Need help deciding on an FNP school- feedback wanted!

Students NP Students

Published

You are reading page 2 of Need help deciding on an FNP school- feedback wanted!

  1. What would you do?

    • Wait and work more before applying to OU
    • 0
      Accept Chamberlain
    • 0
      Accept Speing Arbor Univeristy Online

12 members have participated

My school (frontier) we found our own. But they had a solid staff that assisted with arranging and paperwork as well as maintained a database of all current and former contracted preceptors to make the search easier. This is absolutely the standard in many np schools. Even university of Michigan requires (last I checked) you to find your own preceptor.

What I would consider in my choice is the quality of clinicals your school requires. At frontier, beside a minimum hours, they had hard requirements for our experience. We needed a minimum of 50 paps, peds needed at least 50 well child and episodic each broken up by the difference age groups, adults episodic/chronic were much higher (300 each if memory serves). Don't meet this, you keep going no matter where your hours are. So while finding my preceptor wasn't a walk in the park and also required me to get licensed in a second state and travel up to 3 hours for one site, I don't feel this is reflective on the schools quality. If anything it exemplifies the high standards my school pushed to maintain.

allnurses Guide

BostonFNP, APRN

2 Articles; 5,581 Posts

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

In my opinion, students should stop funding programs that don't secure preceptors for students. It is terrible practice.

In my opinion, students should stop funding programs that don't secure preceptors for students. It is terrible practice.

Terrible practice... But I don't think anyone's gonna tell someone their education at University of Michigan is will be sub par simply because they expect that student to find a preceptor.

lwsoccjs

185 Posts

Specializes in Neurology, Psychology, Family medicine.
Terrible practice... But I don't think anyone's gonna tell someone their education at University of Michigan is will be sub par simply because they expect that student to find a preceptor.

Fair, and true. But it does reflect poorly on the profession and the way it is going. Just means that hundreds of more schools can continue to populate because their jobs are made easier.

Let's see 350 schools currently present that offer the degree, such a shame.

allnurses Guide

BostonFNP, APRN

2 Articles; 5,581 Posts

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
Terrible practice... But I don't think anyone's gonna tell someone their education at University of Michigan is will be sub par simply because they expect that student to find a preceptor.

True, at least for now. There is a loss of value in that education/preparation for sure. The UofM doesn't secure quality preceptorships? It's just ironic given what they have on their own website:

"At the University of Michigan School of Nursing, clinical experience is central to our pedagogical philosophy and so clinical mentors and preceptors plays an integral role in training the next generation of nurse practitioners and leaders."'

"Experience in a clinical setting in an integral part of all U-M School of Nursing academic programs. Through working side-by-side with some of the best nursing and medical professionals in the country, our students benefit from the knowledge and hands-on learning that is only possible through actually applying theoretical skills in practice."

"Placements in clinical settings for undergraduate and graduate students is handled separately. Undergraduate clinical placement is managed through the Undergraduate Studies Office and graduate clinical placement is handled through the Practice and Professional Graduate Programs Office." C

"To expose our students to the variety of practice settings and specialty fields available to them as professionals, we strive to provide diverse clinical experience locations."

Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.
True, at least for now. There is a loss of value in that education/preparation for sure. The UofM doesn't secure quality preceptorships? It's just ironic given what they have on their own website:

"At the University of Michigan School of Nursing, clinical experience is central to our pedagogical philosophy and so clinical mentors and preceptors plays an integral role in training the next generation of nurse practitioners and leaders."'

"Experience in a clinical setting in an integral part of all U-M School of Nursing academic programs. Through working side-by-side with some of the best nursing and medical professionals in the country, our students benefit from the knowledge and hands-on learning that is only possible through actually applying theoretical skills in practice."

"Placements in clinical settings for undergraduate and graduate students is handled separately. Undergraduate clinical placement is managed through the Undergraduate Studies Office and graduate clinical placement is handled through the Practice and Professional Graduate Programs Office." C

"To expose our students to the variety of practice settings and specialty fields available to them as professionals, we strive to provide diverse clinical experience locations."

The actual UofM campus in Ann Arbor places you in clinicals but you have to live in MI. However, they do hybrid (on-campus and online) classes. UofM campus in Flint is solely online and requires you to find your own preceptors. Both degrees display only "University of Michigan" at the top.

MSU places you in clinicals as well. But again, you have to live in MI and some are hybrid classes. They only offer the FNP or the AGNP, no acute care option, unfortunately, or I would have gone there.

