Seattle University APNI

U.S.A. Washington

Published

I just got accepted to Seattle University's APNI program and was wondering if any of my fellow future classmates were interested in starting a thread of our own.

We are about to embark on an amazing, stressful and exciting venture--June is just around the corner!

We may as well start getting to know each other now.

When I initially decided to apply to SU I found very little on allnurses, so I'm hoping this thread will also be a place where prospective APNI's can post and get some advice from us . . . eventually :p

So, if anyone is interested in introducing themselves I'd love to hear from you.

I look forward to meeting everyone at orientation in June :D

Any advice from current students is greatly appreciated too!

Hi Janine, what track are you in?

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I am in the GNP track. You?

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I was in the GNP Track too, but I switched to the Certified Nurse Midwifery Track. :::Excited:::

What made you want to do GNP?

Oh and do you have Facebook? Our Cohort has a group there as well! :-)

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Hey Carla, I saw that you switched to the CNM track. I'm curious about your thought process on this. I wavered quite a bit before choosing the GNP over the Psych track but feel pretty solid on my choice at this point. I am curious about your decision though if you don't mind discussing it.

For the rest of you in the GNP track, I'm curious about your reasons for choosing this specialty and where you see yourself working in 2, 5 or 10 years. I don't have a clinical background and plan to practice for several years, but am also interested in research and faculty opportunities as well. There seems to be no shortage of funding or opportunity in the GNP arena.

Financial Aid update: I did finally see an adjustment on my cost of attendance yesterday (after a couple of emails and quite a bit of time). For those of you who are still waiting, the total COA came in about $51k for the year and this includes everything. We can't register until May 13 and won't be able to request more financial aid until after summer registration. The bookstore is now showing our required textbooks for summer classes. I know that past cohort members have mentioned selling books. I'm going to contact Sabrina about setting up some type of communication with them so we can help them out. ;)

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dana - when i applied to the sucon-apni program, i did not know that the cnm track was on the works of becoming an official specialty. i actually did not know that this was even an option until i spoke with dr. carr. she was soooo kind to give me about 2 weeks of researching and job shadowing a cnm. as cliché as it may sound, i've always been interested in obstertrics and gynecology (women’s health in general). before starting my undergrad at uw i wanted to follow the premed route to become an ob/gyn, however after job shadowing a few, i realized that i wanted/needed more from the profession, which is patient/medical practitioner relationship, and that's what guided me to nursing.

also... i found myself having to find "reasons" to be excited about becoming a future gnp (even though i was already accepted into the program)... to make a long story short, i would have entered a profession that i would have not be completely content with. i have about 2-3 years of nursing assistant certified experience under my belt, and it is not an easy job (...mentally) i have a lot of respect for men and women who work as nacs fulltime, and i realized that working with the geriatric population requires a lot of strength and courage. as an nac, i found myself getting too attached to my residents and it would literally affect me if one of them passed on. additionally, if i continued on this track (gnp), i would have done it for personal reasons (family reasons) and not for me (there's a personal story behind why gerontology was my number one choice, initially.. and i can share that with you one on one :-)

overall, lets just say that i thought really really really hard about this decision. i researched about cnm's and gnp's (again and again) and also job shadowed a cnm and a gnp during those two weeks. and at the end, i realized that my roots have always been embedded toward women's health. i realized that if i stayed in the gnp track, i would find myself asking "what if" but... i strongly believe that i will not be asking the "what if" questions if i were to pursuit a career in midwifery. for once… i’m making a decision for “me,” j i hope this answered your question.

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Thanks for sharing your story Carla! It is great to be excited about what you're doing, especially when the APNI will be a challenging program. My story of choosing this path is rather long as well and I would love to share it another time (have to take a statistics test now- ick). I do NOT have a Facebook page (I know, I know...I am about 5 years behind everyone technologically speaking). Is our cohort now communicating mostly through FB? If so, I will probably break down and FINALLY get on there!!!

Since I mentioned hosting a gathering at my place, I wanted to follow up on that. What does everyone think about June 13th or 14th? That is the weekend before our orientation...I'm thinking potluck, outdoors, sunshine

just some fun prior to getting serious :) I'm anxious to get to know all of you so hopefully there will be a get together in May too!!

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Specializes in Float Pool, acute care, management/leadership.

Hi ksc2004,

Thanks for sharing your experiences in reaching your decision. I just graduated from UW last August and am strongly considering a career in nursing. I did a lot of work with ASUW and various other student organizations on campus, in addition to working as a CNA at UWMC. The leadership/community nursing track at SU is something that interests me very much, but I am constantly torn between gaining some more experience as a RN first, or diving straight into a master's program. I am constantly debating between getting an ADN or BSN first, or diving straight into a program like Seattle U's APNI. My biggest fear is that I will be getting in way over my head and I will end up with a really expensive degree/specialty that is not really my professional niche.

If you don't mind me asking, did you got through the aforementioned internal debate as well? How did you decide that doing a direct-entry master's program was the right thing for you, versus becoming a RN first?

Many thanks,

Jason

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I think I know you... is this Jason Ly from UW Leaders? LOL...

