MrSensitivity

I'd agree that nursing jobs today aren't as plentiful as they once were (my wife's been a nurse since the 80's), but comparatively it is a good field in which to find work. As to the question of age, 50 is the new 40. I started pre-reqs at the age of 52, entered a second degree BSN at 53, graduated, started a weekend nursing job and MSN program at 54, graduated at 55, about to turn 56 and working as an NP. Since you have a degree already, I'd suggest you investigate second degree programs and get to work on your pre-requisites. It's hard work getting there, but absolutely doable. Good luck.

Here's a perspective, or rather an experience, that I don't see much on this subject. I found the AANP cert exam to be the hardest exam I've ever taken. Almost all of it was scenario based and many of the conditions and therapies were things that weren't covered in my masters program, and I never saw them in my clinical rotations. Out of 150 questions I felt like I absolutely knew the answers to less than 20%. I just tried to reason through the questions as best I could, but honestly felt that I had failed. To my surprise the screen said "Passed" when I submitted it. Perhaps those of you who put in weeks and weeks of arduous study time with different resources found the test to be easy and straightforward. I hope that is the case and if so, I would encourage others to follow your example. I can tell you I didn't study at all except for sitting in on the Fitzgerald review.

Great posting. It helped me a lot. I'm a new grad, and this is the contract I just signed: What type NP are you? FNP Where (state)(rural/urban) do you practice? Suburban Texas Are you independent or in a group? group How many years experience? 0 What is your before tax paycheck amount? 7917 Monthly or bi-weekly? monthly Salary/hourly/other(explain)? salary Avg hours on check? 40 per week What are the perks of your contract? (ie. PTO/vacation/bonuses) Paid health, life, disability, & malpractice ins, 5 1/2 weeks PTO, Bonus up to $10k, $1500 for cme, matching 401k up to 6%, all licenses and DEA fees paid.

I have vitalsource. Don't know the difference with kno. With pageburst the book resides on your computer and pages load quickly. Some of the other ebooks are internet based and every page has to download. This is important because some of the tests are open book but timed.

Already sold them all to online sites about a week ago. Sorry. But, I also used a lot of digital books. I like the ones that are on Pageburst (Evolve, Elsevier), but had bad experiences with other digital offerings. Most of the students dropped their uniforms off at the school today during the final comprehensive exam, and they'll offer those to you. That'll save a few bucks. You're going to work hard, meet some brilliant people, and ultimately be very proud of your choice. It goes by very, very fast. Wreck 'em!

I did all of mine on day shift. A number of my classmates worked nights. Everybody prefers days, but don't sweat it if you get nights. Some of the best coaches are on nights, and on nights there's a lot of autonomy. You can actually learn a lot more.

Hi bibi321. You won't have any trouble. You already have one degree, and that says a lot about commitment to finish something. I think that's one of the reasons they created a fast paced program like this. All of the students have proven themselves already. It is very intense, but you'll find the atmosphere to be much more collegial than your first college experience. They operate the program sort of like grad school, and you're treated like an adult. The best advice I could give you is to get a good appointment book/calendar and stay organized. The assignments will be coming from every direction so you'll need to stay on top of things. The volume of reading material is almost unmanageable, so you have to prioritize and scrutinize what material is the most important. The technical knowledge will come to you with no problem, it's the thought process that will be challenging. Testing will be odd to you, and in the beginning everyone will complain loudly about the questions and the way they are worded. But the goal is to make you think like a nurse. It sounds strange but you'll see what I mean soon enough. Good luck to ya.

Just finishing up the Abilene program. For those of you starting there, take a look at Newport Village apartments. They're clean, gated, quiet, and convenient to everything. Three of us living there this year. I just moved out today. I think their getting somewhere around $500/month for a 1 bedroom. Good luck to you. It's a great program run by very good people.

Since you're asking for opinions, I've got one. There aren't very many bills that fund programs more than 3-5 years at a time. I'm not surprised it's part of a package that will have to be voted on in 2016. Otherwise it'd come under the heading of entitlements. I think The Advanced Nursing Education program administered by HRSA has been around since 1998 or something like that. Certainly there are parts of the ACA that are politically controversial, but even if the political winds change and the ACA falls apart there will be bits and pieces everywhere that will be funded. Healthcare provider tuition reimbursement, particularly for those who contract in underserved areas would be something both political parties would be in favor of saving. We'll still keep our fingers crossed.

That's true BlueEyedGuy. Good point. The tax rate and the "effective" tax rate are two different things. Someone making $100k might end up in the 35% bracket, but the effective rate will be around 15-18%. I'd agree myelin, $30k is very cheap. The price of a new car nowadays, lol. So, if you have to pay $30k more to graduate a year sooner, it's money well spent in my opinion. Particularly in light of taking a $90k job as a new grad. You more than make up for it. Even if there was a 35% effective rate on that amount, and even if you could only make $60k, and even if interest on the loan was 8%, and even if there was a state income tax where you live. The math still works.

@ SilverLove, The BSN 2 classes are all online. Many of the tests are proctored at the site where you are enrolled. There's an occassional lab or meeting to attend on campus and a few pre-scheduled clinical days at clinical sites, but for the most part you schedule your own clinical days in cooperation with your clinical coach. They can be any day of the week that works best for you both, and depending on the coach's work schedule. The school would like to see you attend one day per week, but it usually doesn't work out that way.

I think you can get the physical exam / health questionaire sent in now, along with the proof of health insurance and CPR card, but they don't want the background investigation to be submitted until 90 days prior to matriculation (about May 19).

I hear ya. $30k is almost the price of a new car. A daunting task indeed.

Wrong? Oh harmonizer, let's have some harmony to go with my sensitivity. I would agree with you that $2 is a bigger number than $1. But one should look the calculus and not just the arithmetic. That's the point. Pick whatever numbers you want for program cost and graduate salary. You can even throw in taxes, interest, part-time work, market tends, and speeding ticket fines (I just mention that one because I get a lot of those). There is a point of diminishing return that must be identified, but revenue is a good thing, and it can offset tuition cost and all of those other things if you can get it sooner than later. It's not an inconsequential consideration. Cheers

When looking at cost, consider the length of the program, especially if you are having to finance living expenses. Programs range in length from accelerated one-year to 18-month and even 24-month periods. From a cashflow perspective, paying $60k and graduating six months sooner than a program that costs $30k is smart money as I see it. If both graduates take a $90k job, then the student who graduated six months sooner will recoup $45k while the student in the cheaper school is still sitting in class. Net cost over 18 months = $15k versus $30k, so the expensive school is actually cheaper if you look at that extra variable. Then again, maybe I'm just rationalizing for my own mental health