HarmoniaRM

I am currently in my 6th semester of the University of South Alabama's BSN to DNP program for Family Nurse Practitioner. I just thought I'd open a thread for any of you who may have questions about the MSN or DNP portion at USA. The good thing about their BSN to DNP program is that it incorporates the MSN after semester 7 and allows you to sit for boards and begin working as a NP prior to completing the DNP. If any of you have any questions or want to clear up some negative/positive reviews you've heard or read, I'm happy to help!

If you're looking at the FNP program at USA, the spring and fall semesters are 15-16 weeks and the summer semesters are 8 weeks. For the first year (patho, assessment, pharm) we had tests on Wednesdays I believe and were given a window of about 12 hours that day to login with our remote proctor and take exams. Most of the exams the first year were open-book/notes, but you couldn't browse the internet. The second year is when you start getting into the FNP classes and clinicals. The FNP program instructors are much more strict than some other program instructors. You have to login specifically at 10am CST on every 2-3 Mondays for exams. There are NO exceptions to this. You use the same remote proctor that you used in the first year but the tests are no longer open-book/notes. The exams are straightforward and typically only 30 questions, but this can be on 300-400 pages of reading and you either know it or you don't. They typically take me 15-20 minute to complete and we'll have approx 5 a semester with a cumulative final. During the first year you will typically have 1 didactic course and 1 writing course. During the second year, you will typically have 1 didactic course, 1 clinical course, and may also have a writing course. The clinical courses require weekly online discussions, lots of paperwork to begin clinicals, and SOAP note assignments. The papers thus far in the writing courses (I'm beginning my 6th semester) haven't been over 10 pages and there are typically 5-6 per week along with a few online discussion posts. I'm happy to answer any other questions if you have them!