Yesterday was orientation for the Family Nurse Practitioner program that I am starting in September.
My cohort is rather small, only 19 people. I'm not sure if I'm surprised by that number or not. I actually knew one of my fellow students, as she was also in the second-degree BSN program with me that I just completed. It was nice to see a familiar face, and certainly took the edge off the day.
Orientation was pretty informative. I still haven't decided if I will be taking a full or part-time course load. Everything is contingent upon if I am able to find a job or not. I registered for a full-time schedule, taking advanced pathophysiology, advanced health assessment, theoretical foundations, and human diversity and social issues. If I can find a job, I will switch to part-status, and will only be taking advanced pathophysiology and theoretical foundations.
Full-time studies allow me to finish my FNP in 15 months, whereas, if I am part-time throughout the degree, it will most likely take me about 28 months to complete. This isn't the end of the world, as I'd like to be working while going to school, but if it's not in the cards, at least I'll have someplace to focus my energy!
I have a phone interview with a really great hospital today, so I'm hoping that that will lead to an in-person interview, and eventually a job offer!! But, we'll see!
I FINALLY remembered to add your new blog to my blog roll... thank God I had a saved comment of yours in my inbox from a couple months ago so I could track it down.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, much delayed, but CONGRATS ON PASSING NCLEX!!!! And cannot wait to read about your experience with NP school... I'm still trying to decide if I'll go on and do that or just be an RN, so maybe your experience will give me some insight that will help me decide.
Sounds like things are going well, I'm off to catch-up on what you've been up to!
Hey Marianne,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for coming over and reading! It's been a while since I've posted - I have to get better at that! Hey, and congrats again to you for getting that first semester over and done!