jmuhammad10

Greetings Lovenurs, I went to a post-masters certificate program at a school I would not recommend. However, I hear that South University has an excellent program. When I tried to transfer there, I had already completed a couple of clinical courses and they were unfortunately not transferrable to South University. So be sure to chose your post-masters NP program carefully. Best wishes.

Probably for the best . . .

I am a graduate of Aspen's RN to MSN program. Please go back and read my various posts . . .

Greetings everyone. I passed the AANP exam on the first try. It was a challenging exam. So the amount of time and energy that you put into preparing for the exam (and for NP practice) will help you to have the confidence needed to endure the stress and anxiety while taking the exam. Here are some resources I found helpful, including Nelda's suggestions: If you feel your NP program did not provide you with an adequate knowledge base, it is critical that you lay a solid foundation first. How would you know you have a faulty knowledge base? Work 50-100 questions from a review resource - Leik, Fitzgerald, Hollier; if you score less than 75%, your knowledge base is lacking. Also examine how you felt as you were reading through the questions and the answers. If you felt dumb, stupid, inadequate, scared, or anxious - your knowledge base needs building. Remember a review course is just that, it provides a surface review of the knowledge you SHOULD already have gathered from your NP program. If your NP program was like mine, you are going to NEED to build your knowledge base first. I recommend using Winland-Brown and Dunphy's NP review textbook first to build an excellent knowledge base (as you are going through the textbook, you may think: I don't need allll of this to take the NP cert exam. Know that the NP exam WILL cover the depth and breath of the NP role and the questions will come from everywhere. Also, the Winland-Brown book covers all topics on the exams; and uses an unique "scaffolding approach" with the questions where the authors build your knowledge base slowly, then cycles back around to some of the same subjects so you are constantly exposed to the content and you don't forget. In addition, the answers/rationales provided are comprehensive. After working through the book, you will FEEL like a NP and have a much better understanding of what a NP should know). Then, I used Leik's and Fitzgerald's NP review textbooks to refine my knowledge base. I would read through Leik then take the quizzes in Fitzgerald for the same subject and then read through Fitzgerald's content. I was scoring well over 90% on most quizzes and I was able to articulate WHY the correct answer was correct and the wrong answers were wrong. I had the knowledge! Also, note the review courses DO NOT cover everything that you may encounter on the Exams. So avoid attending one review course and thinking that that info is all that will be covered on the exam. For example, I encountered Morton Neuroma on the AANP Exam, it IS NOT within Hollier's or Fitzgerald's review course. I attended a live review course before my final semester and I purchased a CD/online version of a review course before I started my clinical courses. Be sure to look up pictures on Google and watch videos on Youtube to deepen your understanding especially of musculoskeletal assessment maneuvers, e.g. Lachman, McMurray's, Spurling's, Doorbell test, etc. Some of the exam questions will "describe" what the skin lesion looks like, so it is helpful to look at pictures and know the differences of how, say, various skin cancers look and are described. I think the Leik questions aligned more with the type of questions I encountered on the AANP exam. I took the AANP online test (it is $50) only after I had completely studied and was ready to test to see if I had any areas of weakness. I scored 87% on it and felt it was amazingly easy. However, as Fitzgerald says - "What makes a difficult question easy? Knowledge". So I was really feeling confident going into the exam that I had adequately built my knowledge base and I had a solid understanding of my NP role. Some others recommend going on Amazon and using the ANCC "yellow book" and looking inside the kindle version. The first 3 chapters are free and are a great resource for the non-clinical info for the AANC. Here's an excellent "study guide" on how to organize your study time for the NP certification exam. The woman who created it, Nelda Sturgill, was already a CNM when she went back for her NP credentials. Here is the first page, Family Nurse Practitioner Tips and Tricks: What to do while waiting for your books and CDs to arrive.... Bottom line, depending on your current wealth of knowledge and confidence level will help you to determine what you feel you need in NP knowledge building and review resources. It is far better to be "over-prepared" than under-prepared - at least, post-exam you will be better prepared for the practice environment. Lastly, you should subscribe to midlevelu.com blog - there are excellent resources and info to help you through NP school and practice.

I'm curious - how many of you are in a LPN/LVN to RN program that is online? I would love to hear about your programs. Or if you are looking for an online program. Email me at [email protected].

Aspen U does not have a FNP program at this time. I completed my FNP via a post-master's certificate program. Currently, there are no quizzes or final exams, per se at Aspen U. Some students liked the quizzes, some did not. However, keep in mind the point of the BSN and MSN degrees. These degrees are designed to help nursing professionals learn and practice the fine art of research, topic exploration, presenting an argument, properly supporting an argument with scholarly, peer-reviewed resources, etc. The overall goal is to help students learn how to identify the need for change and effectuate change within their practice arenas - how to be a valuable healthcare team member. So, there is a ‘process': read these chapters from these textbooks, explore the topic via research, identify and develop a clear argument for or against, find others that support your ideals, etc. Towards the end of the program, students become experts in researching, writing, constructing, and presenting their ideas. Of course, expert development occurs as long as there is no ‘remission' or ‘resistance to treatment' along the way . . . Best wishes.

