kubivern

I do not believe that where you get your BSN will matter - as long as you have it, you should be good. Just make sure the BSN program is accredited by either the ACEN or the CCNE - the Grand Canyon website says it is accredited by CCNE. I do not believe that attendance in an online program at any level is going to affect your ability to become certified or practice as a PMHNP. As long as the school is accredited, it doesn't make a difference. Online is pretty much equivalent to classroom style learning now. There are quite a number of online PMHNP programs - they would not exist if they didn't graduate students that were successful. Personally I don't know of many actual classroom-only PMHNP programs - everyone now has online components. I went to Rush University and it was online - I think it is the number one in the country for PMHNPs - maybe Vanderbilt beat it this year though. No-one has ever given me any negative comments about going to an online school.

Have you tried nursingcas.org? I don't have anything to do with the website - I used it for my Post Master's Certificate and DNP as it does list a lot of programs. I believe it does not cost anything to search.

The Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (2nd Edition), p. 7 states: "Whether practicing under the title of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) or NP, Psychiatric Mental Health Advanced Practice Registered Nurses share the same core competencies of clinical and professional practice." This standard is supported by the ANA (although the ANCC is technically a separate organization it is really part of the ANA) and sold by the ANA. So it appears to me that the ANCC is basically not following the guidance provided in not allowing your CNS hours. And to comment on what some of the other posters stated, the college where I went will not accept any CNS courses for NP courses "because the CNS is different." So they must not have read the standard either. CNS was fun, but now is pretty much considered unneeded. In talking several years ago when I was just finishing my CNS, my professor (a long-time CNS) told me that the NP organizations tried to get CNS's removed as APRNs from the LACE document. Sometimes I think the nursing profession is its own "worse enemy."

Don't ever sell yourself short. If you put in the effort, you are "smart enough" to take on any DNP program. You got your MSN - many DNP programs are BSN to DNP. So you are halfway there. And I don't think that GPA is a great indicator of how smart you are, and as you state, colleges look at you as a whole person. For many colleges, what you want to do once you get your degree is usually more important than your GPA. Look at the mission of the college you want to attend - is it interested in research, rural health care, urban health care, or substance? Make your application match the mission. And apply to several colleges - give yourself a choice. Also don't leave out the online colleges - they can be very good. The nursingcas.org website lists all sorts of online programs from very respectable colleges. Most do have a couple of "residencies" that bring you to campus, especially for courses like health assessment where the faculty want to watch you and provide guidance.

I have educated in both ADN and BSN classes for a number of years. The ADN path is an excellent path for an individual who wants to become a nurse. Yes, there is a large push to get RNs with an ADN to continue forward to get his or her BSN. Like any profession, the more education you have, theoretically the better you will be prepared to handle whatever comes along. Just like when a car repair shop sends a professional mechanic to additional training to be able to handle more work. For RNs, that additional training is the BSN. ADNs will never become obsolete. It is the less expensive path to becoming a RN, and with college costs so dang' high, it is sometimes the only way to become an RN. But you can probably count on most facilities wanting you to get your BSN within a couple of years after you get hired. It is expected by the number of reports and studies that other posters have cited. There are a zillion ADN to BSN programs out there, as you know, so it isn't a big deal. Many facilities will even reimburse you the costs of the transition. And it usually only takes a year, part-time. And the courses aren't near as hard as the original RN courses.

Like many of the other posters, I am also a CNS. I think that it all depends on where you want to work and what you want to do - that is the way all careers should be chosen. But I would be cautious on going into the CNS role - I just don't see a great future for the profession. The only university in Idaho that offered the CNS certificate recently stopped doing so because no-one had applied for several years. I remember my professor telling me that originally when the Consensus Model was being developed that CNS's were not even going to be included as APRNs. I also believe the CNS role has been diluted by the Clinical Nurse Leader role - NP's have the political clout - CNS's, like educators (which I also do), have no political clout. I think if you work in a large enough hospital that can appreciate the differences in roles between a CNS and a NP, then a CNS is a viable option. But I will wager in a budget crunch CNS's will also probably be the first practitioners let go - a CNS's outcomes, while related to research and quality, often fall to the wayside when a NP's outcomes more closely align with dollar signs.

I would definitely look around - I am a recent Adult CNS and I am attending Rush University to get my PMHNP. Rush took many of my CNS classes towards my PMHNP. I went through nursingcas.org (I think that is the correct URL) and looked at the programs listed there until I found one that met my criteria. Looking at your posting you are about as old as me - yes it sucks going back to school. But there are a lot of programs out there - one will hopefully fit your schedule.