Unfortunately, there aren't as many schools willing to place you in clinicals that don't cost a fortune (Yale, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Duke, etc.). Many of us older nurses cannot recoup the investment of taking out that much in student loans before retirement.

In an ideal world, yes, all schools should have to provide preceptors. I wish this was the case wholeheartedly. But we have to work with what the current situation is right now.

Specializes in Nephrology.
Yes! I looked it up for more info and it seems to have good rankings. Here is one list where's it's #3. 3 Best Online Master's in Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) Degree Programs 217 - The Best Master's Degrees

I "somewhat" trust this because I'm familiar with Otterbein being #1 but I am open to feedback on each option!

Glad to see that my university (WCU) is included here.

Terryb1985

13 Posts

Yes! Can I ask about anyone's experience with Spring Arbor and Chamberlain? Also, a lot of votes recommend me to wait. Is OU much better? What prompts that vote? Thanks

Dranger

1,871 Posts

Yes! I looked it up for more info and it seems to have good rankings. Here is one list where's it's #3. 3 Best Online Master's in Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) Degree Programs 217 - The Best Master's Degrees

I "somewhat" trust this because I'm familiar with Otterbein being #1 but I am open to feedback on each option!

Those online ratings mean nothing....

Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.
Yes! Can I ask about anyone's experience with Spring Arbor and Chamberlain? Also, a lot of votes recommend me to wait. Is OU much better? What prompts that vote? Thanks

Do not waste your time with Chamberlain. I did my RN-to-BSN with them and had a great experience. Plus they were on my employer's list of institutions which qualified for reimbursement. Fit well with my night shift schedule. No issues beginning to end with the BSN.

However, I started the FNP in July 2017 and it was like I was attending a completely different school. They made change, after change, after change to the program and it was not a pleasant experience. They did not vet any of the changes before they implemented them, nor did they communicate them well in advance. For instance, they added an extra on-site campus visit for a live review in the final semester. Instead of grandfathering in the new change, they made it effective for all students. This meant students in their final session (8 week session) had to scramble to come up with the money for plane tickets/hotel, plus get time off of work to attend this review. They were told if they did not attend, they would have to do an 80-page paper. Just ridiculous.

The final straw for me, after enduring numerous systems & platform "enhancements" (aka made a good system much worse!), was when they switched to a data-bank of questions for midterms & finals. Now, I was in favor of the new implementation of a lock-down browser for exams so students weren't using Google to answer all their tests. However, only 20% of the material we were given to study was on the midterm exam. The remaining 80% was never assigned to us. We were also limited to 90 seconds per question. Every single person in my class failed the midterm. Not only in my class, but all the other classes as well. How can you be tested on material which you've not been taught? The instructors were left in the dark because no one communicated the change to them, nor did they have access to the data-bank questions prior to the exam. Chamberlain wouldn't announce what they were going to do to fix the issue until Week 6, which "magically" coincided with being unable to receive a refund for the course. I found that to be very shady and I decided I was done wasting my time. Students in the courses ahead of me were complaining about the constant changes to the clinical courses as well.

I dropped the course while I still had a passing grade (went from a solid A to a low B). And the students who stayed? Chamberlain curved their grades. So: what did we actually learn????

I wasted 7 months and $20,000 at this school and I regret it. Only 3 schools will accept my graduate credits from Chamberlain. Unfortunately, those 3 schools are also online-only schools. I decided to go with an actual brick & mortar school with a good online program. I am now going to have to re-take the courses I just completed at Chamberlain. A very expensive lesson to learn.

The reason you're getting votes for OU is because it's a real brick & mortar school and has a decent reputation.

Terryb1985

13 Posts

Thank you so much. I love OU. I also know Spring Arbor is Brick and mortar. It is small, private, and Christian and I honestly didn't hear about it before searching for affordable online FNP schools that don't require extensive campus visits. What is their reputation? I've already been accepted.

Thanks for your input on Chamberlain. I do not have time and money to waste on education and needed to hear that!

I'm concerned I'm not qualified for OU. If anyone's been through their program before, I will love to hear about your credentials! Thanks

Spring arbor has a good reputation, but it's fnp program I believe is brand new. In an online education, brand new is something I world be skeptical of. I world be very interested in how they're doing their exams. FNU required an I home camera and a lock out browser that prevented cheating. It was a hassle, but imo was an important feature that all online schools will eventually have to move to. I would ask what their plan for this because if they don't have one, implementing a new one in the middle of school could be a hassle.

Also something to consider, there have been at of recruiters looking for NPs in the Michigan area to teach there. So they may be jabbing some turnover.

+ Add a Comment