Lhans333

Hi @alliejanota, yes I did enter the program back in August 19. I will be finished 1 year from now. My MSN was from WGU and Duq did not accept the transfer of the "three Ps" from there, so I had to repeat those classes. Anyone coming from an MSN program with qualifying pharm, patho, and physical assessment should move through the Post MSN FNP cert much faster. As for the program, it's rigorous, fast-paced, and largely directed self-study. If your a dedicated student you'll be fine. There are 2 campus visits for skills and OSCEs. They were very nice and accommodating during the first campus visit with a few live lectures and rotating skills stations. Students are on their own securing clinical placement and all sites need instructor eval and approval. If your local to Pittsburgh they post opportunities for clinicals students can pursue. Hopefully, that's helpful for you.

Hi @sweetsadie, I found their application process to be easier and more user friendly than most others. The advisor I worked with was great, very responsive and always returned calls/emails. The approval came 2 days after all my documents were in and my app was complete. The student mentor and academic advisors have also been awesome and so far great to work with. I honestly only have good things to say so far. At this point I’m happy I chose Duquesne.

Hi, I did my MSN @WGU and I'm starting a post MSN @Duquesne Univ in Fall. I was also accepted to other universities so it's not a big deal. If you want to go on to a DNP, you may want to see if there are higher GPA requirements for your undergrad/grad combined.

Hey everyone, I'm hoping someone out there may be starting the same program or is currently an FNP student at Duquesne. I'm starting their post MSN program in Fall 2019 and there are very little current reviews about this program. If anyone in the MSN FNP or the post MSN FNP have any feedback I'd love to chat with you. Thanks!

Hi, I'm one of the recent October grads from the Glendale ABSN program (and yes...a guinea pig to say the least). Let me know if you have questions and I will try to answer them...

Ok, I took a look at what I have and I didn't save much from 1st semester. I'm also pretty sure for liability reasons that I can't post anything specific from exams, even if I remembered anything. I can try to point you in the right direction though. Some of the best advice an instructor ever gave us: Identify what is wrong or what is the underlying cause of illness, what is the worst thing that can happen, and how do you correct it. Some advice from the students when answering questions on exams: Always apply the ABC's to each question that is applicable: A - airway, B - breathing, C - circulation, and use this model (as well as Maslow's), and ALWAYS consider safety as a top priority (both the nurses and the patients). 1st semester: Health assessment 1st exam: I remember needing to know about ADL's very well, as well as communication (verbal/non-verbal). Also this was an exam to read all the assigned pages in Jarvis very well. Make sure you highlight the sections on the pages that identify what is WRONG when assessing. Such as....is it normal to feel 1mm, firm, non-tender lymph nodes in an adult patient or is this cause for concern. Do the objectives in the modules and use that as a study guide. Human Experience 1st exam: I don't have much on this one either. But definitely answer all of the objectives in each module and use that as a study guide. Some minimal help to you: know the different kinds of medicine, such as allopathic or idiopathic, and cultural medicines. Know herbs such as St. John's Wort and why are herbs cause for concern when taking a hx from the pt (most don't disclose for fear of judgment). Definitely don't overlook the Healthy People 2010 stuff...I remember stuff on that. Sprains vs strains. Know interventions for injuries. This may be more than what is on the first exam, so focus on the modules assigned and the objectives. Can't stress the objectives enough. Keep in mind that the professors may all be different for the classes and the materials they offer to the students vary greatly. One may offer a specific study guide they created, in which case use that to focus your studies. Otherwise, the objectives are still the best focus for your studies. I'm also assuming the exams are still the same as what I took. I really have NO idea if they are the same or not. Hopefully this was a little helpful. Sorry I don't have much else on first semester. Check with me later for the other exams and I'll see if I have something else for you guys.

Ok, I've got some "last weekend of freedom" errands to run and I will log on again tonight and post what I can find

Sorry, that can make things difficult when you are used to working and counting on certain people. I will see if I can drum up some hints and guidelines for Semester 3. Which classes?

Hmm, yeah there was a certain person who tried to break up our "cliques" last semester.....nothing ended up changing. So what did they do? Why can't you work with your normal groups?

Oh sorry, I just realized you were asking about the e-books and the quizzes. Yes, we used the e-books for the quizzes. It's always best to read the material before taking the quizzes, since the idea is to test your knowledge, but looking something up is a breeze if you really get stumped.