Greetings, I believe you posed a question to me regarding Aspen in this or another trade. Aspen U has a great program. However, online education is not the same as a traditional, ground school experience. Online education can leave you with the misperception” that you are 'teaching yourself'. If you think about the experience you have at a physician's office: You visit the physician, you articulate your problem, they provide some counseling within the timeframe allotted, and write you a prescription. The prescription "if properly followed" along with the "supplemental information" provided should effectuate a resolution of your problem. Along the way, you may have concerns; thus, you return to the physician and have the concerns addressed. Very rarely, does the physician ‘contact' you outside of the appointment; however, the front office may check in on you from time to time. Online education is similar: students present to the enrollment counselors with a desire to learn a topic, they submit their transcripts, then an academic pathway is developed: take these classes and you will complete the goal – obtain the degree. The courses if well designed by the instructors, are the "prescription", i.e., read these chapters, review these power points, complete research on this topic, explore these questions in a written assignment and engage in discussion regarding these questions with your classmates. All of this if properly attacked by the student, will broaden the student's personal understanding of the topics via development of the student's knowledge base. In addition, the information gleaned from these ‘learning prescriptions' will help you in your professional nursing practice. Of course, if you have concerns along the way, return to the instructor for additional guidance. If the instructor notices that you appear to be noncompliant” or not meeting the goals” previously identified, the instructor will seek to guide you back to the ‘learning prescription.' Otherwise, as in a Montessori-type education, the instructor allows the students to ‘explore' and ‘grow' within a safe but controlled environment. What I have found as a Nurse Educator, most students want to be handheld throughout their nursing education. An educational program, if properly constructed, is designed to not only educate but also to empower the student towards self-independence and to develop a thirst for learning. The large majority of the time, the questions that students ask can be answered by a careful review” of the assignment descriptions, course descriptions, student handbook, etc. A large majority of students are impatient and want easy answers and if they don't like the answers or constructive feedback given by the instructor, they run to the next level of authority. It's like the spouse that ask you ‘where are my socks?' before they take the time to look for them first. Or like the child that asks dad for permission and then runs to mom if dad said no. Gosh, as I look back, I was a ‘horrible' whinnying student also. I took every minor feedback personally. I had not developed the knowledge and sophistication on how to weather the ‘fine art of failure' (failure simply meaning – things not going the way I intended them to go). It is important that educators help students to utilize the power of their brain versus relying constantly on the brain power of the instructor. That is best achieved via well written course curriculum and weekly assignments. Now of course, the course curriculum must answer the important questions, i.e., who, what, when, where, how, what if, what for, etc. in order to be truly effective. Again, online education is different and it requires a student with a certain skill set BEFORE entering the program. The student must have a certain degree of tenacity and assertiveness. Best wishes at Aspen, which has well-designed undergraduate and graduate nursing programs.

I agree this is an excellent opportunity to learn NP skills. Well worth the attendance and I came out with a wealth of information and skills.

No, not all programs offer an on campus skills lab. In fact, the majority do not offer a skills lab or teach the basics of billing and coding.

Please do your due diligence. There's a big difference in a school that promises to actually place students with preceptors versus a school that promises to assist students in locating a preceptor - make sure it is in writing. Also taking the 3Ps at the same time as a clinical rotation will be nothing short of disastrous. There will be a great deal of content to read, case studies to research and history/physical paperwork to complete. Thus, taking the 3Ps at the same time will be stressful. Those courses are content-rich, detailed oriented, and time consuming. I would suggest you weigh that carefully during your due diligence.

From my limited perspective and in my opinion, there have been a great deal of unpleasant issues within the program. The issues may have been partly caused by faculty changes or from the by-product of too many changes implemented at once. If I were you, I would continue to pursue other options. I would avoid delaying the pursuit of my dreams because of one program.

I personally had not heard they were not taking any applications. However, if I were you, I would continue to pursue other options - time, IS money they say. Best wishes.

Greetings. It took me under 1-1/2 years to complete the RN to MSN program. Again, make mastering the content your focus versus the time frame. The assignments were comprehensive enough to obtain mastery; however, it took at least 20-30 hours per week to get through the assignments with reading, researching, and digesting the content. I personally wanted to get my full money's worth; thus, I invested the time and energy while working, at times, part-time to achieve the goal. Best wishes.

Congrats on thinking about elevating yourself to the next level. I believe Aspen has s great program!! The instructors offer a realistic and useable curriculum with challenging assignments that help students to master the content. The cost now, I'm not sure - probably $11k to $13k. There is a monthly payment plan and classes start monthly. I believe there are only 12 or 13 courses. It should take most committed students about 1-1/2 to 2 years to complete. I would not recommend taking 2 classes at a time - especially if you want to master the content in preparation for career advancement and if you have been away from school for a while. The courses are all ten weeks except the capstone project. The courses are no longer self paced. However, the courses are designed to ensure students progress at an even and comprehensive pace. I would contact an advisor to see what classes can be transferred. I hope this helps. Aspen U is a great choice, in my opinion. Peace always, Prof. Jennifer Muhammad, MSN, FNP(s), RN

Congratulations.