University of Cincinnati Pros and Cons

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Hello,

Recently I have been granted acceptance into the University of Cincinnati Distance Learning Family Nurse Practitioner Program for the Summer of 2015.

I am aware there are various threads but I have not seen any real recent ones and I believe changes can occur yearly and would like to hear more feedback before fully committing.

I'm 21, a full time RN who does not plan on working pt. time, and in Summer 2015 I will start my first semester at U of Cinci (I already have completed a doctoral level stats course so I am able to bypass that class the first semester).. Anyways for those who are currently in the courses OR recently graduated:

1.) did you feel the online classes were challenging enough to prepare you for clinical/work but not so challenging that they consumed every ounce of free time?

2.) how did you feel the school views students.. Student friendly? Did you feel lost/left in the dark? Ect...

3.) my BIGGEST issue.. FINDING my own clinical preceptor while paying the school.. is there any type of assistance? has anyone NOT found a preceptor? advice on successfully landing a preceptor? ALSO.. do you need three new preceptors for the three clinical blocks??

PLEASE enlightened me with your pros and cons. I love to hear both sides before making such commitment. (this thread isn't limited to FNP majors only.. any distance learning student's advice will be appreciated)

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Hello and welcome to allnurses.com

We moved your thread to the Student NP forum where those in the program can answer you.

Good luck with your NP program and we hope you enjoy allnurses.com

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Specializes in Emergency.
Hello,

Recently I have been granted acceptance into the University of Cincinnati Distance Learning Family Nurse Practitioner Program for the Summer of 2015.

I am aware there are various threads but I have not seen any real recent ones and I believe changes can occur yearly and would like to hear more feedback before fully committing.

I'm 21, a full time RN who does not plan on working pt. time, and in Summer 2015 I will start my first semester at U of Cinci (I already have completed a doctoral level stats course so I am able to bypass that class the first semester).. Anyways for those who are currently in the courses OR recently graduated:

1.) did you feel the online classes were challenging enough to prepare you for clinical/work but not so challenging that they consumed every ounce of free time?

2.) how did you feel the school views students.. Student friendly? Did you feel lost/left in the dark? Ect...

3.) my BIGGEST issue.. FINDING my own clinical preceptor while paying the school.. is there any type of assistance? has anyone NOT found a preceptor? advice on successfully landing a preceptor? ALSO.. do you need three new preceptors for the three clinical blocks??

PLEASE enlightened me with your pros and cons. I love to hear both sides before making such commitment. (this thread isn't limited to FNP majors only.. any distance learning student's advice will be appreciated)

My schools has been churning out top notch FNPs for many years, all through online didactic and local, student identified preceptors. I don't have an issue with the format, in fact part of why I picked the program was the format.

As for difficulty, I don't think the materials being learned are any different if the course is taught online or in a classroom, many traditional programs are now doing online didactic for convenience of the students, and not just NP programs.

As for finding your own preceptor, if you don't want to identify your own preceptor, pick a school that doesn't require you to. Yes there are students who didn't find a preceptor for various reasons, you would be best served to start building a network of providers now so that you have contacts when it comes time to identify your preceptor.

My school works with the students as future colleagues, so they value our input, I don't know anything about your particular school.

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RNKMY I am currently in the UC program. I had initially started the program on campus fall 2014 but switched to DL to change this summer. I actually switched to DL because it doesn't matter if it's online or DL you still have to find your own preceptors and the campus one was all over the place with no direction. It was horrible.

Talking about preceptors, yes you have to find your own. Once you are getting close to starting clinical, email your clinical coordinator and she will send you a lost of preceptors different students have used in your state/area. That is what I just did and from the list, I made calls and asked if they are willing to precept me. I already have Peds and Adult health secured and I start clinical in January.

As for the other clinical question, you do not need 2 preceptors for all three rotations. For example if you find an MD who has a clinic and sees both peds and adult, you can use the MD as long as they are willing to take you for the required hours. I also know you cant use more than 8 preceptors for the total three locations and you need at least 100 hours with a NP in any of the rotations. My advisor called me and we talked for a while and explained and emailed me everything I needed to know and the steps.