Yeah, it's actually kind of funny. I could probably sell most all of my books as new and not used. I didn't even open half of them since the e-book package is such a fantastic tool. I'd say I used the e-books about 90% of the time since I started OU 12 months ago. You'll LOVE being able to cut and paste to make your study guides.

I believe the San Diego Angel is set up a little differently than Glendale, so I can't give you much advice on how to find your calendar information. Our community module was always pretty much empty with no info, and definitely not a calendar. Angel has been up for a few days now, but I haven't explored it completely (enjoying my last few days of break before preceptorship starts). Studying for 1st semester - Use the module objectives as your guide. Read the material a couple times but focus on what the objectives are asking you and make a study guide from that and you will do well on the exams. Check to see if the text CDROM's have extra quizzes and materials. Wong's and Hockenberry's have helpful text quizzes for Family Focus in 2nd semester. We weren't told about those until it was pretty much too late. I'll see if I can come up with some more tips for 1st semester. It feels like a long time ago so I'm a little shady on that. Nancerino - I got your PM, but I don't have PM functions. As for help with the 3rd semester, I can certainly tell you NOTHING will be as bad as what you guys just went through. I found Psych relatively easy. Lot's of theory stuff to memorize, and not as much application as A&C I or II. The problem with Psych (as far as clinicals go) for most of us was the sheer volume of paperwork. It was overwhelming, or it may have just been because we were compacting it to 10 weeks. I'm not really sure. In any case, I found A&C II to be easier than A&C I. Definitely builds on everything you have learned up to now. If you have specific questions about 3rd semester let me know. The evolve book package wasn't as necessary during 3rd semester as 1st and 2nd. I barely even used it. The only book I really used was the Psych Foundations book, and it was pretty easy to just crack the book open the old fashioned way.

Hmmm, there was a lot of talk in Glendale about changing the program around (something like moving Pharm to 1st semester and moving Intro to Prof Nursing to the intersession with Disability), but as far as I know the clinical schedule remains the same: Clinical I -medical II, oncology, or other general med-surg floor, Clinical II - a tele unit such as PTU or CTU and L&D, Clinical III - Psych, Critical Care (in glendale this is CCU, ICU, ER, and SICU), and Peds, Clinical IV - preceptorship of 144 hours in an assigned unit

I don't know the whole story. Something like.....The 16 students in the 1st semester co-hort didn't all buy the e-book package, but the students who bought did got books that were updated editions with altered content. Apparently enough to make a big difference. They decided that they would not offer it to the new co-hort coming in because it caused so many problems. That's all I really know, and I'm not positive how absolutely accurate that it, but we heard it from someone who would know...if that makes sense.

The books (if you buy them new or with the package) do have extra features on CD-ROM that will assist your learning. For instance, in 2nd semester you will take Family Focus (all about maternal-newborn, reproduction, pregnancy and childbirth) and the texts CD-ROM does have extra quizzes that are very helpful, but the actual text on a disc that you can read on your laptop can only be purchased with the e-book package through Evolve/Elsevier. If it's available I would recommend buying it. But since they did experience a major problem with the current 1st semester co-hort, I would make sure this has been resolved

Sure...back to studying now, but it looks like I get notifications on my e-mail when anyone responds to my posts, so I'll try to answer any questions as I can. Good luck!

Yeah, I wasn't too keen on buying pants online, so I waited until I felt comfortable that the Landau pants I bought from ACE were the right size then I bought the cargo version online. For the first semester, it's really not necessary to have the cargos. Definitely for the following 3 semesters though. The flushes and alcohol wipes and scope and other stuff gets pretty heavy in your top pockets. I had a perpetual headache for months till I got the cargos.

Hmmm, I think I ordered them from a website that sold Landau because I was concerned that if it was another brand I wouldn't be allowed to wear them, but another student bought Dickies brand scrubs (in the color closest to wine) and had the patch put on. They are much cheaper than Landau and Glendale is very lax about our appearance at GAMC. I think SD is more strict so maybe they have to be Landau. Not sure.

Totally....best thing each of us in my class bought. I think I spent the same amount. You can cut and paste from it which make study guides super quick to create. I also recommend purchasing a pair of wine colored scrub pants with cargo pockets on the pants. The OU pants don't have them and the more pockets the better.