And to be quite honest, I also had that interneal debate like you are having. When you are ready to apply for a Nursing Program (ADN, BSN, or Direct-Entry MSN) you have to think of what your overall goal is... Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is nursing something you see yourself doing for a long while?

2. Would you like autonomy in your practice?

3. Why and what is it that led you to nursing?

4. Do you enjoy working as an NAC?

5. What are your overall goals and intentions... say 10 years from now?

6. How much of the required prerequisites have you finished and how was your experience in those classes?

Just think about it... If you have finished the prerequisites the ADN and BSN Programs will still take 2 years from whenever you get accepted.. and the APNI Program at SU is 2 years and a Quarter.. It all depends what you want to do with your Nursing career.. is nursing just a stepping stone for you? Or is this your primary goal/aim?

When I applied to the SU MSN Program I also applied to Bellevue CC and South Seattle CC... in which I was forunate to get accepted to both. I also applied to Massachusetts General Hospital for Health Professions, which I (shockingly) also got accepted into. As you can probably tell... my overall goal was to simply become a Nurse. It is a great field to get into (especially right now). You will always find a job and if you enjoy helping people then this would be your ticket. But... if you want to work autonomously (make decisions for your patients without or rarely consulting with a fellow MD, then getting your MSN would probably your best bet).. if you want to get done faster then follow the ADN or BSN routes... same time length (if you've already finished your prereqs)... but seriously an extra quarter won't hurt.. especially if you're leaving with a graduate degree.. :-)

Hope this helps Jason

Karla

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Hi J9APNI! Not much conversation going on in FB, there's more activity here than there is in FB. But it's just nice to put a face with a name :-) I believe Jessica is trying to put another get together with our cohort in May.. but other than that, I haven't heard much.

And I can't wait to hear your story about why you chose GNP. I am so envious of your strength.

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Thank you so much, Carla, for sharing the details of the whole process with me. I am very excited for you and glad Dr Carr gave you the opportunity to really investigate the specialties you were considering. That's one of the reasons I chose SU. I believe they really make this a personal experience and want the best for each of us. The feedback from anyone who has heard I'm doing the program has been nothing but positive. SU's reputation is excellent and I know we'll be well-prepared.

It is not easy to decide between an accelerated program and a traditional program. Finances, clinical experiences, personal life, relationships, geography, and time are all factors. I am an intense person who prefers to totally dive into experiences. I have been involved in an accelerated cohort learning model before, and loved it. I perform better under pressure and all or nothing person. An immersion experience suits me well. This may not be the best option for others. I think its a good fit for certain people but others do better in a traditional, longer program. This probably doesn't help much, but really, deciding on a program is a personal decision and you have to consider your personality type, relationships, financial situation and learning style in making the decision. Talking to students who have been through the program was one of my best sources of information.

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Specializes in Float Pool, acute care, management/leadership.
I think I know you... is this Jason Ly from UW Leaders? LOL...

And to be quite honest, I also had that interneal debate like you are having. When you are ready to apply for a Nursing Program (ADN, BSN, or Direct-Entry MSN) you have to think of what your overall goal is... Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is nursing something you see yourself doing for a long while?

2. Would you like autonomy in your practice?

3. Why and what is it that led you to nursing?

4. Do you enjoy working as an NAC?

5. What are your overall goals and intentions... say 10 years from now?

6. How much of the required prerequisites have you finished and how was your experience in those classes?

Just think about it... If you have finished the prerequisites the ADN and BSN Programs will still take 2 years from whenever you get accepted.. and the APNI Program at SU is 2 years and a Quarter.. It all depends what you want to do with your Nursing career.. is nursing just a stepping stone for you? Or is this your primary goal/aim?

When I applied to the SU MSN Program I also applied to Bellevue CC and South Seattle CC... in which I was forunate to get accepted to both. I also applied to Massachusetts General Hospital for Health Professions, which I (shockingly) also got accepted into. As you can probably tell... my overall goal was to simply become a Nurse. It is a great field to get into (especially right now). You will always find a job and if you enjoy helping people then this would be your ticket. But... if you want to work autonomously (make decisions for your patients without or rarely consulting with a fellow MD, then getting your MSN would probably your best bet).. if you want to get done faster then follow the ADN or BSN routes... same time length (if you've already finished your prereqs)... but seriously an extra quarter won't hurt.. especially if you're leaving with a graduate degree.. :-)

Hope this helps Jason

Karla

WHOA Karla...small world! :)

I guess it's only a quarter longer than an ADN or BSN program, but at the same time...I would be leaving with a lot of debt and traveling has always been something that I've set my sights on. Having summers off to do that would definitely be ideal. At the end of the day, there's too many questions that I still have to ponder and marinate over. I do see myself in nursing, but I am just unsure what I want to do beyond bedside nursing. Thanks for your advice :)

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J9APNI,

Thanks for offering to host a gathering in June---sounds great, I'm in! I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone as well. I already mentioned this on our FB sight, but if anyone would like to meet up in May, I'll be in town looking for an apt. the weekend of May 16th. I won't pick a time or place b/c I'm flexible and I'm not too familiar with Seattle, yet :D

I think Dana mentioned being in town for the game, so before or after the game sounds good to me.

If that weekend doesn't work--can't wait to meet up in June!

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