WGU RN-MSN Education

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Hi everyone! I'm interested in pursuing my RN-MSN in Nursing Education at WGU. Has anyone completed the program successfully? If so, was it worth it, how long did it take you to complete, what was the hardest part(s) for you?

I'm interested in teaching online in the future and wondering if this program prepares you for that and if there are grads that successfully land online nursing instructor positions post completion of their MSN at WGU?

Thank you all in advance!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Following. ...

I'm starting the master's program in nursing education July 1st.

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Hey! I'm starting July 1st, too. Have you started your papers

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Specializes in Hospice.

I am starting the MSN Nursing Leadership program in July 1st.

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Specializes in ER.

I'm starting my MSN in Education on August 1st!!!

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Following, would like to know how quickly this program is able to comfortably be completed

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For anyone still following this thread, do you have any updates on how you liked the program? I am looking to start the BSN-MSN educator track at WGU November 1st.

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I’m currently enrolled in the RN to MSN education program. It is truly self paced and you can get a lot done in a short period of time if you want to. With a few exceptions...

My biggest complaint is that it takes a really long time for assignments to be returned/graded. Sometimes I wait 3 days, then the smallest revision is required, so I resubmit, then 3 more days and a different evaluator decides something else minor needs to be revised. It’s really inconsistent and a headache. The actual course instructors do not grade the work. This is where you can have a big hang-up on it being “self-paced”.

The assigned program mentor is helpful, to a degree. You will have weekly phone meetings for the first month or so, then go to every other week. It is kind of a waste of time, but I know the goal is to keep you on track. They cannot answer any questions about the courses specifically, and are basically a glorified directory/operator that will tell you who to contact when you have a question.

This specific program only has 2 courses that have objective assessments, (I think there is 1 in the BSN to MSN track) so it is a good amount of work. I should be done the RN to MSN in 2 terms though. You could finish RN to MSN in 6 months if you really wanted to, just start strong so you can get your hours in.

Just an insider tip- spell everything out in the performance assessments. I don’t think the people grading them have medical experience, so you can’t imply common medical knowledge like “vitals”. You have to say “respirations, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature”. Annoying and tedious.

I happy to answer any specific questions if you have them.

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@spaghetti321 Thank you for the info! What exactly are the "performance assessments" like? is this something that is done live via video chat? or a simulation that is done on the computer?

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I have not had any that were chats or conferences, but there might be one or two near the end of the program. I can’t see that kind of detailed information on courses I have not activated yet. Some are video recorded, some are papers.

An example performance assessment is dissecting a qualitative and a quantitative research study, this assignment was about 8-9 pages (for the Evidence Based Practice course). Another example is doing a video recorded head to toe (with an actual person) which took about twenty minutes. (You can see these on YouTube). Another is going through a virtual city clicking about 300 times (not exaggerating) then completing 3 worksheets on what was observed. So they really vary.

They are not difficult, if you follow the prompts and rubrics, but they are time consuming. Extensive materials are provided, but the actual site is not very user friendly. I highly recommend a printer. There are no “textbooks” it’s all a web-interface that involves a lot of clicking and no way to “bookmark” or “highlight” information. In saying this, my point is to stress that if you are not computer savvy, there is a learning curve and you may struggle.

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Does WGU help with finding preceptors? I’ve heard horror stories of people having a hard time finding preceptors. I am about to apply to MSN program, and I’m doing a research of which school offers the most support to the Students. I am deciding between WGU or UT arlington or UTMB.

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@lynloro I don’t think this program requires clinical hours. I’m starting the BSN-MSN education track in November and that was one of the first things I asked the enrollment counselor.

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