Schools in MA that find preceptors for you

luckylady5 · Mar 8, 2015

Knlake - I'm sorry you are not happy with your program! Are you willing to give us a little more info as to why you aren't happy at Regis? I think it would be helpful to those of us who are considering this school to hear. Thank you and good luck :)

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Mar 8, 2015

I think UMass Medical in Worcester provides preceptors for its Masters students.

allnurses Guide · Mar 9, 2015

There are other better local programs that do secure preceptors: Simmons, BC, MGHIHP.

Sent from my iPhone.

Miffy · Mar 11, 2015

Thank you for your help!

Miffy · Mar 12, 2015

luckylady5, I tried to PM you but that didn't work, so I will have to reply here. The school in general is EXTREMELY disorganized. For example, there were multiple different people telling us different dates for registration for spring classes which ended up happening before it was supposed to and ended up screwing over a lot of people. Some of the professors are really great don't get me wrong, but some of them show up to class without having ever read the powerpoint before and it is extremely evident. The facilities are extremely rundown and old, and the tuition is one of the most expensive in the area (which doesn't make sense). The nursing lab is extremely outdated and definitely not up to par with what I've heard other area schools possess. There is not enough parking on campus and the school doesn't plan to do anything about that. Some of the clinical placement staff are extremely rude, and some of the advisors as well. They claim they will find clinical placements near where you live but all of my clinical sites have been the furthest sites away from my house possible (one is an hour drive away, and I live close to Boston). They also fail to talk about the fact that they do not find preceptorships for the masters portion, which is a HUGE problem. I was extremely excited going into school and didn't heed the warnings I have seen about this program on allnurses before, and I am not excited I did. They are great at selling the school to you, but once they do and get your money them cease to really care what happens to you. I would highly advise that if you can attend another school, do so.

luckylady5 · Mar 12, 2015

Wow knlake, thank you for all of that information - definitely something to think about! It sounds like they have a lot of issues and not much interest in addressing them :/

FNPeregrine, NP · Jul 11, 2015

Hello there knlake,

I just graduated the Regis GM program this past year. I'm not sure if anything I say will help you make your mind up about anything, but I thought it couldn't hurt to throw in my two cents.

Everything you list to be problematic at Regis is 100% true. It definitely continues to be a problem, and has been a problem for quite some time. The administration there is not concerned in any way about fixing it, however, so if that is your hope, I can assure you, sadly, that it will not change. My graduating class put in some effort to bring the problems you mentioned to the attention of Regis, and we were all met with retaliation, disdain, or just plain ignored.

However, I will say, that if you are able to put in the work and make it through the (often unnecessary) frustration of it all, at the end of the day, you will end up a licensed NP. I was able to very easily pass my boards on the first try, so there is something to be said that Regis does, in fact, prepare students well for that.

Also, I am not sure if something has changed in the last 2 months, but Regis does have 2 clinical coordinators who work full time to secure placements for the GMs. While I believe they both do their best, with so many students in the program, it is often hard to guarantee that every student will get placed for every single hour. Truthfully, they could use another full-time placement coordinator, but I doubt Regis will ever spend the money. I would just keep it in mind going forward that you will have better luck, and more peace of mind, if you are able secure yourself your own preceptors, thereby guaranteeing that you are able to get all of your hours done. My advice is to start looking the December/January before the fall semester that you need them. I was able to get 2 placements through Regis, and I found 2 on my own.

I will say, however, that you always need to take what you hear with a grain of salt about Regis, or any NP program in the Boston area, for that matter. I have spoken to many students from the different schools (BC, Northeastern, MGH) and they all have their pros and cons. Even the ones that "guarantee" placements, the guarantee comes very loosely. For instance, sometimes they will place you somewhere you may hate, but you will be stuck with that placement. Or sometimes they can't get your placement to go through until late in the semester, leaving the onus on you to finish your hours in a shorter amount of time. Or I knew one student from another school who was in the family track, but who only got placements with two specialists for the first semester of rotations. While this may be a great experience, it will not necessarily help when board-time comes round. These are just examples, and I'm sure there are many more, but I guess what I am trying to say that, when it comes to NP programs, it seems like none of them are perfect. Admittedly, I know very little about UMass in Worcester, however, and that may be a good avenue to look into.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any way.

