NAURN

There is a lot of independent learning that is expected on your part. There are some live classroom sessions that are recorded if you can't be there live. There is a lot of group work involved. The push community and being involved with your classmates so they make you work together. Its definitely not "read this, test that" sort of thing. Its not going to be easy at all. There are oral presentations to do, case presentations to present, etc. They seem to have worked around all the things that would normally get from a more traditional classroom and put them into the more non traditional online setting.

You will be notified of acceptance 6-8 weeks before your scheduled Frontier Bound date. They stick to this. Rarely do they send out notifications early. They did away with the phone interview, so you won't have one of those. Good Luck!

You are expected to find your own preceptors at FNU. You are assigned a regional clinical coordinator that can help you locate someone if u are having trouble. It varies greatly as far as difficulty finding a preceptor based on your location.... whether you have a lot of NPs in your area or major universities. I already have preceptors lines up and I just started. I do not live near any major universities and there are quite a few NPs in the area. Also keep in mind 80%that of your time must be with an NP...a lot of programs will allow u to do your clinical with an MD but FNU will allow only 20% of your time with an MD. I have not heard of people not being able to graduate because of not finding a preceptor but I have heard of some that have had to drive 2+ hours to a clinical site in order to get your time.

I would choose FNP, ACNP or there are programs that prepare more for the ER setting (not sure what sort of school or options are available to you). The ACNP only focuses on adults, and the ER sees kids so this may not be optimal. FNP trains you for the whole lifespan, but some states/hospitals are going towards hiring ACNP for hospitalists positions. You need to figure out exactly what you are looking to do, and that will help you choose what specialty

I agree that a hospitalist or ER position may be optimal if you are looking for night time hours. Possibly an after hours urgent care also.

I am starting an FNP program and plan to do it full time while working 3 12s a week.

Agree with CCRN... focus on being a nurse. It will be the most beneficial to you.

There are direct entry options, but most want you to have experience, and the length of experience required varies, usually 1-2 years.

I have an associate's degree and my GPA was 3.3... applied to one grad school (bridge program) and was accepted. I think grades are important, but definitely not everything. I think having a cumulative GPA 3.0 or better is a place to shoot. A lot of colleges are waiving the GRE requirement if you meet that criteria. There are other things to consider that make you an attractive candidate: Years of experience, professional references, essay responses, etc.

There are many RN-MSN programs out there where the didactic work is done online. Depending on what you want to do with it from there depends on how clinical would work. I am attending Frontier Nursing Univ and all didactic work is online and my clinical will be done in my community with the approval from the Clinical Coordinator. I do go to campus 3 times throughout the program. Many colleges now offer an RN-MSN bridge program. After MSN, the next level is the DNP/ PhD in nursing.

I applied to the one (and only one) that I felt was the best fit for me, and got in. My GPA was only 3.3. I think its important not to just go to the first school that accepts you, but to one that you feel is the best fit, and has a good track record.

6-8 weeks before Frontier Bound

Frontier does not have a GRE requirement IF your GPA is at or above 3.0

I would write it just as you said it. You are an attractive applicant because you do not have family and kids to juggle. I do, so in my essay I explained how specifically I planned on doing it, from childcare to cut back hours at work, etc. Support of my family I mentioned, how I planned to organize and study, etc.

You get notified of acceptance 6-8 weeks before the start of the term you apply for. You also may be placed on a wait list for the term you apply for, or be bumped to the next class if there is are too many qualified applicants to fit in one class.

3.0 to be exempt from having to take GRE... but I am pretty sure they want you to have at least a 3.0 anyways.

There was an article in The Nurse Practitioner journal about this just this month. It said that it is very unlikely that this will happen by 2015 because of all the steps still needed to be taken, legislation to be changed, etc.

Frontier waives the GRE if GPA is at or above 3.0

Hi Tonie- I am also in Class 95. We have a private Facebook page where me, along with about 10 other classmates are together getting thru the pre bridge stuff together. You should join us. Frontier Class 95 Just ask to join and I will accept you!

I think this is definitely a question for the school... but my understanding is its your cumulative GPA from all pre-req's and nursing courses.

Good luck Mike! Glad your employer is being supportive!

That is definitely something to think about. You both are going to have to be on the same page. You are going to be working full time and going to school. Thats a huge commitment. But its only for a relatively short time compared to the rest of your life... So I think if you guys can get through it, and if she can support you through it, your family's quality of life will benefit. You will be progressing with your professional life like you want, and it will benefit the family as a whole. But you both have to be willing to do what it takes to get to that point... and it won't work if she's not on board. Maybe it will be better for you to take the job that will be less stressful and less time consuming, so school work won't be so daunting. Maybe that will help make your wife feel better about it. I went through this same struggle as well... we have a 5 and 2 year old, plus I have to work full time and will attempt going to school full time... and we just decided that if this was something I wanted to do, he was going to have to support me. And he will. That is what's going to make all the difference in the world Can you do school part time?

I think you should go for the NP thing, regardless of the job you take. If you don't want to do management, by all means DON'T DO IT! There are also master's options in management if that is a path you would want to take, but if you want to stay in patient care then NP is the way to go. If you trust your boss to work with you, then it can't hurt to try it out, if you want the job. If it doesn't work out, you can just go back to doing what you're doing. Don't not go to NP school because of work issues. Just by reading your posts, it sounds like something you REALLY want to do. It would be awful if you didn't.

Thank you all for your help!

I am planning on working full time, 36 hours a week and do school full time. I think it is possible. Depends on what kind of student you are. I have heard of a lot of people who are doing it full time, working full time, single moms, etc... it can be done. Is there the option of doing school part time, or bumping down to part time if need be? Also, do you have kids? If you have 3 full days where you have nothing going on, that seems like enough time to study, test, etc. My concern for you would be clinical. My program is front loaded, where all the clinical is at the end, so if I need to drop down to PRN at that time I can. But I am not sure how you would work 4 days during the week and get your clinical time in if its spread out throughout the whole program. You would have to do the math... how many hours would be required every semester and take that and see if it can work. Also, can you do clinical on the weekend? That would help also. I definitely think it can be done!