Walden University MSN FNP Student in need of Answers and Support

Nursing Students NP Students

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Specializes in Orthopedic Med/Surg.

Hi. I live in California and I'm currently a student in Walden University for my MSN FNP. I started on July 11, 2022, and I'm finishing my transition to graduate study for Nursing in 2 weeks. I was wondering if doing Policy and Advocacy course together with Transforming Nursing and HC through technology is doable for a quarter. I'm working full time and have a 6 month old. I don't know if I should go part time for work. 
How was your experience? And how long did it take for you guys to finish the whole course? Ideally I want to finish in 2 years. But IDK now. I'm honestly a bit stressed about going to school and trying to find preceptors. I don't have much social support right now, so I hope someone has time to answer. Thank you. 

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Honestly in your situation and the fact you are going to a half-*** school with an awful reputation. I would reconsider grad school in general.

Put it in perspective, would you want a provider who went to a for profit, part time program where they had to find their own clinical instructors? Would you want your OB to have done the same?

Not everyone is meant to be a provider at any stage in their life and that’s okay. 

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Specializes in ICU/Psych.

Go part time, don’t rush, and stay positive. 

Nurses have a “crabs-in-a-barrel” mentality which is why the profession hardly advances(view reply above).  They look down on others who don’t go to prestigious schools like they ALL aren’t glorified diploma mills placing degrees behind $50k paywalls when the internet has the information for free. Your school has jack to do with the care you provide, your clinical experience does! 

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Specializes in Orthopedic Med/Surg.
38 minutes ago, Kmjtoday said:

Go part time, don’t rush, and stay positive. 

Nurses have a “crabs-in-a-barrel” mentality which is why the profession hardly advances(view reply above).  They look down on others who don’t go to prestigious schools like they ALL aren’t glorified diploma mills placing degrees behind $50k paywalls when the internet has the information for free. Your school has jack to do with the care you provide, your clinical experience does! 

Thank you so much for this. I actually felt a bit discouraged by that other reply. But your reply made it better. I think I should really go parttime then, hopefully in a month or 2. My grades went down a bit when I went back to work full time, its hard cramming discussions, quizzes and homework in my 4 days off with a 6month old. 

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2 hours ago, Kmjtoday said:

Your school has jack to do with the care you provide, your clinical experience does! 

Contradictory statement. There is every possibility of coming out with crap clinical experience when the school decides not to participate and the student has to beg and possibly pay any random licensed person to be allowed to have experience that could be shadowing, could be actual participation and learning, could be anything in-between.

No one's talking about prestige, just the minimum necessary to be considered a joke.

The profession doesn't advance because its standards are too low to be taken seriously.

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duplication deleted

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16 hours ago, Kmjtoday said:

Go part time, don’t rush, and stay positive. 

Nurses have a “crabs-in-a-barrel” mentality which is why the profession hardly advances(view reply above).  They look down on others who don’t go to prestigious schools like they ALL aren’t glorified diploma mills placing degrees behind $50k paywalls when the internet has the information for free. Your school has jack to do with the care you provide, your clinical experience does! 

This is an utter delusional cope. What kind clinical experience are you going to get from a for-profit school that takes anyone with a pulse and makes YOU find your own "clinical experience".

You do realize blind positivty is toxic right?

My school cost less than Walden BTW. Also didn't deny most of the schools aren't amazing, thats why I did a residency....

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Specializes in ICU/Psych.
On 8/16/2022 at 1:10 PM, TiredAspiringFNP said:

Thank you so much for this. I actually felt a bit discouraged by that other reply. But your reply made it better. I think I should really go parttime then, hopefully in a month or 2. My grades went down a bit when I went back to work full time, its hard cramming discussions, quizzes and homework in my 4 days off with a 6month old. 

NP! Graduate-level work can be a bit much with full-time parenting/work. Even more so with a newborn. 

I went part time with my wife taking care of our 6-month-old, so I can’t imagine how strenuous it is on you (unless there’s a huge support system). 

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Specializes in ICU/Psych.
On 8/16/2022 at 2:17 PM, JKL33 said:

Contradictory statement. There is every possibility of coming out with crap clinical experience when the school decides not to participate and the student has to beg and possibly pay any random licensed person to be allowed to have experience that could be shadowing, could be actual participation and learning, could be anything in-between.

No one's talking about prestige, just the minimum necessary to be considered a joke.

The profession doesn't advance because its standards are too low to be taken seriously.

So, because you have to find your preceptor, you will have a bad clinical experience?  

If you've been in the profession for any time, you will have opportunities to rub shoulders with reputable providers (a group of 20 were at my first step-down gig). If you don't take advantage of the opportunities or you're a new grad jumping straight to NP, you would need a school's help for clinical experience.


I thought schools required clinical parameters for each course. The licensed provider should be related to the course and must meet hours/pt population criteria.  

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3 hours ago, Kmjtoday said:

So, because you have to find your preceptor, you will have a bad clinical experience?  

If you've been in the profession for any time, you will have opportunities to rub shoulders with reputable providers (a group of 20 were at my first step-down gig). If you don't take advantage of the opportunities or you're a new grad jumping straight to NP, you would need a school's help for clinical experience.


I thought schools required clinical parameters for each course. The licensed provider should be related to the course and must meet hours/pt population criteria.  

That's not how it works. Any random provider is not always a good teacher and schools do NO vetting. You got a license? You can precept.

Also it doesn't matter how many shoulders you rub, if a hospital or clinic doesn't want to farm out their billing/clinical efficiency (teaching takes LOTS of time) to students from no name nonlocal schools then the rotation won't happen. At a minimum, most hospitals and clinics have relationships with local PA/MD schools which gobble up training slots.

NP training standards are an objective mess/train wreck.

(I am an NP and I do precept so I kind of have some sort of insider knowledge)

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