University of South Alabama FNP program

USA-FNP2012 · Dec 30, 2012

I am a December 2012 graduate of the FNP program at USA and passed the AANP certification exam 1 week after graduation on 1st attempt. The program is very tough and most of my class complained throughout the past 18 months about the amount of work there was to do and lack of "teaching" by the faculty. Hindsight is always 20/20 and now I feel that they must know what they are doing...100% of grads 2011 passed their certification exam; thus far, 65 of 65 that I know in my class who have taken the exam have passed. You have to be very organized and able to work independently...all exams are proctored, which is different than most programs but does lend credibility to the integrity of the program...many students in non-proctored programs use notes and books when they test, not so at USA. I felt very well prepared for the certification exam and found that it was less difficult than the exams we had at USA. All in all, it is a good program, just do not expect any coddling or spoon-feeding because it is not gonna happen at USA.

Cauliflower · Dec 31, 2012

thanks for responding!! a 100% pass rate sure speaks volumes!

Pedsnurse# · Jan 2, 2013

Hi everyone I noticed that most of the posts here are old....it's now January 2013, I live in New York State and wanted to do the FNP program at University of South Alabama (USA) online... I email the school and got this response:We have recently been notified by your state's Higher Education Boardthat all education programs including online programs must have approvalby this board prior to citizens from your state enrolling in a program. Unfortunately, this means that we are unable to accept you for our DNPProgram. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. If you have an unrestricted RN license in another state other than yourstate, and are able to successfully complete clinicals in that otherstate in which you are licensed, then you may apply to our DNP program.At this time we are unable to accommodate clinicals in your state. Ifyou are not adding a new NP license you may complete the TraditionalDNP program here at USA since clinicals are not required.If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact Dr.Rosemary Rhodes, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs 251-445-9400.Mary Phillips, PhDDNP Academic AdvisorUSA College of [email protected]ice: (251) 445-9400Fax: (251) 445-9416http://www.southalabama.edu/nursing/dnp.htmlMailing Address:College of Nursing5721 USA Dr. N RM 3074Mobile AL 36688

Pedsnurse# · Jan 2, 2013

Same response for both FNP and DNP program

abirnbau · Mar 24, 2013

Hi,

Do you know anything about the USA Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner program. I want to take it online but am worried about what appears to be mixed reviews on USA in general.

Any advice is appreciated.

ktliz · Apr 3, 2013

My take on USA--

The tuition is cheap and the application process is highly simplified. Most likely, there are many applicants who are not cut out for graduate study, especially online where you are expected to take the burden of learning upon yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if USA admits these lower quality applicants, takes their money, and then weeds them out. I saw this in my undergraduate program as they increased the size of the nursing class. Those who weren't cut out for it spent a lot of time complaining about the program. Actually, some of those who WERE cut out for it spent a lot of time complaining, lol. Some people just expect things to be handed to them, and are unable to adapt in the face of change. You need to be flexible to get through any kind of nursing program.

I'm starting the CNL program at USA this summer. Ask me again next year what I think of the program, lol.

RHIA, RN · Jul 14, 2014

ktliz, it has been a year and I am asking what you think about the progam . . . ? I agree with the online student having to be willing to put in the work. I am interested in the mental health NP track and I have been communicating with USA but don't know how it will pan out. I am interested in how you have liked/ endured your program.

ktliz · Aug 8, 2014

Sorry, Rhia, I didn't start at USA after all, due to finances. Hoping to start my MSN this fall but at a different school (with the help of tuition deferment!)

RHIA, RN · Aug 11, 2014

I understand. Good luck!

kfdfrances · Oct 2, 2014

Hi,

Do you recommend any Grad professors?

Kfd

AndromedaRn · Oct 4, 2014

The University of South Alabama has been a truly frustrating and disapointing experience for me. I have done very well in all of my classes, but have had a great deal of difficulty in reaching professors. The most significant issues started in the clinical portion of the program. In previous semesters I have been told to 'google it' when truly trying to understand part of the rubric that was not clearly defined. Have been told 'one of the best papers I've ever read' but recieved an 87% (made an A in the class though), have been told by several teachers to not call, but only use e-mail to communicate unless a true emergency arises. When needing approval for a topic for a paper via threaded posts, have had my request in for over a week with no response despite emailing the professor multiple times. I would have stuck it out in the program, though, if it weren't for the following issues (plus some others that I won't mention here):

1) In the FNP program, we were discouraged from looking for preceptors until 2-3 months before the clinical rotation was to begin (we were told-you have PLENTY of time). This would have been ok if every preceptor I approached wasn't full until summer 2015.

2) When issues arose with the contract, It was VERY difficult to get any kind of timely response from the instructor.

3) our clinical orientation did not start until 3 months after clinicals were supposed to start. So we are supposed to start our clinicals before actually orienting to clinicals...(FYI, this is not the case in every program. I know the dual program did their clinical orientation before the semester began)

5) we were not even divided into our clinical groups until 2.5 months after the semester started.

6) Once in the actual FNP classes, we were not told what test questions we missed. They only told us the concepts that 20% of the class missed (not even the actual questions). And even when offering alternate answers that were in the book, we were not given credit because they were using a different source for that particular unit (ie, cdc versus the actual text for the class).

I did actually enjoy the independent learning aspect. I'm a good student who is actually better at non-traditional online edcuation. My grades were excellent in this program. But Being discouraged from contacting professors except through e-mail (especially clinical instructors) is absolutely not appropriate, esp when there is quite a long turn around time for a response (think 5-7 days).

I think if you are looking to go to USA, the dual program might be a better bet. Family might be ok if you get a decent clinical instructor. To be fair, not every person had the same experience that I had. I did learn a lot, but that does not make it worth dealing with professors who are either completely incompetant or spectacularly apathetic (more info on this if you PM me). Good luck if you go the FNP route at South Alabama.