I teach in Practical Nursing and Associate Degree Registered Nursing programs in Idaho and we highly encourage individuals wanting to become nurses but are still in high school to take dual credit classes (you receive both high school and college credits at the same time). I have had several students graduate high school and be able to go directly into our Practical Nursing program because of the dual credit classes he or she has completed. Another advantage is that dual credit classes in high school are often significantly less expensive than college courses. I believe you live in Kentucky based on your posting - the Kentucky Department of Education has a website that talks about dual credit - Kentucky Department of Education : Dual Credit What you may consider is to look up the prerequisites for the college nursing programs you would like to attend - for example, I just googled Kentucky nursing programs and went to the University of Kentucky's nursing program and they have a web page for high school students looking to get in their program - Home Print the information off so you have it available. (Just a note, apply to as many nursing programs as you can to give you choices - don't forget community colleges, and even though you want to be a registered nurse, look at becoming a practical nurse then going to a registered nursing program - again, you always want to look at choices because sometimes life, and money, can get in the way). Although high school guidance counselors can be scary (it is part of their job description), take the counselor the information you printed off and just tell them to help you get as many prerequisites done in high school as possible. That way the counselor has something to work with and can't mess with you. If you really don't like the counselor, you may try to see if a teacher will help you - it isn't hard to find dual credit courses. Look at scholarships too - I often have students that don't apply for scholarships when he or she would qualify and sometimes the scholarship money doesn't get used because no-one applied! Good luck - you will not need it if you just work towards your goals!

I did not participate in a "consensus" program per se, but I did share a number of courses with the NPs. Specifically all non-clinical and introductory classes were shared - for example, health assessment, patho, pharm, research, roles, etc. were shared. I also attended all of the specific, intensive sessions on suturing, casting, EKG interpretation, etc. The clinical and the "disease process" courses were exclusive to the CNS and NP programs. Our program director required that 75% of all rotations with a CNS. There are only 2 CNSs within about 100 miles of the University, so I did most of my clinical in a local ICU and cardiology practice. That said, my clinical was very informative and learned a great deal - my preceptors were extremely knowledgeable. The CNS in the ICU served as a direct provider and coordinator for the intensivist. The CNS in the cardiology practice was a direct provider in an informal heart failure clinic.

I took my test yesterday and passed. As the previous poster mentioned, you will probably take the Adult Gerontological CNS exam if you are just starting - I took the Adult CNS exam so our exams will be slightly different. I went overboard on studying. I studied two of the latest NP prep texts, bought the Mometrix study guide, attended the ANCC online review class, bought the audio CDs from Amazon, and ordered all 25 prep tests on NP Prep (online). Although all these resources will make me a better CNS, to pass my test I probably could have just read the Mometrix study guide and my Advanced Practice Nursing An Integrative Approach (by Hamric) textbook. Most of my questions were how to be a consultant, how to educate, how to work in interdisciplinary teams, and how to budget - very few questions related to direct care. i believe the ANCC will make the Adult Gerontology exam based more on direct care, but I have just heard that - no solid knowledge there. Good luck

Blackfoot is the smaller of the three locations you listed. I know friends with children requiring specialized education and both Idaho Falls and Pocatello do have schools that provide that education - I imagine Blackfoot does as well but Idaho Falls and Pocatello may have more resources due to their sizes. Maybe this website can help you - Idaho State Department of Education - Special Education. It describes Idaho's special education programs. Pocatello does have the University - Idaho State University - so it may have slightly more resources than Idaho Falls. But I will bet in most other areas they are pretty equivalent. Idaho Falls probably has a slightly higher fraction of higher technology jobs because of the Idaho National Laboratory headquarters there, but Pocatello has several industrial facilities as well. I think both cities have very similar populations.

I teach at Idaho State University on the southeastern side of Idaho, but we have several students who come from the Boise area each year to participate in our ADRN program. Those students have nothing but good things to say about the Boise area - it still has that small town attitude but many of the advantages of a large town. The two major hospitals over there are St. Lukes (St. Luke's - Idaho Health System) and St. Alphonsus (Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center | Boise, Idaho). You can look at those websites and see the facility's job openings. There is also Intermountain Hospital at - Intermountain Hospital. Wages vary greatly throughout Idaho, so hopefully a Boise nurse will respond to your posting, but in southeastern Idaho I know my graduating students are getting about $24.16 per hour before shift differential. As to education in Idaho - you could get some really varied answers on that one! Opinions seem to go to the extremes when talking about Idaho educational funding and priorities. But regardless of the opinions, kids still learn and graduate.

