I'm currently applying for NP school and I need to vent about a few things.....
1. It's unacceptable that a school requires students to find their own preceptors. Ridiculous, unacceptable, they should not even be in business (traditional or for profit). If I'm going to pay over 30,000 (on the low end) for an education and have to find my preceptors, what is it i'm paying for exactly? For the love of god, stop applying to these schools. I know someone personally who literally cannot find a preceptor in his area and is about to quit the program due to this. His school offers very little if any support.
2. I hear nurses gloat about programs that don't require any campus visits and have no mandatory login times. You are training to do the same job as a physician. Literally. I would never attend a program that required as little as possible from it's students. You are training to operate in a similar fashion to a physician, but are excited about doing a fifth of the work.... I have only applied to schools with live class rooms and login times for actual classes. I don't understand the appeal of a school advertising that they expect almost nothing from you. Georgetown (despite it's outrageous cost) is an example of an online program I would deem acceptable (I also know a few of their grads that are working and very competent NPs) because of it's login times, finding clinical placement and campus visits.
3. For the love of god, get some experience. Stop filling up schools with new grad RNs with less than 1 year of irrelevant experience. I've been a nurse for nearly 8 years, and I still considering waiting until the 10 year mark. It's just so crazy that people with no experience go to NP school. I'm sure there are some great ones out there, but I haven't met any that weren't RNs for years.
I know this post comes across as "angry" but i'm just frustrated with the low standards that the NP profession has adapted. I was so excited to apply. I did my time on the floor, worked really hard in my specialty and I believe i'm a qualified candidate. When I started researching and seeing what the standards are, it just aggravates me. I know some wonderful NPs out there who are very capable providers. I feel that the low standards are ruining it for the future of the profession. It just seems like these programs care about the money rather than graduating competent NPs. This whole experience has had me considering re-taking my science classes and applying for PA school.
Anyways, any open discussion is appreciated.