415RN

I know three nurse informaticists in Northern California who each work for one of the three big hospital / medical group entities in our area, UCSF, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health. They each work from home.

The MSN program really changed this year, anyone entering after 5/1/20 is looking at a vastly different program than any before, with core work in all of the MSN tracks lining up to provide the hours necessary to lay the groundwork for a FNP / DNP. Quite different than the previous.

It can be done in one term ? How ?

There was an email that was sent today. The RN to MSN-FNP started 6/1 in a limited rollout to some WGU grads of the BSN program in a small number of states. In 2021 they expect to be widely available (BSN to MSN-FNP) and they also expect to have a post-MSN cert FNP available. Here is a snip from today's email: "For many years we have been working to develop a Family Nurse Practitioner program to support the needs for increased primary care across our nation. I am delighted to announce to you all that on June 1, we launched our newest MSN degree for Family Nurse Practitioners. We began with a soft opening in June by inviting some of our alumni to enroll June 1st. One of the reasons we started slow is we have done a thorough analysis of where the largest primary care gaps are in the nation and where these roles are most needed. We are currently offering this program in 12 states and more will be coming. See this explanation below from Dr. Anmy Mayfield, Associate Dean for Graduate Nursing (who is also a family nurse practitioner): We are currently accepting applications from WGU graduates of our undergraduate nursing programs from the following states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah. We anticipate opening the program to more states throughout the next year along with the addition of a post-MSN FNP certificate program in 2021. The MSN FNP degree program is a BSN to MSN degree for registered nurses (RN) wishing to become advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) with the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) population focus.  The post-MSN FNP certificate program is for RNs who already have an MSN degree wishing to become APRNs. Both programs are blended with much of the coursework delivered online and hands-on clinical practice occurring in the student’s local community. The post-MSN FNP certificate program will launch next year and more details will be forthcoming. With standard pacing, the MSN FNP degree program consists of 5 six-month terms that incorporate exciting relevant content including healthcare quality and palliative care certifications, clinical practice experiences and social-emotional learning through immersive virtual reality training, and innovative clinical skills. The post-MSN FNP certificate program consists of 3 six-month terms and also incorporates a palliative care certification and innovative clinical skills. If you have questions, email [email protected] for the MSN FNP degree program or [email protected] for the post-MSN FNP certificate program. One thing we have learned recently is that when our students graduate but do not give us personal emails or contact info, we are unable to provide you with information from the college that might be of particular interest. We’d like to encourage you to keep us as part of your communication connections. Alumni don’t receive messages like this but when we were reaching out to offer the FNP, we found we just didn’t have the information we needed to tell our alumni about this program and so many have been asking for it for so many years! Please consider allowing us to stay in touch by providing your personal email address when you graduate."

SFGH is doing a lot of hiring right now, good time to apply.

Are there any OAs in the MSN-Education track? I am hearing that due to COVID19 the video proctor farms offshore are shut down and people who had OAs at the end of March were not able to get their OAs done. I'm wondering if I should begin May 1st as I am planning to, or put it off a couple of months till the pandemic peaks and proctor services resume at whatever the new normal will be.

There is a course instructor named Rob Rawson who has a great set of notes, one for each module. He is great at breaking down the concepts in a way that makes sense and you can study from his notes. I came across him when he was teaching a live cohort and he shared his notes for that module, and I wrote to him and asked him for his notes for each of the modules.

I also started as a new grad on day shift in L&D, in LA. It exists. Take NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation) now, it will show how serious you are about the transition as you start looking that you hold current NRP certification. ACLS if you don' have it, also. Some (not all) places require ACLS. Doesn't hurt to have it. Find an AWHONN Fetal Monitoring course, the basic one, (there's basic and advanced) and take it, so you can show that you have started to learn the field. Lisa Miller's Pocket Guide to Fetal Monitoring will get you started learning the physiology behind fetal monitoring and why the patterns tell us to be concerned or reassured regarding fetal well being. Another idea is to take any courses for nurses on breastfeeding, skin to skin at birth, anything that prepares you to help with breastfeeding. These, along with your critical care background, are things that will make you a strong candidate. Many older nurses who planned to retire but watched their retirement savings accounts plummet in value in 2008 and had to hold on are retiring now, and there are day shifts available. Few and far between, but they exist. There is a huge cohort of nurses 65 and 70+ who kept working but are beginning to retire. There are nurses who love their nights, and nurses who love PMs, and not everyone is waiting for a day shift. You can do it.