"According to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the average salary of a nurse practitioner, across settings and specialties, is $ $91,310. By contrast, AACN reported in March 2011 that master's prepared faculty earned an annual average salary of $72,028." http://nurse-practitioners.advanceweb.com and http://www.aacn.nche.edu/research-data I currently work as an educator in a ADN program, where we only get paid for 40 hours/week but the average work week is around 62 hours (as is with many salaried/contract positions). My students graduate today - most are starting at a higher hourly wage than I receive, plus they get paid for every hour they work. My MS is in Nursing Education, but my director, who is a NP, makes only slightly more than I do, and the students will end-up with higher hourly wages than her as well. It is often said that if you want to teach in nursing, you better do it for the love of teaching, because there is no way you are doing it for the money!

Searching at Clinical Nurse Specialist Programs | Find Accredited CNS Degrees showed several Pediatric CNS programs, including Post-Masters Programs. I know when I was searching for online programs it was critical to make sure that the Post-Masters programs you look at recognize the MS in Nursing Education - some programs allow only students with a APN MS to enroll in their Post-Masters programs.

I will certainly confirm what several others have stated - don't do it for the money. I work at a state unversity in an Associate Degree Registered Nursing Program. Often my student graduates start at a higher wage than I earn. And on average we work about 62 hours per week for 11 months per year, with 24/7 hour cell phone availability for our clinical students. Educators in a BSN program probably work about the same number of hours. That stated, however, it is a good career with a lot of job satisfaction. Most of the educators at local hospitals make more, with pay commensurate with experience and certifications, but dealing with eager, young, and energetic nursing students can make a university more attractive. To teach RNs in classrooms, a MS is usually required. Clinical preceptors may just need a BSN, but that can be highly variable. Personally (and certainly I do not want to upset anyone), as you look at MS programs, I would not choose an education option - I would choose a CNS or NP option. Once you get that MS, you can teach, and the advantage of being a Advanced Practice Nurse provides you more opportunity. BSN's can teach Practical Nursing students most places - that may give you an opportunity to see how you like education.

I just started working on my CNS Post-MS Certificate at Idaho State University. My MS was in Nursing Education - if you think the NP students growl at CNS students you should see the NP students growl at students in an education option. We were lower than the dirt under pond-scum! In Idaho both the CNS and the NP are APN's with very,very little scope of practice differences. Really the only difference is that CNS's do not treat adolescents or pediatrics and that is simply because Idaho State only provides CNS education for adult care. Nice to meet everyone!

I do not know of any schools that do not use some form of standardized testing in order to provide a baseline for both past and current academic performance and knowledge. Our school for example has used both ATI and Kaplan as a portion of the entrance requirements - the test, and portions of the test, account for approximately 40% of the total "score" each potential student receives. Overall GPA, prerequisite course GPA, years experience, and recommendation values round out the total "score" each potential student receives to determine program entry. In using both the ATI and Kaplan, I believe that each provide valid data and are similar in their ability to predict success - both have a good statistical validity. ATI's TEAS seems to be the most popular in our area (Idaho).

A reminder is certainly in order - as mentioned above, an email reminder is effective and is not considered (by at least all the instructors I work with) as intrusive.

Thank you for your post. I received my LPN at EITC and went to ISU for my LPN to ADRN - at the time, several of my EITC classes did not transfer due to the difference in the number of credits and hours, but it is good to see that has been worked out. I will, however, caution any student to check on transferring credits simply because each college changes entry/transfer requirements fairly often - administrators need something to do!

As many others have stated - no show and no call is a failed grade for that clinical and an educational warning. Our students do not, though, fail the course unless they have two no show and no calls (resulting in two educational warnings total). There have been extenuating circumstances obviously - major family crises (death in family, injured children) and even car accidents (it is hard to call from the ER when your phone is in the totaled vehicle). If there is an extenuating circumstance, we have allowed students up to three misses, but that has been very, very rare. Rudeness aside, the major reason for this policy is the lack of clinical opportunities - we simply have just enough clinical opportunities to meet the Board of Nursing expectations, so we have little opportunities for make-up sessions.

