gelli.25

Securing preceptors is such a difficult task. I've been very fortunate at the last minute by finding preceptors. For my first semester, I asked my PCP -which she agreed. Ask your PCP if she/he is willing to precept you as a student. However, when I followed up with her, she was unable to. I had asked my school for help - I would very lucky to have had the assistance. I would also email providers at my workplace, which was a fail. Many would ignore, however, many would respond - but politely decline. I've had one success through emailing multiple providers directly. I would also email managers - but that got me no where. I also went up to sites and handed my resume and cover letter - but nothing. I would get hopeless at times. I looked on my local NP organization's website, and even those fail to help realistically. Attending meetings face to face would probably be more helpful. But thankfully, I received a notification of a new NP preceptor on my local site that was willing to help students. I quickly emailed her and got nothing. I went up to her workplace and handed the front desk my cover letter, resume, student handbook et cetera. I did that on a Friday. Heard nothing Saturday. Sunday she responded and agreed to precept me. I also used "who I know." I work with a PA and she's a lead PA in her department. She asked her PA colleagues and I was able to get a yes from someone. I also used Facebook's NP organizations, local and state organizations - and asked on there. This definitely needs to change. I know providers get annoyed with the countless emails and contacts, but what else am I to do if I want to graduate on time?! I hate this is how us students have to obtain preceptors; there needs to be a more standardized process with this. Why is it that NP students have to obtain there own preceptors, whereas PA and MD student do not have this problem? The curriculum, in my honest opinion, needs to change as well. I am so sorry you're struggling with this. Stay hopeful and Good luck!

I don't believe they can deny your admission due to your hepatitis status; that's hard cold discrimination - which is unethical. Know your rights: What College Students with Hep B Need to Know About Health Forms and Disclosure - Hepatitis B Foundation

Try searching for public university programs that are within your state. Programs that are out of state and those that are more well-known tend to be more expensive. I'm not paying 225/credit but my total will be under 20k. My goal is to have no debt and have my MSN completely paid off at graduation. Good luck!

I'm in my 2nd semester of NP school and I feel the same way at times. Not depressed at all, more of a procrastinator than anything. I think I am just easily distracted. I cannot blame it on work, because I only work 2-3 days a week with call. I am enjoying my program and am learning tons but I think "I feel" I have so much free time, I put things off until later - and end up waiting until the last minute(freaking out). I also try to find distractions as well, to avoid my schoolwork. Like you stated, it isn't affecting my grades at all; I have a 4.0. I love that I am taking this route to advance my education; however, my motivation isn't at the peak it should be. If you think it's your health, definitely get it checked. Me, on the other hand, I'm not too worried about myself. Typically, at the beginning of the semester, I have high levels of motivation - then it slowly begins to trickle down. It happens. Good luck with your studies; you'll definitely make it through.

It's difficult. I attend an in-state university. The instructors will help you, but it is still the student's responsibility. And even programs that aren't distance learning (in-class) - many of those programs still hold the student responsible for locating preceptors. My advice is to look early on.

My school sends it directly to my clinical site as well. However, I did not request a copy - did not feel the need to.

I have a HP printer, Officejet HP-8610 to be exact. It can print, fax, copy, scan and is wireless. Having a HP, I decided to purchase the HP insta-ink. It's a monthly payment, with different options. One option is to pay 4.99/month for 100 printed pages a month. I have the 9.99/month for 300 pages a month. I also think there's some other option as well. I tried the first three months for free - decided to get it. It's automatically detected whenever you run out of ink - they'll then send it (I believe). The only thing is you have to purchase your own paper, of course. I decided to get this instead of purchasing ink for 100 bucks for every new cartridge. So far, I like it. Sometimes I'll also print out things at work if I remember, if it's a large amount of papers and documents.

Amazon

26. Started my MSN/NP last semester.

hey Ashley, How did you go about meeting this preceptor. I am in the same boat. I have a preceptor that I have no prior relationship with, who agreed to precept me during this upcoming semester. Did you end up scheduling a meeting with him/her prior to your clinical rotations to speak on expectations and goals and etcetera? Or did you guys get that established on your first day? thanks!

I'm doing school full-time and yes, I am still working - (3) 10 hour shifts.

I'm starting my first clinical rotation this Spring. It's advanced health assessment, with a provider I have no relationship with. How was your first clinical rotation like? How much did you do? What advice, tips or recommendations do you have? Also, would you recommend bringing a laptop on site? How much of your resources did you take to clinical? thanks so much!

You'd probably be better off researching on your own then asking about certain schools, once you narrow your search down. There's way too many schools to choose from to be honest.

As long as the program does not require RN experience, you sound like a pretty good candidate to me. Good luck!

