The Final Final Countdown

I did. I went to the last class of any structured program that I'm ever going to take in my life! I have zero interest in pursuing a DNP or a PhD and I can't fathom that I every will. On our last night in class, we were basically told that if our interest is purely clinical, the MSN is the way to go and there is no need for another advanced degree. We were told that the DNP would be recommended if we wanted to do some clinical, some research, and teach. The PhD would be if you primarily want to work in academia..ugh no thanks. The only way I would consider another advanced degree is if somehow it was required to practice clinically and it doesn't sound like it will go that way.

Unfortunately, the last class lasted about 30 minutes longer than our normal classes because it was taught by my advisor and the head of the entire FNP program. A few things annoyed me about the last class (surprise, surprise). We were asked to evaluate the class but 'not to be too hard on people'. She asked us to give verbal feedback to her rather than to slam the course. I don't agree with that, it's very intimidating to provide feedback to the head of the program in front of the entire class. Interestingly, there was no space for comments. I do cherish the moment I get to review the entire program though, because I have much to say about the lack of organization and clarity.

Anyway, people said that information about credentialing, billing, certification exams, and malpractice insurance would be most useful at the beginning of or mid way through this semester instead of being scheduled for the last night of the class when nearly everyone has already chosen which certifying test they will be taking. The professor basically said that we recieved that information when we took a class about the role of the NP which is true, but that is the first class in their program. That was back in 2007! That was before any of that information was remotely relevant.

We had many questions earlier in the semester about the differences between the two offered exams and really received little to no help. Classmates looked up info, created word docs, and sent them around to other classmates. This would have been helpful as a planned topic during the course since many nights there was no scheduled content and we talked about case studies. This valuable information was crammed into 10 slides which started during the last 20 minutes of class (when we were already over the normal allotted class time).

All in all, my suggestions for the program:

• Much improvement needs to be made as far as placements go. Placements were often left up to the student, relying on connections...which is problematic if you need a peds placment and you've worked with adults your entire career. Also, depending on where you're placed, you might have a broader or more narrow experience than others. For example, one of my preceptors would not allow students to do 'male' exams (testicular, rectal, prostate) so I'm coming out of the program with no experience whatsoever. Luckily, I finally got a placement where I can do pelvics because my former site also would not let students do those.
• Customer service was completely lacking with my advisor until I was in the last year of the program. After this past year, I now see that these students are where she focuses her energy but when I had questions prior to that I wouldn't even get an email back. It was bad enough at one point that I was very close to talking to the dean.
• Better site visits. Almost every semester that I've been in clinical, my visits were postponed until the very last minute. The point of the visit is to make sure you know what you're doing and that the placement is adequate. Neither of those can be assessed properly if I'm being visited on my last day there.