendment rights, maintain the highest incarceration rate in the world by throwing pot heads in jail for years where I have to pay for them with my tax money instead of letting them go about their "self-abuse" of sitting around laughing at the TV and being a working citizen. The war on drugs has NOTHING to show for results. Colorado recently legalized pot in everything but name. Basically, go to the doc, tell them you stubbed your toe a couple years ago, get a Rx, buy pot from a legal dispensary. The result? Increased tax revenue and the illegal pot smuggling, gangs, and drug dealing have drastically DECREASED. That is about it. Now if they would just pass some laws to make the dispensaries less visible. As a public health issue, the war on drugs is a disaster. A prestigious international panel staffed by world leaders came to the same conclusion: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110602/wl_nm/us_drugs_commission The AMA sees the use of cannabis as medicine http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-5614233-503544.html and wants the FDA to reclassify it as no longer a schedule I. I think nurses have a place in this debate. It's not like the druggies are very good at organizing. Or we can let the arch-conservatives call the shots while the drug companies kick back and laugh about charging $120 per pill for some antinausea meds. This statement is beyond idiotic. Do they teach logic anymore? How is one person introducing harmful chemicals into THEIR OWN body equal to sexually assaulting ANOTHER PERSON, a child? :uhoh3: I laugh when specious emotional arguments pop up: "Think of the children! Oh, won't someone please think of the children?" But, "smokin' dope=child rape" really takes the cake.

Ummm... sometimes you need to... like when exposed to allergens that cause severe rxn. Often the recommendation may be up to 4x what the OTC bottle says. Everyone reacts differently though. 100mg of benadryl doesn't make me sleep. But the FAA won't let a pilot fly a plane on that. Unless OP was having mental effects from the antihistimne, OP should have gone to work despite feeling crummy. I'd have to be incapacitated/incompetent d/t illness (or contagious) to miss my first day!

If your program didn't require experience to get in, then your program is designed to make you into a nurse from scratch without prior experience!!! :) That said, experience will help, especially at first, but only if you can keep these things separate: Real world School world NCLEX world Samantha: the EMT issues you described are probably a personality thing as well as the difference between emergency acute world and sub acute/med surg acute world

It might be prudent to investigate how the local hospitals feel about hiring direct entry NNPs who have no prior medical experience.