1. Is this a feasable schedule to work full time doing the program part time?
Yes the first 4 terms you can easily maintain full time employment while completing the program part time. I currently work from home as a pediatric case manager M-F 8-430pm. I take all my live classes during the week after 5pm...so farm i'm finishing my 3rd term and have been able to get classes anywhere from 630pm-11pm at night. I reserve my weekends for family and studying so your schedule really shouldn't be a problem. Once clinical starts those hours can be assigned M-F during normal business/clinic hours therefore i will be leaving my job. if you work weekends only you may be able to continue on, however, note that you will still have live classes AND clinical hours to complete during that time.
2. How much study time does this program truly require? I am just curious, not that I am looking for an easy program, I just like to have a heads up! I graduated under grad with a 3.8gpa. I am not naturally smart, I study for my grades.
It really depends on the class. Patho and Pharm 1 & 2 I spent lots of time on per week. Research, Scholarly Inq 1 and Scholarly Inq 2 spent loads of time on and they were only 2-3 cr hour courses. I probably spend 10-20 hrs per week studying, this doesn't include my time in live classes (2 hr each class each week...so 3 classes = 6 hours of "class time").
3. What does the program mainly consist of? Reading, studying, papers? Discussion board, etc. Are there a lot of papers? Project, what kind? What can I expect from the courses?
As I said I'm finishing Term 3 Part Time now. For Pharm and Patho classes I've had case studies, asynchronous pre-recorded lectures, quizzes. For the Research classes (there are 3 of them) I've had large final papers (but mostly we worked on those a little at a time each week through the term), verbal Power point presentations I gave, group work, some short discussion boards and the pre-recorded lectures. Family Theory and Global Health were pretty fun classes to me,short discussions, pre-recorded lectures and final presentations and final papers. It's a good mix of work and just depends on the class. EVERY class has pre-recorded lectures to watch prior to your LIVE class each week. Some classes have quizzes, some have exams, some have papers. Pharm has proctored exams given during your live class.
4. How are the research classes, they are what I fear. I struggled in undergrad with research but I had a horrible teacher which put a bad taste in my mouth. We all failed and she rounded all F's to C's for the curve. Since then, i've just been scared of research.
There are 3 research classes. NSG Research gives you a GREAT review of stats, theories and nursing research needs in general. They take you step by step how to critique studies, how to determine if they are worthwhile etc....Scholarly Inquiry you learn how to do a full Literature Review from top to bottom and you choice your Topic that you want to do a study on (this is a group work class), Scholarly Inquiry 2 is a continuation of SI1 (you will have the same instructor, same group, and same topic) this is where you will actually put a study together or do an integrated literature review (holy cow this is what our group did and now i wished we could have done a regular research study because it was REALLY HARD!) it's also group work plus a verbal presentation. We actually got an A on both!!! I learned a lot and was really scared of research however now i feel very comfortable with it.
5. Anything you feel will be helpful for me to no in regards to the program would be greatly appreciated.
You need to be very organized, keep track of when assignments/postings/quizzes/tests are due. Some items are do anywhere from 24 to 72 hours PRIOR to your live class. You will always be working a week ahead as your live classes are done AFTER everything is completed that week (it's my only gripe as i wish the live class was first to answer questions prior to submission of assignments) that being said ALL my instructors have responded within 1hr to 24hr of email, some allowed us to call their personal cell phones/personal emails and have been super supportive. Have a quiet area where you can log into your computer & use a headset/phone with MUTE function during the live classes. So far I love the program. I feel like i've learned alot and i will be starting clinicals this summer!!! =)
contact the admissions reps they are great and will also invite you to a live webinar to talk with current students! Super fun and can get a real feel for how the live classes and course work is set up!
Tasha