wow RN Mal227 what a great post ! I have had a two month period where I took all of May and all of June to kind of stall out and barely creep forward in my progress on one course, I couldn't get engaged, I was in a stupid drama at work not of my own choosing and it was sucking my energy away. One day after 7 straight weeks of anxiety about not doing much to progress in school I just had a talk with myself and it was similar to yours, I said "this is for you! this is for your goals, your progress, your sense of accomplishment and your advancement in your personal and professional life, it's for you and you are doing it for you and your family is cheering you on, get back to work!" Once I decided to put my own self-talk about exhaustion and anxiety aside and deal with my anxiety about not making progress on a course by getting back into the course and working on it, I got it done and now I'm on a roll. I am simultaneously working on Field Experience hours for C229 and on the course that teaches you how to do an Evidence Based Practice project and evaluate articles and studies using the Johns Hopkins Process. Besides those two, I have three more courses left. Looking at a slider that says I am 89% of the way done with my degree, 30 years after I graduated from ADN school, really makes me happy. I could possibly be done by 9/30 and then I'll take just a little break but not too long, and start the MSN work at WGU as well.

I recently interviewed for a position, and mentioned that I was in the process of finishing a nursing degree, the manager asked me where I was attending school, I told her WGU, she said she was an ADN who has her BSN and her MSN both from WGU, she was very proud to share that. I agree with Bortaz, I find the work doable but rigorous and engaging and it is adding to my experience of nursing.

And speaking of realism, It's Epic, not EPIC, OP. It's not an acronym It's a word. And there's not going to be a next Epic, Judy Faulkner has first mover advantage, she's strategic and widely adopted. Better to learn to work with Epic than to imagine you'll build the next one.

My program mentor told me it is coming in 2020.

LBCC - Long Beach City College? I graduated from that program, thirty years ago. Great experience. Wonderful foundation. Good luck !

Congratulations on taking this step! I am very excited for you and will look forward to reading your progress. I am finishing my RN to BSN at WGU the same term you are starting your BSN to MSN, and I will start my BSN to MSN as soon as I complete the BSN coursework this summer.

HI 37changes- that Professional Leadership and Communication course is absolutely the only one that you have to attend live sessions in order to get the credit for the course. They offer you a few different options for schedules, so sign up early to get the one you want that works with your schedule, and it is the first class you take. Everyone in my group was also doing one of their other courses at the same time. In the four weeks it took me to complete that class, I also completed Anatomy and Physiology I. I took my Statistics Objective Assessment on Sunday and passed that class with an "exemplary" (as opposed to just a competent.). Because I still have till 3/31 before this term ends, I wanted to do another course. I moved the Informatics course up into this term on Monday morning by texting my program mentor and asking her to move it up for me. On my lunch hour, I took the pre-assessment to see how familiar I was with the content and so it could direct me to any areas I needed to particularly focus on for studying for the Objective Assessment. I got Exemplary on the pre-assessment, and came home from work and took the objective assessment, so now I have Statistics and Informatics to add to the list of courses I posted above. (I worked as a informatics nurse on a roll-out and implementation and support team for a large Northern California hospital group, so that area of knowledge is something I am very familiar with, and it was clear from the pre-assessment that this was an area I had already, in my life, acquired a competency in.) I am not going to move any more courses forward, but I am starting to work on Biochemistry now, so once the new term starts, I'll be well into the work required to pass the objective assessment. I'll be done in two terms at this rate, and I feel very good about that.

