NucRN

I had leadership questions and a few questions on PAD/Claudication. Concentrating on those sections helped me out a bit. I tend to wing things like my certification exam and NCLEX without much prep work. I think as long as people do a complete Qbank or questions, that should be enough to prepare them for any certification.

I studied for about 6 hours using the mometric studyguide. I have been working on a cardiac/tele for a little over 2 years, so my experience did help. The book does cover most of the subjects well.

Yes, PhD nurses do focus on research, but much of their research is related to education. I find that PhD nurses do get more "respect" when it comes to education....(Heard this from an Acute Care NP director).

A program may have Associate Professors (those w/PhD) "teach" a course, but they are primarily there to change a course content or develop a new course curriculum. The assistant professor (MSN) are often the ones that will lead a course online. At one particular university in my hometown, a course is split up into 3 groups that are lead by separate assistant professors.

Swedish is aggressively looking for Acnp

Wow! Cohort 45!? Graduate of cohort 21. Good luck to all who got in. I remember the process and how stressed I was then. Just a small tip for you guys...form multiple study groups if you like but make them small. I'd say a group of 4-6 is cool. Keeps you motivated studying with a consistent group.

Heard someone say the VA is really short staffed.

You can apply before the prerequisites are done, but they have to be completed before the program starts.

MSN and DNP students take the same core courses. DNP students normally take an extra online 700 course. It definitely is more time consuming to do the DNP, so don't even consider working full time and doing the DNP at the same time.

Just want to give some background information for those that got accepted into Ohsu and another school. I'm a native Oregonian. Some things to consider is cost of living. It's definitely cheaper to rent here compared to Ucsf, but more expensive than Austin I suppose. Most likely you will need to take public transportation. Depending on where you live, if you are able to find an affordable apartment, that is, it will take you about an hour for public transportation. If you want to park on campus, it's 13/day. It's nice to do clinical rotations at this university hospital. Most of the clinical rotations are done at the hospital. Mental health students may have clinical rotations at smaller clinics around Portland. The majority of professors already have a PhD or DNP. I'm not a fan of professors that teach, have a full time clinic job and are pursuing their decorates at the same time. All of the programs take the first few classes together...Health Assessment and Pharmacology to name a couple. Anyhow. Hope this info helps some of you decide which program you would like to do.

Clinic work is the best. The pay is not as high as hospital work and the benefits are not so great as well, but the work and environment is definitely more laid back.

An ACNP program will allow you to have clinical rotations in various specialties such as the ones you mentioned. As such, you could potentially be working in a more specialized area. FNP programs have specific course that allow the graduate to work as a primary care provider. However, my clinic hired a new grad FNP for the heart failure clinic.

Patho, pharm and Heath assessment is built into my program, although the school does allow a student to take it ahead of time. I definitely would rather take these ahead of time. Taking pharm and physiology II right now. Physiology is the hardest of the three courses. Health assessment was very similar to the course for the RN program. Physiology mainly covers info at the cellular level. So if you are good with cellular biology, then patho won't be so bad.

Job outlook should be good. In the NW, there's a limited number of cardiologists for so many patients. Mid level providers are needed to help manage chronic conditions like heart failure. I've worked with many many cardiologist as an RN, and they just want to mess with this kind of stuff. They usually defer to the NP or PA.

Just went over this stuff in pharmacology. D5 is definitely given for NPO status. I also agree with changing combinations based on electrolytes.

I actually put my two weeks notice in when I got accepted to grad school. My employer asked me to stay and work part time with hopes of me working for them as NP when I pass my exam. I am sure your assumption is correct with regards to who would get hired based on RN experience.

Definite hot topic with lots of opinions. I enjoy reading these comments, even if some are less positive than others. Good luck to those who still wish to pursue a graduate program.

Oregon health science university. The program outlines are on the website for each program. The best thing you can do now is to take pathophys ahead of time. That will make your first term easier.

I don't think I am a good test taker. Wish I was a good test taker. It just means I was able to learn how to do a thorough head to toe physical assessment and do it in a way that allowed me to get an OK grade. I'm not sure how it is with other NP programs, but at our university, students work one on one with their preceptor for almost two years( 3 if you are in a DNP program) They are able to make decisions with an NP behind them. I think this is a great way to learn.

I am a relatively new grad (01/12). I only had 6 months of med/onc experience and have been doing Anticoag management since then. I am currently in an acute care DNP program and just finished my first term. Patho/health assessment course were taken with all of the different NP programs. For what little experience I have, I was able to hang with the other students that had 10+ years of experience. I even passed my assessment final with 29.4/30. I was one of few students that didn't even use a "cheat sheet". So I think it can work even if you don't have experience.

DNP vs MSN. I think the question is similar to ADN vs BSN. Today, we see hospitals that prefer to hire BSNs over ADNs. I think the same will happen with NPs. I ran into an NP that said the same thing about the institution she works for.

I finished my BSN in January 2012. My son was 2-3 years old during nursing school. Now I'm back in grad school and my kiddo is 5. Federal loans cover most of my tuition per semester. I have a little over a grand after the student loan is subtracted. I will probably end up paying the rest with cash. With the grad plus loans, you can borrow whatever you want to cover food and rent. The best thing to do with this is to wait until the end of the financial season so that you don't have to pay 7.2 % interest on your loan from the beginning of the year. Since I'm back in school, my BSN loans are deferred and I don't have to pay taxes on them until I graduate with my DNP.

I graduated with my BSN in 01/2012. I seriously did not devote a whole lot of time to my studying and school definitely was not at the top of my priority list. Now I am back in school, pursuing my DNP. I had no idea how time consuming full time grad school would be. I thought I would still be able to enjoy my usual hobbies, but I am definitely wrong. I seriously can't even afford to take an evening off from doing school work. The work itself is pretty easy. It just takes a day or two to complete assignments for one class. So for those who are thinking a out pursuing the DNP, make sure you are not working...not even part time. If there is anyone with a similar experience, please share and let me know if things get better.

It's all about your own professionalism my friend and how you are able to develop a therapeutic relationship with your patients. When I first entered nursing school, I had similar concerns. My class only had 6 guys. Once you graduate and start working, you will forget that gender was an issue to be concern with. It truly comes down to your ability to provide quality care.

OHSU has a postmasters certificate program.