There were a number of reasons that my only option for APRN education was an on-line program. I'm the primary wage earner in our household of five and have to be able to keep working full time during school. Proximity to a brick and mortar program was also an issue. I've taken on-line classes before and I very much believe that you get out what you put in. So, it is my intention to make myself prepared to practice competently, and I've lined up some people that I really think will be excellent preceptors to help me in that respect. However, I have to say that the quality of the education is poor at best. The "advanced" pathophysiology and pharmacology courses largely consist of multiple choice exams and a lot of meaningless busywork assignments that I find to be on par with any undergraduate course I have taken over the years. I have found my own resources for lectures and information, but I think it's a sad state that this is the level of education I'm paying for from an institution, which I researched ahead of time and found was decently rated as an on-line program. I'm in the AGACNP program, and conceivably I could be hired as an acute care hospitalist. The same position that physicians with four years of medical school, residencies and advanced training, hold in our local hospitals. When I started, that was one end goal I was considering as a career path, but now I have concerns about my own readiness for that position when I finish. And it scares me for patients. I still have my clinical courses to complete, so maybe it's just too early to say, but the academic courses I have taken so far are a joke. And I have seen posts from many classmates that are struggling, which makes me wonder about the admission process, which I found a little lacking and probably should have been my first red flag.
I'm not trying to insult all on-line programs and students, and again, I know that in this learning format I'm responsible for making sure that I will be a competent APRN. But the lack of lectures, or interactive experiences from faculty, make it feel like they're just taking my money. (For example, I handed in an 8 page paper and 8 hours later had a 100% with no feedback other than "excellent". Did the professor even read it?!) I think as a profession, we are doing a disservice to well trained APRNs by turning out potentially unprepared APRNs. I understand that everyone still has to get licensed, but if you know how to take standardized tests, I think many people can pass a multiple choice exam with less than comprehensive knowledge of any subject.
I'm not sure how to wrap this up. Looking for other people's experience, thoughts, and maybe whether any practicing APRNs (if they check this board), found that the on-the-job training after school really filled in the gaps to lead to competent practice. I think we all know that coming out of nursing school we weren't really prepared to be nurses right away, so is this the same thing and I'm just being a little paranoid? Any thoughts appreciated.