Miffy · Jul 15, 2015

Hello there knlake,
I just graduated the Regis GM program this past year. I'm not sure if anything I say will help you make your mind up about anything, but I thought it couldn't hurt to throw in my two cents.
Everything you list to be problematic at Regis is 100% true. It definitely continues to be a problem, and has been a problem for quite some time. The administration there is not concerned in any way about fixing it, however, so if that is your hope, I can assure you, sadly, that it will not change. My graduating class put in some effort to bring the problems you mentioned to the attention of Regis, and we were all met with retaliation, disdain, or just plain ignored.
However, I will say, that if you are able to put in the work and make it through the (often unnecessary) frustration of it all, at the end of the day, you will end up a licensed NP. I was able to very easily pass my boards on the first try, so there is something to be said that Regis does, in fact, prepare students well for that.
Also, I am not sure if something has changed in the last 2 months, but Regis does have 2 clinical coordinators who work full time to secure placements for the GMs. While I believe they both do their best, with so many students in the program, it is often hard to guarantee that every student will get placed for every single hour. Truthfully, they could use another full-time placement coordinator, but I doubt Regis will ever spend the money. I would just keep it in mind going forward that you will have better luck, and more peace of mind, if you are able secure yourself your own preceptors, thereby guaranteeing that you are able to get all of your hours done. My advice is to start looking the December/January before the fall semester that you need them. I was able to get 2 placements through Regis, and I found 2 on my own.
I will say, however, that you always need to take what you hear with a grain of salt about Regis, or any NP program in the Boston area, for that matter. I have spoken to many students from the different schools (BC, Northeastern, MGH) and they all have their pros and cons. Even the ones that "guarantee" placements, the guarantee comes very loosely. For instance, sometimes they will place you somewhere you may hate, but you will be stuck with that placement. Or sometimes they can't get your placement to go through until late in the semester, leaving the onus on you to finish your hours in a shorter amount of time. Or I knew one student from another school who was in the family track, but who only got placements with two specialists for the first semester of rotations. While this may be a great experience, it will not necessarily help when board-time comes round. These are just examples, and I'm sure there are many more, but I guess what I am trying to say that, when it comes to NP programs, it seems like none of them are perfect. Admittedly, I know very little about UMass in Worcester, however, and that may be a good avenue to look into.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any way.

Hi FNPeregrine,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience at Regis with me. I have come to the decision in the past couple of months to stick with the program to the MSN terminus, but your encouraging words have definitely helped. I am actually doing very well in the program, and I am not going to let disorganization on the administration's part get in my way. My main concern at this point will be finding preceptors. It is something I worry about every day. It is comforting to know that Regis does, in fact, help find preceptors for you. I have read horror stories on allnurses about other Regis students who could not secure preceptors, and said they feared they may not be able to graduate on time. These posters said Regis did not provide any assistance in finding preceptors. Unfortunately, many of them never posted updates when prompted as to if they had ever been able to secure placements and complete their hours. I would love to hear more about your experience with the GM program, as well as any more tips you have to securing a preceptor. Were any of your classmates unable to complete their required hours? If it helps, I am currently in the third semester of the program. You can PM me if that would be better for you. Thank you again very much for your help.

FNPeregrine, NP · Jul 17, 2015

Knlake, I would PM you, but that feature isn't available to me (I don't think I use the forums enough).

My graduating class was very large, it was almost 200 students. Once your GM cohort reaches the third year, your classes will be held along with traditional MS nursing students, so that makes it hard to keep track of who is graduating and who is not. There were a couple of people who had a difficult time making hours, it was more or less down to the wire. However, the ones I know did hustle and scrap them together at the end. It required them precepting for 1-2 weeks at full time hours, but they were able to graduate on time. I do not personally know of anyone who couldn't graduate because they were not able to get all of their hours complete. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, but if it did, it wasn't the norm.

The fall semester you are about to enter is a very intense one (I personally think it was the hardest of the program) and the entire third year of the program also very intense. From the 2nd year fall semester (the one you will be going into) to the end of the third year fall semester, we did lose a solid handful of people for various reasons. I think some found the pace to be too much, some decided to stop at the BSN and take jobs they had been offered, some failed classes, some were not able to pass the NCLEX on time, and some dropped to part-time for the completion of the MS.

As for securing preceptors, I think there are a few things you could do. One is to network early on. If you know any practicing providers personally, maybe ask them if they ever take students or know anyone that does. Then the December/January prior to your final year (so this would be this upcoming December/January for you) put your resume together and start trying to secure placements for the fall. Make a list of every possible person you can think of that might precept or know someone who does. Send out emails to offices near you or offices that specialize in something you are interested in. You could try making phone calls, but sometimes that is hard so early on. However, as April/May come around, calling can also work. Some students even went to offices in person, but I never felt comfortable doing that. I also recommend meeting with one of the clinical placement coordinators in December or January to touch base and let them know what you are interested in and looking for.

If you are really worried, it may put you at ease to know that if you absolutely had to, you could finish your hours after May and get your degree in the summer or following fall instead. It's certainly not ideal, but it might make you feel better to know that you aren't suddenly kicked out of the program or anything drastic like that.

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Jul 17, 2015

I think UMass Medical in Worcester provides preceptors for its Masters students.

I don't know about that. A friend of mine just completed her DNP at UMASS and had to find her own preceptors. She almost dropped out in her last year because she couldn't find one. Maybe it depends which program you attend. She is in CT and didn't attend physically except for clinicals.

Jotb33 · Apr 26, 2016

Hi Miffy - I would love to talk with you. I was accepted to Regis and I'm supposed to start in the fall. I started having second thoughts today actually - do you have a private place I can send you a message anywhere? It's not giving me the option to do so here......