Hope that helps, good luck and congrats. BTW the fees is reasonable; one of the reasons I ended going with them and declining three other admissions.

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Lauris4luv - thanks for your post. I have been accepted to UC for the upcoming fall semester. I have seen many posts on here about people not being able to find preceptors so your post gives me some reassurance. Would you mind answering a few more questions? How long did it take for you to find people from that list that were willing to precept you? How are you feeling about the program so far, do you feel you will be well prepared after graduation? For the clinical rotations as I see there are only 3, do you precept in different areas for each rotation or does each rotation focus on one specific area? Are you able to tailor the clinical to your own professional interests? Also are there any elective courses offered to you as an fnp student? Thanks :-)

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Nursey43 sorry for the late response; I don't come on the site so often.

How long it will take to find a preceptor will depend solely on the preceptors. I had to call and left messages for them to call me back.

What area are you located in? In making these calls I have realized that it's good to start early to secure sites, the reason being most of these preceptors always have student so the earlier you start the better. I work with 2 MDs who are willing to take me for Adult and Peds so I am lucky with that one.

Women's health is a challenged. Are you going full time or part time? Do you know when you will start clinical next year? If you tell me the area you live in I can see if I have the list for the area and I can email it to you. I currently have IL, MD, OH, KY and MI.

Like it is with most programs you have to put in some work. I like their blackboard. For the classes I have taken so far, the instructor record videos and Notes on PDF with group discussions. There are three rotations (Adult, peds and women health). If you are interested in a specialty for example Cardi0logy, you are only allowed 60hrs out of the 504 total hours to use for specialty. There are no elective courses. I was told if it happens that you are not lucky to find preceptors when you are suppose, then you can take some classes which will not count towards your MSN till you find a preceptors.

Hope I am able to help. Good luck

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Nursey43 sorry for the late response; I don't come on the site so often.

How long it will take to find a preceptor will depend solely on the preceptors. I had to call and left messages for them to call me back.

What area are you located in? In making these calls I have realized that it's good to start early to secure sites, the reason being most of these preceptors always have student so the earlier you start the better. I work with 2 MDs who are willing to take me for Adult and Peds so I am lucky with that one.

Women's health is a challenged. Are you going full time or part time? Do you know when you will start clinical next year? If you tell me the area you live in I can see if I have the list for the area and I can email it to you. I currently have IL, MD, OH, KY and MI.

Like it is with most programs you have to put in some work. I like their blackboard. For the classes I have taken so far, the instructor record videos and Notes on PDF with group discussions. There are three rotations (Adult, peds and women health). If you are interested in a specialty for example Cardi0logy, you are only allowed 60hrs out of the 504 total hours to use for specialty. There are no elective courses. I was told if it happens that you are not lucky to find preceptors when you are suppose, then you can take some classes which will not count towards your MSN till you find a preceptors.

Hope I am able to help. Good luck

Thank you so much for responding! Your info was very helpful. I will be attending part time and my first clinical won't start until Fall 2016. I live in Ohio so if you are able to send me the OH list that would be great!!! :-)

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Specializes in Assistant Professor, Nephrology, Internal Medicine.

RNKMY,

Thank you for posting this, I am starting the UC AGNP-MSN program this summer too! Maybe we should stay in contact, because I know most of our two programs overlap for the first several semesters.

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Specializes in Psych, Intermediate Care.

Hello! Ill be joining you all this fall! I am excited and nervous. I have already started networking for my clinical rotations. I wish you all the best! For you all who have started, how is it going so far?

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Hello! Ill be joining you all this fall! I am excited and nervous. I have already started networking for my clinical rotations. I wish you all the best! For you all who have started, how is it going so far?

To the OP, thanks for posting!

Lexi,

How do you like the program so far? What do you like about it most and would you recommend it to your family?

Thanks,

Seaweed

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Specializes in ED, L&D.

Hello! I know this is an old feed, but hoping to find some information from current/former University of Cincinnati FNP students. I am just looking for some basic pros/cons of the online FNP program. Trying to decide between this program and USA's online FNP program. Thank you in advance for any and all advice!

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msufan3710: How are you finding the program? I am starting this fall 2016 and I am nervous and a bit excited. I would also like to keep in contact with you.

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