Like others, I encourage people to "rant and rave" when appropriate - it is therapeutic and it reduces stress. But of course you can't please everyone. I work in education right now, and we recently were visited by our State's Board of Nursing. One of our major discussions was the lack of employment for new nursing grads. When there is an abundance of workers in a specific discipline, the education "machine" will reduce the number of graduates in that discipline - usually this is simply because less people apply because they know they will not have jobs on graduation, but it can also be done by reducing the allowed number of applicants that the college will accept. So we asked - should we reduce the number of applicants we accept due to reduced number of jobs available to our graduates? Well the answer was no - as soon as the economy picks back up, the nursing shortage will return with a vengeance!!! The Board of Nursing representative stated that during meetings with industry (hospitals, etc.) the industry has emphasized not to cut back, because they will need lots of nurses in the future. Now any time industry says anything, we must take it with a grain of salt - of course a hospital wants an abundance of nurses so they can pick and choose, and keep wages and costs low. But still, they recognize that the need will be there in the future. And of course they can't improve the situation now, by hiring more people, because there is no money. How does that help a new grad? I am sorry - not very much. But as with any goal, sometimes it has to be modified by working in other job markets, in other professions, taking more classwork, etc. Good luck, and keep punching !!

As I understand it, right now the area is somewhat saturated with nurses due to the recession; the number of nursing programs in the area; corporate philosophies; and the reduced workload as people postpone non-critical surgery and procedures until the economy brightens. There are of course still positions available, but I have heard each opening will get 10 to 20 qualified applicants, especially in the hospitals (EIRMC, Bingham, and Portneuf). I know some nurses that have found jobs quickly in the newer long-term care facilities, as this industry seems less recession prone (we do get older even if we have no money - nurses especially!). It also depends on your license - right now, at least I have heard, several facilities are cutting back on LPNs in preference to RNs - probably some type of drive toward Magnet status. I would look at each of the major facilities employment websites, then possibly search the phonebook or the web for the smaller facilities.

Certainly. What questions do you have? The website (Associate of Science Registered Nurse (ADN) - College of Technology) is very complete, but I can answer other questions you may have. It is not totally online - there are typically one to two days a month where you come to "intensives" - full day classes where a variety of topics, and skills, are presented and discussed. Although it is difficult, given schedules and work load, students have maintained full-time jobs while attending the program. Again, it is difficult, and not really encouraged, but perseverance, and late nights, can allow you to complete the program while working. Clinical are under preceptorship at a wide variety of facilities. At the end of the program, successful completion provides you with a "core certified" - meaning no more basic classes for your BS - Associates Degree in Registered Nursing. After completing the NCLEX (we have a 95 to 100% pass rate for the last five years or so, if I remember correctly), you can get your BSN from ISU by applying and taking maybe 5 or 6, maybe 7 courses. The program has full accreditation.

I am currently working on my MSN in Education (3 more courses to go). Although I agree completely with the other posters that if you absolutely want to teach, it is the way to go, I also feel somewhat limited. The university I attend provides 5 different MSNs - CNL, CNS, FNP, Management, and Education. The MSN curricula includes 5-6 courses specific to Education, and the rest are shared. Unfortunately, to be brutally honest, those courses that are shared between MSNs ONLY focus on the Advanced Practice Nurse (FNP), and spend no time on nurses going into Advanced Practice (i.e. educators). For example, in the EBP course, I felt forced to do a project on working as a FNP in a rural hospital. We could have performed a more education-related project, but the lessons and focus was strictly FNP, so I admit I simply followed the flow. Certainly mainly my fault, but still.......... As a FNP seems to be just as acceptable as an individual with a MSN in Education to be an instructor, personally, I would lean more towards the FNP option if I had to do it all over again. As a matter of fact, I intend to get a Post MS certificate in FNP following my MSN in Education. As an aside, I also believe that a FNP would probably have more ability to consult/work on the side for some extra cash, if money is an issue. Perhaps other posters/readers would have a better appreciation for this however - I may be wrong.

We have several labs that have video coverage - all images are stored digitally in a password protected computer system that only instructors can access. However, we only use advanced simulation manikins, so there is no privacy issues. We use the videos only during debriefings immediately after the skill sets, so for the most part, the videos are not retained (i.e. we use the same file name, so the videos just write over each other). I will admit that very, very, very rarely I have had a student show maybe a bit of a hip to show proper ventral gluteal shot placement, always of their own initiative, but never to the point where there was any undergarment shown or even more than a couple of square inches of flesh - even when demonstrating lung, heart, or bowel sounds we have always just let the patient themselves locate the stethoscope head and we just listen - that is also rare, and only happens when a student has something unique like a murmur or parietal friction rubs. Our students always wear scrubs to labs, so they are pretty easy to move around and still keep everything covered. To make a long story longer - we have never had any student complaints about privacy with our video system, but we make sure there is nothing shown that warrants a complaint.