Bill2211

I can't believe how hard it is to find clinical rotations in my online FNP program. I'm supposed to start in 6 months and have called at least 50 practices so far with no results. Either they have preferred affiliations for local schools or they are booked out for one or even two years, and that is just for regular primary care! I have a friend in the same online program two semesters ahead of me who has called 100+ practices in four states looking for peds and women's health who still hasn't found anything. It is absolutely ridiculous, the school just offers an occasional obvious local suggestion that is no help whatsoever. If I knew it was going to be like this, I never would of done this program. I am really worried we won't be able to graduate and that even if we do, there won't be any jobs available with this many new grads being cranked out.

I don't know what everyone is talking about, I totally recommend doing it for the money! I'm on my third contract now, and I've been making between $1140-$1190 per week full time! Granted the benefits are minimal (health & dental) and you get charged for being sick, along with losing the hourly pay, but overall you make great money! Some advice: DON'T let them set you up with housing! You'll lose your travel stipend, which is half your pay, and you run the risk of being stuffed into a noisy apartment complex! I personally recommend using AirBnB to stay at someone's house, people on there are super nice, and you can usually find a monthly rental for between $700-$1200/mo. (Private room in an occupied house, still a TON better than hotels!) As far as the job itself, you have to be comfortable with being super flexible and hitting the ground running. You will probably just have a few days of orientation and then you are flying solo! Your first week or two will consist of asking tons of questions, spending 20 minutes looking for a trach care kit (then finding out they don't stock them), calling the operator over and over to get the extensions you need, figuring out where the hell CT is, which physicians to call, getting lost on your way to the unit and doing a few laps around the building, figuring out the charting and log-ins, etc and so on. So, its a pretty steep learning curve, but if you've been a nurse that long, you'll manage. If you are someone that likes new challenges and doesn't want to settle, it can be refreshing, if stressful. Really, the hardest part is that its hard to make any lasting friendships being there for so short a time. On the flip side of that though, is you can generally avoid the politics and snipe wars nurses get into with each other, since everyone knows you are passing through. You also get really good cross-training as well, in that you see the strengths and weaknesses of each unit/floor you work on from a pretty unique perspective, and get to see a variety of nursing cultures, both good and bad. One last piece of advice: stay away from HCA facilities unless you have already worked at one. They will work you to the bone, and if you are not ready for that, your head will explode! (Especially if you haven't used Meditech before!) On the plus side, their policies and procedures are extremely consistent from one to the next, so if you have worked at one before, you'll feel right at home. (Running your butt off!)

I recently finished UNE's online Organic Chem I with lab, and I have to say, in over 200+ credit hours of studies, that was the hardest class I have ever taken. Organic is a pretty difficult subject in its own right, but what made this class particularly challenging is the deplorable level of instruction. The book is a poor copy that appears to be printed out of a .pdf file, which I say because each page has two page numbers. Also, the printing is so poor you can't even tell there is highlighting of the functional group movements, unless you look VERY closely. In essence, the problem with this course is analogous to someone showing you how to hammer two boards together, and then handing you a blueprint, dropping you off at home depot, and telling you to build a house. There is a HUGE gulf between the oversimplified explanations of the book, and the in-depth understanding required by the questions, which you have to bridge with very little support. I found myself frequently chasing my tail looking for the answers to problems, repeating a mantra over and over while studying, "the answer just isn't f*&^ing in there!" Don't even get me started on the lectures, which have the instructor essentially reading from the text, the same material you just read 20 minutes ago. About halfway through I bought other chem books and started using more online resources (thank god for Wikipedia and Khan Academy), which helped quite a bit. I honestly learned organic much more in spite of this course than because of it. While the instructor answers questions, the answers tend to be about 2 sentences long and don't fill in the cavernous holes of understanding this course leaves you with. The lab portion is a simple virtual lab where you click and drag some lab equipment together, add reagents, and then see what pops out. Even for a long time computer gamer, it took me a minute to figure out the set up, which is not very intuitive or user friendly initially. The glassware shattering when I forgot to hook up the N2 gas was a nice effect though. The final is 60% of your grade, open book/note, online, and there is a significant curve (presumably because so many people bomb it). I managed to get an A in this class, though I am a straight A student and poured all of my energy into this course, studying 12-15 hours per module (16 modules total). This class honestly gave me nightmares, and I spent most of it unsure of if I would even pass. Unless you are a genius at chem or have taken multiple college level chem classes, I would strongly recommend a different course.