I am working full time (I work 5 eight hour days) and I started 10/1/2018. I am three weeks from the end of my first term. I have done: Professional Leadership and Communication (4 weeks, their schedule, you have live zoom room classes to attend) Anatomy and Physiology I (4 weeks) Human Growth and Development (a weekend) Anatomy and Physiology II (4 weeks) Human Nutrition (a day) Microbiology (4 weeks) Statistics (4 weeks) I came in with 68 hours of transfer credit, 50 for being an RN, 18 of things like English Comp, Govt, Sociology, Speech, Humanities. I have done 24 so far (the list above.) I'll probably get one more easy class done by the end of this term. Then I'll have BioChem, and after that I'll start doing my community health nursing hours (required for Californians.) People who say it's easy and a diploma mill are showing they don't know what they are talking about. WGU's coursework comes out to a 3.0. I have a 3.8 college GPA so yes, if anyone ever cares about my GPA, this will bring it down. I don't see that as holding me back. My program mentor has gotten to know me and is familiar with my work ethic, how I've organized my life around doing this. She's read my papers and seen my raw scores and she knows what I'm made of. When it's time for me to move on, I am sure that whatever I want to do, I will be able to.

finished Statistics with a grade of Exemplary on my Objective Assessment, in 4 week's time. Very glad to put that one in the Win column and move on.

I'm in statistics now too - slowed my roll as well. Looking forward to having it in the rear view mirror !

I'm on the verge of taking Biochem at WGU but not quite there yet, so I can't answer your question yet. I truly do love all the posts from the people who did gargantuan numbers of units in a short time. The incentive to do that is really there because the more you do, the less your degree costs. It's definitely not any kind of a diploma mill. I've found the courses, for the most part, challenging content with great instructors. I started Oct 1 then of course had a big life upheaval, and took the entire month of November off. Still, between Oct 1 and now I've done 20 units that included A&P 1, A&P2, Micro (all challenging, but doable) as well as Nutrition (in a day, very easy) Human Growth and Development (also in a day, very easy) those last two only had an exam to demonstrate competency and pass. Some courses have papers to write. I'm working on Stats now and I haven't had a math class in more than thirty years. It's totally fine. Challenging in a way that makes me very satisfied that I chose this program, the degree I earn will be one I put in long hours and worked hard to get.

I am currently enrolled in the RN to BSN program. You do have to be employed as a nurse, currently working. It does not have to be acute care. It has been explained to me that, contrary to what TnMtnRose has posted, that paid compensated hours at your job absolutely do not count as clinical hours. It's been a great program for me, Zacarias, I highly recommend it.

Is your second sentence in the beginning section, Background, a typo? >> Nurses often perform unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, which are primarily a cause of working irregular shifts (Han et al, 2015). Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are primarily a *cause* of working irregular shifts? Really ? Hey I have unhealthy behaviors, lemme go find some crazy shifts to work, that will be awesome.

This topic is inspiring. I started the RN to BSN program on 10/1. I did the Professional Leadership and Communication course along with Anatomy and Physiology 1, and finished them both at about the same time this weekend, so four weeks and two courses done. While I was taking a breather before jumping into Anatomy and Physiology II, I took a look at Human Growth and Development yesterday morning. I took the pre-assessment and did ok. Watched the videos, read through the study guide, took the Objective Assessment today and passed it. I graduated with my ADN in 1990 so it's been 28 years since I've been in school. It's a thrill to see the courses turn blue as completed, and to have three done in just four weeks. In the middle of this month, I got fed up with my job and how toxic it was, and start a new one tomorrow. Lots of changes. Once you decide to take that leap, things pick up momentum.

How do you break into this field? Any recommendations ?

I am an Associate Degree RN and have applied to the RN to MSN (Informatics) program. I am wondering if I should change my objective and do the RN to BSN first and then do the BSN to MSN. Any thoughts from those of you who have completed degrees at WGU? I am also wondering if it requires a PC or if my Mac will be ok. I'm looking forward to starting, just not sure whether there's advantages to doing the BSN and MSN incrementally or if I should proceed on the RN to MSN path.

Thanks for this post. I'm trying to decide if I should, as an RN with an ADN and 30 years of experience (including one year as an Epic analyst, 2012-2013) - should I just do the BSN and then go on to a more specialized Masters, or should I do the RN to MSN. In other words, do the RN to BSN (WGU) right now, and then do a Masters in an IT related field, rather than do the RN to MSN in Informatics.