msa9179

I'm wrapping up policy/advocacy this week. First term done! So far so good. have leadership and the three advanced classes (patho, pharm, assess) then start clinicals 6 months from now.

We may very well be in the same class. I don't know how many class/instructors there are, I would assume several at least. I didn't pay very close attention to how many students are in the class.

I am starting with 6001 and the advocacy/policy class (6050). I have my BSN and I had been in another msn program so my research/evidence based practice and technology classes transferred for the graduate level stuff. So once I finish advocacy, only have leadership left for core classes. Hoping to maybe combine it with patho.

Thanks!

Also, would love to hear any success stories from Walden NP students in Texas. Any trouble with the tx bon?

Also, just still asking around.... Anybody from Texas graduate from Walden NP program? Any problems with getting NP licensure in Texas. Getting ready to start but also hoping to hear from some successful Texas students just for peace of mind.

I'm starting the "adult/gerontology acute care np" route June 1. A little nervous, a little excited..... Hope to keep up with everyone along the way!

I started this thread about 2 years ago and have been following it ever since. Just an update. I actually finished my BSN through WGU over the past 2 years. I am now officially starting at Walden on June 1 2015. Doing the "adult/gerontology acute care nurse practitioner" route. It sounds like the NP program at walden has been successful and I even met a coworker recently who is just starting her clinicals for FNP there.

I have told this story a few times throughout AN, so please forgive me if you have already read it elsewhere, but my nursing education experience might help guide you. I started my nursing education in my late 20's, after I was married and had debt, and time and money was not on my side. As I looked at the local community college system, it would have taken me like 1.5-2 years probably to complete the prerequisites required for admission into the RN/ADN program. Then, I would have to apply and wait on admission to the ADN program (who knows how long that would take), and then the program would take 2 years to get my RN. Instead, I applied to the LVN program, and got in after one semester of waiting, as it required no prerequisites. I was able to work weekends and some nights as a CNA, and my wife was an LVN at the time, so we were able to make ends meet while I got right into school. I was an LVN after only one year, and then was able to get a reasonable paying job in Austin TX at a nursing home (I think I made like $18.50 an hour), and I eventually moved into the hospital setting in a system that still uses some LVN's for MedSurg floors. So, while working as an LVN and earning a modest, but respectable wage, I finished my RN through Excelsior College. That took about 14 months. I then was able to bump up to RN status and pay at the hospital, and eventually did my BSN through WGU. The BSN took me 1.5 years (or 3 of their six-month terms). I am now starting my MSN through WGU, and continue to work as an RN/BSN at the same hospital. Another noteworthy aspect of all of this is that my wife developed health problems and had to basically quit working back when I was still an LVN. Therefore, I worked two jobs (hospital and home health), working mostly full-time at both places (6-7 12-hour night shifts per week) while doing Excelsior for my RN and then WGU for my BSN. Since both are basically self-paced, I was able to work my schooling into my already busy schedule and achieve my educational goals. There is no way I could have done my RN or BSN through a more traditional program. Also, I feel like my experience in working as a CNA, then LVN, and then RN, with all of the continuous schooling, has made me a stronger nurse (versus an RN/BSN straight out of a 4-year program). Now, if you have the time and $$$ to go straight into an RN or BSN program, that is great and I recommend it. However, if your life is anything like mine, and those are not viable options, you can start with the LVN and piece together your education from the bottom to the top, just as I did. Basically, 7 years have passed since I started my LVN program to now. I did take some time off between each new level of school. If I had pushed harder, I could have gone from LVN to BSN in like 3-4 years probably. anyway, I hope this helps. The main idea is that it can be done. And, starting as an LVN is perfectly okay. I wouldn't recommend planning your career as an LVN, but it is a reasonable place to start and get decent work and nursing experience while continuing your education. Please message me if you have any other specific questions or if I can help in any way. Are you in Austin? you mention ACC...... is that Austin Community College? I don't know much about the WGU pre-licensure program, but my understanding is that it is only available in certain areas, and I'm quite sure the clinical hours are immense, so I don't know if "traveling" to do clinicals is an option. You will have to contact WGU to find out those details. If you are in the Austin area, I know there are an assortment of schools around for both ADN/RN and/or LVN, including Austin Community College, Temple College in Temple, Central Texas College in Killeen, and Career Point College in Austin. I think I might have heard that Temple College may have a campus in Taylor also (not sure, don't quote me on that). I would double-check the 20-month LVN program at ACC. That seems a bit long, unless you are taking the summer off or something. I completed my LVN through Cisco Junior College at their campus in Abilene Texas, and it took only 12 months (going to school year-round for the 12-months straight). again, let me know if you have any questions I might be able to help with. Oh, and by the way, The big hospital players in Austin (Seton and St Davids) don't have LVN's as floor nurses (as far as I know). I worked MedSurg as an LVN at Scott & White Hospital in Temple. I now work at their location in Round Rock TX (next to Austin) in the ICU. I don't see any LVN's working the floor in Round Rock, but I know there are tons in Temple still and a lot in the various S&W clinics in the Austin area.