Hi LaLaws, I can probably shed a little light on your e-book problem. I'm a Glendale OU student from the very 1st co-hort and super busy so I have only posted here a few times, many months ago. I'm on Allnurses all the time now searching for any new job listings. I'm finishing up my 3rd semester and entering my 4th in just a few weeks. We finish the program October 21st, yeah, less than 12 weeks left! Anyways, the e-book package was withheld from purchase for your class entering August 24th due to some major discrepancies that took place with the current 1st semester cohort (some class had updated versions some didn't and content was different). The e-book package was the best purchase I made going to OU so I'm sorry to hear you guys won't have it available. We used it to death. I can't even remember the last time I actually cracked a book...I just read everything on my laptop. I would inquire as a collective class and see if you guys can get this opened up for purchase again.

We don't have to be at the hospital and the school site more than 3 to 4 times a week (during clinicals) so commuting isn't horrible. Most of us live between 1 and 2 hours away from Glendale. It's do-able. I purchased the e-books and it was definitely one of my better purchases. I absolutely recommend it. I can't remember exactly how much it was, but it was like 400-600 more than if you had bought the books yourself through discount websites. It's the books for the first two semesters, and I believe there is another e-book package for the last two semesters. If there is I will definitely buy that one too. We didn't get our official acceptance letters until the day we were at our open house, so we didn't know what our status was until that day. They basically said if we were invited to attend the open house than we were in, but that could have just been for our co-hort. Good luck to you!

Hi sorry about the delay! The first semester is coming to an end and we have 2 weeks of final exams coming up, so I don't stay on top of non-school related e-mails very well . I'm sure you have had most of your questions answered by staff and I believe the open house is coming up this Wednesday, but if you have questions I will try to answer them. Yes, there are only 19 students in my co-hort, but I don't really know the answer for that. I believe that is largely because they couldn't advertise the program in Glendale. Most of us that are in it found out by mistake or because we were desperate enough to believe we could commute to San Diego and they informed us we were closer to the new program. We really just got lucky . I have heard that they accepted 25 or so students into the next co-hort beginning Jan 09. The facility can house the same approximate number as San Diego (about 70 or so), but they are not staffed to accommodate that number yet. I very much prefer the smaller number in my class. Hopefully that was helpful .

Hi Heather, we are wrapping up our lab for the day, so I have time to reply right now. Let's see if I can answer some of your questions (you are asking some of the same ones I asked as well! I have a child, so knowing my schedule was imperative!) Kennessa was here today and she is very knowledgeable. It was the first time most of us have met her, but we've all done quite a bit of phone/e-mail communication with her. Our skills labs are Tuesday (9-4ish), and every other Wednesday (9-1ish). However, I know they will stagger the next co-hort coming in January so I don't know what days the next class will have, but expect that you will be at the hospital/lab room 3 to 4 days a week. Our clinical shifts are either Sunday or Monday for 8 hours, but other semesters will be 12 hours. The day before your clinical you need to go to the hospital for and select a patient to do a care plan on for your shift. The nurses have been great so far. Again, these days may be different for the next class. Next semester we will be in a different unit, so you may have our shift right now on Med-Surg. I had to quit my job to do this, and I'm living on my husbands salary and financial aid. Having a child, and having to work is a recipe for disaster in this program. OU's financial aid department is very helpful making sure you have enough money so that you don't have to work. They are brutally honest that if you work you may not pass the program, and I know understand that to be very truthful. But it's only 14 months, and we are already almost 2 months down. It is flying by! I'm spending a good 50-60 hours a week in class and studying. They will tell you more hours are needed, but I'm comfortable with the material with my current studying patterns. Finding a small group of students and breaking up the material and teaching it to each other has been very effective for us so far. Total mid-life crisis, but if you love nursing and really want it, it's very worth it in my opinion!

This program is evolving and changing every week for us. My class is the first class to go through this program, and we are "guinea pigs" (for lack of better words). Glendale Adventist is a great hospital and a fabulous location for our clinicals. Our off site lab is not completed as of yet (ETA 11/08), so we have a temporary lab location at the hospital that doesn't have all the bells and whistles that this new location has/will have. The class beginning in January probably will never see the room we are in right now. OU's ABSN program is great and the online learning is very comprehensive. Being an LVN with experience, much of this information will be review for you. Most of our class of 19 are coming from non-medical backgrounds, and most of our previous BA's and MA's are not in medical subjects. As for the online learning...it's not for everyone, but even with all of our varying learning styles, we are getting through it. The clinicals are a great tool, and starting right away, it makes a big difference in hands on learning.

Hi everyone, I'm a current OU student at Glendale Adventist. I had a couple minutes, which I can certainly tell you is VERY rare in this program. I had endless questions about this program before I started, so I'm happy to shed some light on this program if you are curious about it. What questions do you have? :typing