Honestly, as the PP stated, it's your choice. Do you want to be a nurse practitioner? If you love your current job and have absolutely no genuine intention of a change in profession - listen to yourself, not your mother. Do what makes you happy. This is your life, not your mother's life. Also, I'd never pay 23K per semester for a NP program. Your 23K is more than what I'm paying for all 6 semesters of my FNP program. That tuition is absolutely ridiculous. Ivy league or not, that price is crazy. I would not want that burden of debt when I'm finally stress-free from school, don't want the added stress to then pay it all off. What more could that program teach you than mine for 4-6 times more money? Just my opinion, that's way too much money.

To be completely honest, that is a lot of money. I would never pay that much for a NP degree - especially when there is so many affordable options around. But, that's just me. Though I am young with no kids - I do not want to deal with the burden of paying back 70K when I'm done with school, no thank you. The cost of my overall program is a little under 20K, and I plan to have that paid off at the end of my program - paying as I go.

Is finding clinical placement the top reason why you want to transfer, because many NP programs require the student to secure their own preceptor?

NP is nurse practitioner. ARNP is advanced registered nurse practitioner; they are both the same thing. As a gerontology NP, you work with the geriatric (elderly) population. Normally the program would offer Adult-gerontology NP as opposed to just gerontology NP. With gerontology NP, your focus is limited to the older population. So, from my perspective - I see this as leading to working in nursing homes or hospice. Adult-gerontology is more broad. You could work in a hospital because you would have been educated on the adult AND elderly population (18 and up). I've never heard of acute gerontology NP, maybe acute adult-gerontology NP. Look at your school's site and make sure it doesn't include ADULT as well. As a Family NP (most broad), you work with all patients, from infants to the geriatric population. With your FNP you can work in a clinic as a family practice practitioner. You'll see pediatrics and women's health as well. This will be more of a preventative and screening setting, lots of education. You will deal with the minor typical acute incidences like a sprained ankle that needs stabilized or a laceration that needs to be sutured, an abscess that needs to be drained. Typically, you'll deal with vaccinations, preventative health, medication reconciliation, annual exams, sexual health, etc. You'll also see the patient coming in for a potential STD or abdominal pain or a rash etc...various "what appear to be" nonthreatening chief complaints. As a FNP, you can work in Urgent care and possibly the ER (criteria varies with some ERs - you may to earn your Acute Care NP certification as well or you can just get your ER NP certification. ER NP programs are out there, you just have to really search for them). As a FNP, some nurses work as a hospitalist, though that is more for acute care NPs. As a family practice NP, you won't get that critical care training. FNPs are for disease management and prevention, not acute situations. Acute care NP is for the hospitalist role (inpatient - you can round on medical and surgical patient that were admitted for surgery or a chief complaint in the ER). Psych NP obtain their Psych NP certification. Pediatric NP is strictly for Peds. Women's Health NP is strictly for women's health. You can just Google the different specialties. This is just how I perceive each of them. Hope this helps!

I applied for their Fall 2016 semester and got it in, however, I was also accepted into my first choice which was located within my state. If you have any questions, I can probably help as best I can. Good Luck!

Angelo State University in Texas, it's a brick and mortar university with a distance learning FNP program. Also, congrats on getting into UT-Arlington! I have a friend in the UTA-FNP online program. She's doing the one class at a time, so quarter sessions as opposed to semesters. I'm doing semesters, full-time. There's also a ton of forums for UTA here on allnurses.com. I did look into their online program, but decided not to go with them. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :-)

I believe that's a smart route to go to avoid employment issues: FNP then a post-master's certification. I'm going for my FNP. I know exactly what I want to do, well, at least for now. Who knows what the future holds? Also, you need to decide on a university and try to stick with it. Do lots of research on the university via website and different forums. You can ask previous students how they thought the program was: curriculum, exams, proctor sites, online vs. on campus, response time, if they felt prepared or feel if they're being prepared, tuition, preceptors etc. I know it's difficult because there are a TON of NP programs out there, just so many! I'm starting this upcoming Fall, Monday actually and I am so excited. The workload is crazy, but I'm looking forward to it. The instructors put a lot of work into the program to make it engaging to the students, which is great since it is a distance learning program. Good Luck!

I'm pretty sure it's once you're accepted into the program when you have to complete clinical hours for Advanced Health Assessment. But, to be completely sure, you should contact the program directly via email. The deadline is coming up. Good Luck!

Agreed. It depends on the school itself. Some look at your overall GPA. Some look at only the last 60 hours or nursing courses and sciences. Some look at last 60 hours/nursing courses AND overall GPA.

Bump.

It isn't entirely a negative, but honestly, who wants to test for re-certification every 10 years? Plus, most PAs are in specialties - but their recert. test covers every single thing from peds to urology to psych. A couple of PAs that I work with were just mentioning this. No, thank you.