MyaCL

Thank you so much for all you guys have done (Lisa and Ivan). I am a career changer, and the road to get to nursing school has been long and arduous to say the least. I work in the ED at my hospital as a tech, and I'm currently in paramedic training that will be completed by May 1, 2011. I plan to take my 1st excelsior exam by July/ August of 2011, but was really hesitant after all of the negative feedback about the dreaded CPNE! Being able to look at a study guide that breaks the test down makes me feel a little better about this journey I'm on. Thanks Again!

I'm a tech in an ED and I can tell you, we have several techs that went back to nursing school and are now nurses in the dept. The way they treat the other techs is with compassion and respect because they've been in our shoes, so you can't help but reciprocate. My hospital is really good about keeping you on board if you started with them as a CNA on the floor or a Tech in the ED, especially if you were a good student and have a reputation for being a team player and hard worker.

I'm a current student at WGU in their MBA- Healthcare Mgmt program. It's a good school and you are assigned a mentor that is with you every step of the way. I have my BS in General Business from Excelsior. I'm changing careers and looking at starting Excelsior's ADN program within the next few months. Both schools are great and I don't regret getting a degree through either institution. They also have excellent reputations with regards to their online nursing programs. As far as ADN-MSN programs, if you want to do something more clinical (FNP or Nurse Midwife) I would look at Frontier School of Nursing in Kentucky, or University of North Dakota. Frontier offers the FNP, Women's Nurse Practitioner, and Nurse Midwife options ONLINE with 2 visits to their campus the entire program. All of your clinicals are done within your community. I spoke to one of their advisors and she was extremely friendly and helpful. University of North Dakota offers a program in Advanced Public Health Nursing. They charge only their state rate for tuition (I didn't check tuition rates for Frontier). I think both schools would be viable options if you are wanting something more clinical as opposed to administrative in a nursing RN-MSN program. I hope this info was helpful.