University of Phoenix MSN Program

I finished my BSN from UOP last year and have 12 credits towards my MSN. The problem is that at my age, 50, I am not sure I want to continue for my MSN. Also I am not sure what I would want my MSN in that would make me the most marketable.

I loved the UOP program except for the team projects. Any input ?

I chose the education focus. It can be applied to almost any setting and with the push toward Magnet there will be an increased need for nurses in staff development and nurse educator positions. I'm not sure if this is the route I will pursue at the end of my program or if I'll lean more to a traditional academic setting. I know that the teaching elements of the nursing process are what I love most about nursing so that was another reason for my choice. I had some management experience and absolutely hated it, so knew that line of study was out of the question for me :)

I have had some great experiences with the learning team, thankfully, and some some not so great. I get the point of working in this manner but when you get someone who isn't pulling their weight it makes it a bit difficult.

I finished my MSN at 46 and yes, it opens up more doors. As to the problem with team projects (not my favorite thing either):

1. Set up ground rules for checking into the board during the first week of class with your other group mates.

2. Divide up the assignment EARLY and ensure everyone knows how many words/pages/references they need to provide. Make sure they know they MUST be within 50 words as this avoids wading through tons of extraneous and useless material.

3. Make sure everyone knows the deadline for submission. Make the deadline date a full 72 hours (at a minimum) prior to the deadline.

4. Assign a team member to be the leader for that project who will be the go-to person.

5. Whoever is editing the final copy, make sure they have a good handle on APA.

6. If there are problems, contact the instructor.

In a few of my classes, I had to work with disagreeable people who had every excuse in the book not to complete their work. In one class, it got to the point where three of us handed in one assignment, while one person handed in another paper. It wasn't pretty.

Wow, I haven't encountered one that bad yet. Hopefully I won't! I agree with the guidelines you have outlined. I bet you were frequently a team leader.

I am seriously considering enrolling in the U of P for the MSN with an education focus. I would love to teach. I have been a nurse for nearly three years, and every time a teaching moment comes up - whether for peers or patients - I love it! I just finished a BA in Psych and work in Behavioral Health - I feel I have found my true niche in nursing.

I would like to hear from a few RNs who have pursued or are pursuing their MSN from U of P.

I am seriously considering enrolling in the U of P for the MSN with an education focus. I would love to teach. I have been a nurse for nearly three years, and every time a teaching moment comes up - whether for peers or patients - I love it! I just finished a BA in Psych and work in Behavioral Health - I feel I have found my true niche in nursing.

I would like to hear from a few RNs who have pursued or are pursuing their MSN from U of P.

I am completing my seventh class. The time is just flying by. One of the things I love most about the program is its applicability to real world situations. The objective of the class I am in now is to set up a practicum based on a learning contract with my faculty advisor. It was up to me what I wanted for my learning objectives, then set up strategies and ways to measure how I accomplished them. It ends up being a quite complex document. I will be working with a mentor in my facility to do a needs assessment and develop an educational module to enhance care of psychiatric patients in non psych care areas. The regular nursing units are seeing more psych patients with concurrent medical issues and have expressed a level of discomfort to the staff ed coordinator. I think it will be an interesting project. I am going to explore the possibility of getting ceu approval for the module or at least find out what that process entails.

I love the flexibility and challenge of the courses. I have no regrets about having chosen this program. My only regret is that I didn't pursue this sooner. Kudos to you for recognizing your interest in this area and begining the process to higher learning.

I had a BS and completed the MSN Bridge program at UoP. I had to complete 9 undergrad credits. I attended the graduation in Phoenix this past weekend and it was awesome. I didn't have the opportunity to had the education concentration, but have been offered a part time faculty position in a college program with my MSN>

Hello!

How many papers and group projects are generally completed during each course? I have only taken the intro class and we only had one of each and I just don't know if I could complete a paper a week or so. Thank you!

I am thinking of starting the RN to MSN in January (I already have BS in non-nursing degree). I just met with an UOP counselor and I still have a few questions. 1) Is it do-able to do the MSN while working full-time? 2) How do people feel about the 6 week classes? Love it or hate it? 3) It's so expensive but the counselor told me I can be done with MSN in about 1 year? Is this true? If so, then paying approx. $28K for MSN for 1 year is worth it. Thanks for any advice and comments you all can offer.

MSN Bridge I completed in 2 years. Also I had to prove I had 3 years nursing experience. I have been a nurse for over 20 but not an issue for me. The 3 undergrad programs are 5 weeks and the grad are 6 weeks and intense.

Are you going to a ground program? I complete mine online. Plan to spend 15-20 hours a week with school work.

And 28K seems high to me. My state university charges $300 per credit.

Good luck

jenbea

I finished my BSN from UOP. As you know they are very expensive, the upside is it is convenient and I really bet you could finish your MSN in a year. It has been a year since I finished my undergrad degree and I am 1/3 of the way towards an MSN. The problem is the cost vs the payback.

I hated the teamwork but loved everything else.

I finished my BSN in March of this year and it is a hard program. I overlapped classes for about the last 6 months of the program and actually finished while staying in the hospital while my daughter was very sick. It was tough, but I wouldn't have been able to do that in a traditional program. I had planned on starting on a FNP/MSN program this summer, but my daughter remained very sick and was in and out of hospitals for a total of about 60 nights inpatient. So, plans got put on hold.

After the experience with my daughter with the mis-diagnosis, etc. I decided that I wanted to now concentrate on teaching (I can always decide later to get a postmaster's NP). She has reflex neurovascular dystrophy and we ended up with the top doctor in the country for it at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The other children and parents in this program all had the same story as ours of mis-diagnosis and worsening health and tremendous stress, pain, and financial burden. The only thing different about our story was that Samantha was diagnosed and treated relatively quickly compared to most.

Anyway, I decided that I want to teach because I think nurses are the ones who have the most potential to impact our healthcare system. I am starting in the MSN/ED program on August 29th. I am going to try to get done in a year and will just have to see if that is do-able.

Ann