Too many online NP programs

BlueDevil, DNP · Mar 27, 2014

I lived in Durham and attended class, but took some online courses too, when the schedule didn't work out to attend on campus. I honestly did not find any difference in the rigor of the work, if anything there was more work in the on-line course and I was just as easily able to bond with classmates taking the course from Germany as I was with classmates across the aisle. I think you get out of any course what you put into it, and online courses can be as depersonalized as one wants them to be, frankly. If someone is not a people person and doesn't reach out to others, it would be very easy to avoid interpersonal connections. However, if you are personable and accessible it is also easy to form bonds with colleagues over the internet. Heck, people date and fall in love over the interwebz!

So in the end, I don't think it really makes any difference and my guess is online education is going to dominate most field of study in years to come just because it is more efficient. There are a few high schools and a middle school in my area that can be done from home, too. It saves the county a lot of money and they are encouraging students to take more and more course work from home, both synchronous and asynchronous. I'll bet some of our grandchildren will never set foot inside a traditional classroom.

zenman · Mar 28, 2014

Zenman, What you describe are valuable resources and are in my opinion an addition to the traditional classroom experience. During my undergrad education I have taken so far both online and face to face classes, and while both deliver an excellent quality of content , there are some underlaying things that can only be experienced by face to face interaction. I would say the most valuable is networking, many opportunities in employment or life changes have come from interacting with classmates. Also the face to face interactions lead to establishing a more intimate support group for studying for exams, quizzing each other , etc; which would be harder to do in online classes due to geographical differences between students. An online post, email , etc , does not provides the same interaction that a face to face class, and after all we are social creatures so isolation is never good. It saddens me that the world in which we live has pushed us apart, and I know the advantages that providing online classes provide for those that life circumstances do not allow for a normal face to face interaction, but still I feel something will be missing from the full experience. A smile, a joke, that question we have no way of figuring out but a classmate can explain in so plain words that it clicks in our minds finally. For those of you that need to do online because of your specific situations, i understand, i have been there. But I feel it is still much better to be able to share some time and knowledge with others in a classroom, it is a one in a whole lifetime experience.

True, but today we have many friends scattered all over the globe which is why I wish I had thought of FB. I did meet my classmates a few times for physical exams and interviewing skills and those I wanted to keep in touch with I do so.

zenman · Mar 28, 2014

As long as it's a decent program with skill check offs, written exams, and clinical site visits they should be okay. And not based off of writing papers. Writing papers does not help in practice. At all

I'll disagree here. Writing papers is good for you , not only in developing those poor writing skills you have out of high school, but also teach you how to research information, hopefully evaluate that info as to it's usefullness, and then present that info in a legible format. You know, like medical journals that you read to guide you in your practice with patients. There are also some PhD programs in other countries where the focus is doing research and writing your dissertation...no classes.

:yes:

Eru IlÃºvatar · Mar 28, 2014

True but today we have many friends scattered all over the globe which is why I wish I had thought of FB. I did meet my classmates a few times for physical exams and interviewing skills and those I wanted to keep in touch with I do so.[/quote']
Sometimes I wish I had come up with some of these simple ideas ( hard to execute though) that made so many people rich, lol. I do agree that technology has the power to keep close with those that are far away physically, but not everybody puts the same effort in doing so, hence why I feel a disconnection from students in Online classes.

futureeastcoastNP · Mar 28, 2014

I'll disagree here. Writing papers is good for you , not only in developing those poor writing skills you have out of high school, but also teach you how to research information, hopefully evaluate that info as to it's usefullness, and then present that info in a legible format. You know, like medical journals that you read to guide you in your practice with patients. There are also some PhD programs in other countries where the focus is doing research and writing your dissertation...no classes.

Writing papers on nursing theory and ensuring it is in proper APA format does not build skills as a clinician. It was mindless busy work during my BSN and I imagine it will be mindless busy work for NP school as well. Writing pathophysiology papers or papers on why and how a specific drug class works, sure, that would be great. But the "write a 20 page paper on how Maslows Hierarchy of Needs plays into nursing" doesn't offer much of anything on how to diagnose and prescribe, which is what should be the core of NP education.