This post actually reminded me that I had started a thread elsewhere in AN asking about having and MSN in education vs leadership in order to become a nurse educator. There was a lot of good info shared. The overall answer seemed to be that if you wish to be competitive in getting into a teaching in a more major college system, the education MSN is more necessary, but if you are going to teach at a community college or something (like ADN's and/or LVN's) the leadership MSN is probably sufficient. However, Murse901 makes a good point that the leadership route is probably more versatile in the non-teaching world. here is the link to that thread I mentioned in case anyone is interested in further reading on this subject. https://allnurses.com/nursing-educators-faculty/order-teach-will-955571.html

Hello all, I recently completed my BSN through WGU, and will be starting my MSN there soon. I have not exactly decided yet on a route.....education vs leadership. After extensive soul-searching, I have decided that I may not have the stomach for management (that is, working in management in the real world). However, I have always loved precepting new nurses, participating in their training, and acting as a mentor. So, I've been looking a little at the possibility of getting into teaching. I am wondering if anyone has any insight into the education program, specifically the field experience and capstone. I currently work in an ICU in a hospital, and so I'm wondering about how those things work for the regular nurse. Do you design some sort of education program for your unit/hospital and work with your unit educator? Or do you have to go out and link up with an actual nursing school or something for any part of this? To be honest, I have no idea what I want to do when I "grow up" and so my current plan is to just keep furthering my education in nursing until I figure it out. I like the idea of advanced practice (i.e. nurse practitioner), but doing those clinicals is out of the question for me, due to my current family situation (you will understand if you have read some of my other posts). Anyway, I invite any thoughts or ideas from those in the WGU MSN program,or from those who have the MSN and have approached the job market with it. ....or any other thoughts on masters-level education and what opportunities it opens.....etc. thanks so much.

I believe I started with 43. I think I did like 18 the first term, 12 the second term, and 13 the third term....

yes!, as klone indicated, the exams are few and far between. When you take a class requiring a proctored exam, you do all of the course work and practice exam, etc on your own time, at your convenience. Then, once you have completed the course work and feel prepared, you are basically taking a "final exam" that is proctored via webcam. you schedule this exam in advance, and I just always scheduled mine for like 9:00 a.m., knowing I would be home from work by then, and set up in a part of the house where I would not be disturbed. You log into the testing program and do a few things to check your identity and whatnot, and then take the test on your computer with the webcam watching you. The exams usually took me anywhere from 45 min to 90 min to complete. They usually had between 75-100 multiple choice questions. Again, it is totally not a big deal, and definitely should not be a sticking point in choosing WGU. In fact, I loved doing the proctored exams at home with a web cam. When I did Excelsior College for my LVN to RN, I had to drive a half hour to a testing center for every single test, so this is nothing compared to that. I think I probably took something like 6 exams total in my entire BSN program, and some of those were non-nursing classes I needed, like microbiology.

The community health practicum is a project that you complete, and requires at least 90 hours of work in the community. These 90 hours are not satisfied by doing "clinical rotations" or something. The 90 hours is spent more on researching the community by direct contact with people and organizations. So, for example, you pick your topic, and spend 90 hours interviewing those in the community who are pertinent to that topic. I did disaster preparedness, and spent the time interviewing numerous members of local government, ems, fire, law enforcement, hospital, school, local nursing homes, etc. I also attended lots of meetings and training sessions for these various entities. You then develop a plan of action to address a community health concern, and write a lengthy paper explaining all you did and your plan, etc. So, again, you can't just spend a total of 90 hours hanging out and helping at the local health department or free clinic. This is more of a hands-on community-based research project, which requires 90 hours of documented interviews, meetings, facility tours, etc.

I just finished my BSN through WGU. I did my RN through Excelsior and took their A&P and Microbiology classes. So, essentially, I was in the same position. Since there is no lab component with Excelsior's A&P and Micro classes, this must be satisfied through WGU. However, in order to be able to take the lab, they also require you take the didactic course with the lab. So, at WGU, there is one microbiology class with one microbiology lab. You have to take the class and the lab. At WGU, there are two A&P classes (I and II), and one lab. Since you have taken A&P at excelsior, they will not require you to take both A&P classes, but you will have to take one A&P class and the one lab. Again, I did this exact thing over the past few months. The A&P class was one of their "performance assessments", where you have to submit work (as opposed to taking a test). however, I think it was more like submitting worksheets where you have filled in the answers after doing online exercises and online lab simulations. honestly, it was not bad at all. The A&P lab requires you to do dissections and things at home. They send you a lab kit, and you have something like 10 or 12 "labs" you do, and then write a 1-2 page paper discussing your results, etc. They are very clear in the instructions, so it is not that bad, just requires dissections at home. They sent me an entire fetal pig, a sheep brain, a sheep heart, and a sheep kidney, if I remember correctly. The microbiology class is satisfied with one of their "objective assessments," which is just taking a test. It is quite similar to Excelsior, in that you just learn microbiology on your own, and take their test. I found it to be pretty doable. The microbiology lab requires, again, at home lab work. They send you supplies, and you do the usual microbiology stuff.....growing bacterial cultures in petri dishes and whatnot. It is pretty time consuming, but doable. Then you write up a 1-2 page paper discussing your results and observations per their instructions. Overall, the whole thing of repeating those classes and labs was a bit of a drag, but I got it done, and it was just one hurdle to get over to finish the program without having to go back and sit in a classroom somewhere to satisfy those lab requirements. Don't be afraid of it. WGU has been great for me overall!