mrspopeye

I don't know the max number of credits. I did full time study, 36 hours in 5 semesters- Fall, Spring, Summer, Fall, Spring, which amount to about 22 calendar months.

By trimester, I assume you mean Spring, Summer and Fall, which is what I did there. Spring and Fall were 15-16 wks each and summer was a few weeks shorter than that, I believe. Just like the majority of universities. You may not get to talk to anyone if they are out for winter break. I see they are up to $905 per credit hour now, plus the usual additional fees. I tried to go back there for a Post Master's FNP, but after weeks of delayed correspondence, I could never get anyone there to give me straight answer on what would have been required, so I gave up and went to a local school, and paid less than half the price. If money is no object, they are fine and I feel that I was adequately prepared, but I very much regret borrowing that much money and would have chose another school if I had it to do over.

It took me 2 years of full time study to complete the ANP program- I think it was 36 credit hours total.

Check this out: http://www.npworld.us/

It was for the Adult NP track. They also did not require a GRE or thesis at the time I went a few years ago.

They value your business??? Ha. I know the AANP credentials NPs also, but I don't think they do ACNPs. Anyway, they are no better. It was a nightmare both times I used them. Last time, 4 months to get an authorization to test. Awful (nonexistant) communication.

Look at allnursingschools.com for a list. I graduated fron SLU with an ANP. My advice: get an FNP. You are more marketable and will have many more job opportunities. I had to go back 4-5 years later and get a FNP Post Master's just to be competitive in my area. SLU is fine, but expensive.

I graduated from the SLU online ANP program. Although I would say that it is very good and I leaned what I needed to, it is very expensive and if I had it to do over, I would probably pick a cheaper school.

You can find a list at allnursingschools.com. I did an online ANP at St. Louis University and it was ok- I learned what I needed to know. If I could do it over, I would have picked somewhere cheaper. I went back and got a Post Masters FNP at a local school that was an on campus program, and I think I got a better quality education at SLU. If you do decide, I cannot emphasize enough to get a FNP, not an ANP, as there are many more job opportunities and you are more marketable, even if you don't plan on seeing kids. It is not as easy to come by a new NP job as it is a seasoned RN job.

You can get the smart briefs free, even if you are not a member. AANP is very difficult to deal with - I was certified by them as a Adult NP a few years back, which was not necessarily a smooth process (lost my transcript twice) and I recently went back and got a Post Master's FNP and after 4 MONTHS I still do not have authorization to sit for the FNP exam (lost 2 transcripts twice). Communication is impossible- to voice mails, emails, snail mail, 20+ calls. I will never give them another penny. It will be beneficial to you to be a member only to get a discount to sit for the exam and get a discount to the conferences. I'm sure others will disagree, but I have had (and still having) a very bad experience with them. There is a reason why they have a "F" score on the BBB.

I went through the online program at St. Louis University several years ago, which was fine, but looking back I wished I had researched more and picked a less expensive school- it cost over $30K to go from BSN to MSN. I will still be paying on my student loan when my oldest daughter is in college. The pay between experienced RN and new NP is not that much. It took me about 4 years as an NP to make significantly more than I made at my old management RN job. I have a friend who spent $90K on the Vandy bridge program from ADN to MSN and it will take him the rest of his career to make that up- not worth it to me.

The one book that was most helpful to me in school was Uphold & Graham's Clinical Guidelines in Family Practice.

So how did you do on your exam?

Your post made me do a little reflecting. It has now been 15 years since I was a junior in a BSN program, in which I spent countless days, weeks and months in perpetual frustration, and I made plenty of 70s along the way. I am now a nurse practitioner and all of that seems like a distant memory. Although it is tough for you to see now, that grade has absolutely no reflection on what kind of nurse you will be. Real nursing is about what's on the inside- your drive to want to spend your entire career caring for others and a loving spirit that has no numerical grade assigned to it. Things start to click at the end of your senior year that did not as a junior. Things click in your 2nd year as and RN that did not in the 1st. The learning process is like cooking in a crock pot, not a microwave. I can tell by reading you have the work ethic it takes to handle nursing school and you will pass the NCLEX, but none of it will be easy. I took me several years to figure out why nursing school is so hard and many times seems unfair (and it should be)- because it prepares you for the real world, in the same way medical schools prepare doctors with unbeliveable long hours and work loads. They give you more than you think you can handle, and those who survive, leave school with survival skills. You learn to handle stress because you are conditioned to handle it, like a soldier, and that is vital when you are working short, have docs and families unfairly yelling at you, or when there is a code blue, and quite possibly all 3 of these will happen at once! We had 2 mottos in school: 1) What doesn't kill you will make you stronger, and 2) and regarding grades - "C" means "you may continue." Good luck to you.

SheriStudentFNP: What part of the country do you live in? We have an overabundance of mid-levels where I live in TN and many folks are in the same boat. I took a less than optimal job offer my first year- I left exactly 1 year later and make almost twice as much with great benefits. I also have a bad taste in my mouth regarding practices in which the doctor's spouse is the office manager. I agree with some of the others that experience will open up more doors. Another consideration: Do they consider you an employee or are you self-employed? This makes a diferrence in how much taxes you pay.