MT-FNP

"The "facts" are where you're not only lacking but behind the times." Are you serious? It is a fact that the AMA is doing everything within their power to limit/eliminate NP practice. If you don't believe that then perhaps you're doing a bit too much meditating zenman rather than keeping abreast of current issues. By the way, I too am an assistant professor in a graduate nursing program so I know of what I speak. Also, if and when you finish your program, do me a favor and let me know where you will be practicing - so I can avoid it like the plaque. It is providers like you, who think you know it all, who are dangerous. I have said my peace and will now leave this topic alone. Thanks for the input from those who responded intellectually.

I find it interesting that several of those who responded to my previous post chose to attack my opinion rather than the facts, and completely missed the point. The point of my rant and the point of my climbing up on my soapbox was not necessarily to advance my opinion regarding online education, but to acknowledge the fact that those who would keep us down and limit our scope of practice and prescriptive authority (the AMA and it's various subgroups) are continually looking for reasons to take away what many of us have fought so hard to achieve (I'm not quite sure where your head is if you don't think that can happen). Say what you will about online education, but I can guarantee you that the vast majority of people in the aforementioned position consider it substandard education and liken it to a mail-order degree. I say that by giving them the ammunition they need, we are cutting our own throats. And a word of advice for zenman - Your opinions have very little credibility when you simply attack the opinions and accomplishments of others. Your song and dance about graduate education teaching you how to find things out on your own may hold some water if you are working towards a graduate degree business or computer science, but when we are talking about a profession where we make life and death decisions every day, I can assure you that most people (especially those who would sue you) would rather be taken care of by a provider who had some formal brick and mortar education than by one who simply looked something up and found it out on their own.

I have to agree with ramiro ac. I also don't feel that NP programs should be done online. For starters, I don't feel that you can possibly get the same level of education as you can in the classroom. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but there is something inherently valuable and irreplaceable about the student-student, student-faculty interaction that only can take place in the classroom. Additionally, online programs serve only to enhance the belief that NPs are suboptimal providers with suboptimal education, not as good as physicians (which may or may not be true anyway, but that's another discussion altogether), and to make people believe that we got our diplomas out of a Cracker Jack box. Throughout this website there are multiple posts from multiple people pissing and moaning about the fact that the nursing profession (RN and NP/CRNA) gets no respect. It is programs like this that contribute to that belief. Like it or not, we need to not simply find the easy way out here, and to jump through society's well established hoops in order to gain the respect that we deserve. That respect cannot be found online. In short, suck it up and do the time. Maybe there is a little bit of the "if I had to do it then so do you" attitude going on here, or maybe I'm just not keeping up with technological times, but I had to work very hard, commute two hours a day three days a week for three years (while working full-time by the way) to earn my Master's degree, and I don't appreciate all of my hard work and sacrifice being belittled and grouped into the same category as someone who sits on their ass in their living room and "earns" their degree online. Did I receive a better education than my online peers? Absolutely! And no one will convince me otherwise.

I agree as well. Have you people ever heard of comedy? Relax a little.

$35 per hour? Are you kidding? Don't ask for $35 per hour, demand $80 per hour - especially in the ER. Bottom line is, you are doing essentially the same job, with the same liabilities and responsibilities, as the MDs who are making ~$150 per hour. Do you deserve 1/2 of what they make or 1/5?

Wow...you sure have bought into the whole touchy-feely-nursey thing hook, line, and sinker haven't you? I am quite certain that I am not alone in saying that I was very unhappy as "just an RN". And, yes, there is such a thing as "just an RN". That was my impetus for advancing my career and becoming an NP. Which by the way, I enjoy very much and am quite happy thank you.