Personally, I learn best by case studies. Case study/paper hybrids would be fine as long as they are clinical based.

Eru IlÃºvatar · Mar 28, 2014

Writing papers on nursing theory and ensuring it is in proper APA format does not build skills as a clinician. It was mindless busy work during my BSN and I imagine it will be mindless busy work for NP school as well. Writing pathophysiology papers or papers on why and how a specific drug class works sure, that would be great. But the "write a 20 page paper on how Maslows Hierarchy of Needs plays into nursing" doesn't offer much of anything on how to diagnose and prescribe, which is what should be the core of NP education. Personally, I learn best by case studies. Case study/paper hybrids would be fine as long as they are clinical based.[/quote']
These kind of papers sound fantastic. A more clinical/practical approach is a win-win situation. Students get to expand their critical thinking/research skills , while faculty is testing and making sure students get the skills they need on a higher education level degree. For me is true that a program preparing clinical NP should focus more on practical research than in theoretical concepts better left for those pursuing a Phd in nursing research.

scarykarrey · Mar 28, 2014

I definitely agree that case studies are a really important aspect of the learning process for nursing (all of healthcare, really), and that activities to build greater understanding of physiological and pharmacotherapeutic processes are clearly important. I definitely DISAGREE that learning nursing theory and writing papers on it to reinforce that knowledge is mindless busy work and has no merit as related to the rest of your education.

If physiology and pharmacology are the "WHAT" and the "HOW", then nursing theory, and learning the foundations of practice such as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, is the "WHY". (Case studies are going to be the "who" and "when", if we want to go ahead and draw out my analogy, I guess.) I think bringing theory into the equation of your education is very important in building critical thinking skills surrounding the practical skills that you're learning. Like, why wouldn't you want to know the why?

lv2learn · Mar 30, 2014

Like it or not, online is the wave of the future. I was listening to a topic on NPR last year about the popularity of online education and it was discussed that major colleges are currently working on creating online degrees. Also mentioned was that the "college experience" as we know it will be a thing of the past. I have applied to 2 NP programs that are online for both local AND distance students. I was baffled initially by the number of online programs, but then took a look around at our world...online banking, bill-pay, dating, shopping, applications for jobs/school and the list goes on. Be honest, 5 years ago could you even fathom the idea of not having a phone in your home or not reading the newspaper? Technology is having a very broad impact on everything and education is no exception. And it's not just nursing that's jumping on the online bandwagon. If you peek over at other majors from reputable b&m schools, many have online courses and degrees, too. I mentioned on another discussion that my daughter is in a b&m NP program and they have online classes as part of the curriculum. So while I, too, recognize the importance of in-person education, I think the new normal is going to be online. As technology becomes more sophisticated, so will the delivery of information for nursing and other degrees alike. It is isolating to not have in-person interaction, but that's what technology has created.

chillnurse, BSN, RN, NP · Mar 30, 2014

I never understood the concepts of nursing theory. I could never decipher anything practical from it. I am sure it had some implication. Just nothing I bothered to figure out.

zenman · Mar 30, 2014

I never understood the concepts of nursing theory. I could never decipher anything practical from it. I am sure it had some implication. Just nothing I bothered to figure out.

That might be the problem. You never bothered to find out that all professions are theory driven. Better find one for your clinical practice otherwise you're a trade school graduate.

Dr.Naija_Glam · Mar 30, 2014

I think online programs are great :)!!! Lol, this is because I completed my FNP program online. I passed the ANCC boards, just as some who went to a B&M program. I felt that I was well prepared to practice at the entry level. I made many friends in my programs because I communicated with them outside of class. There are some people who feel that they need to learn in the traditional setting and that's okay. I feel that as long as the school is accredited and ensuring that students are competent all is well.

chillnurse, BSN, RN, NP · Mar 30, 2014

Business theory