BSN to DNP Program Webcast

The RN to BSN, MSN, Post-Master’s Nurse Practitioner Certificate, and DNP programs at Maryville University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791.

Lauren: Good evening everyone. My name is Lauren Galvin and I’ll be your moderator for this evening’s webinar. I’d like to start by thanking all of you for joining us for the Maryville University Online Bachelor of Science in Nursing to Doctor Nursing Practice, or BSN to DNP, information session.

We’ll start with a few housekeeping items here. Please note that this presentation is being broadcasted through your speakers and you’re set to listen-only mode. You may type questions into the Q&A box at the left of your screen at any time. We’ll do our best to answer as many questions as possible during the Q&A session at the end of the webinar, but if we are unable to get to your question tonight, and enrollment advisor will follow up with you. Tonight’s webinar is also being recorded, and you can use the same link to watch it again on-demand at your convenience.

All right, so a quick overview of our agenda. We’ll start by talking about Maryville University, the BSN to DNP program specifics, including enrollment requirements, tuition, and all about the online experience. Then we will be answering your questions at the end of the presentation, but please feel free to type them in the Q&A box at any time throughout the webinar.

All right, so at this time, I’d like to introduce our panelists for this evening. We have with us Robert Dane Groves and Ann Cook. Can you each just take a quick second to tell us about yourselves and your backgrounds here at Maryville?

Robert Dane G.: Sure, Lauren, thank you.

Good evening, I’m Robert Dane Groves. I’ve been with the Maryville Nursing Department for three-and-a-half years now, at which time I’ve seen unprecedented growth, interest in our programs nationwide. Very exciting time for us, here at Maryville University, and it keeps myself and Lauren, all of us here at Maryville very very busy, excitedly so. And now to turn this over to Miss Ann Cook.

Ann Cook: Good evening. I’m Ann Cook. I’m one of the enrollment advisors here, along with Robert Dane. I’ve been with Maryville nursing for a little over a year now, and I’ve met some fantastic students throughout the time. I’m very excited to be working with you guys now.

So, we can move on. A little bit about Maryville University … So we are located just out of St. Louis, Missouri. Even though there aren’t any campus that supports, you’re always welcome to come and say hello.

Maryville is U.S. News & World Report’s list. We are ranked among the nation’s Best National Universities with their rankings, and one of the Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs year after year. That’s something we’re very proud about, and we keep moving up that list.

We are also recognized as one of Kiplinger’s Best College Values. And we are a Military Friendly School on that list for the 7th consecutive year. We are also a Yellow Ribbon School for those who might be military.

We are accredited by The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, CCNE. And we are regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Robert Dane G.: Wonderful, yes. Please check us out at U.S. News & World Report. It’s a third party that’s very esteemed and renowned among rankings, universities and colleges nationwide. We’ve always been on a list since I’ve been here. 2017, check the faculty ratings, some of the highest in the country, as well as our students, what our students think of their experience, and what our students think of Maryville. It is the highest it can possibly be in student services, and we’re very proud about those numbers.

So the program. The BSN to DNP. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing, that many of you should have already that takes you all the way to the Doctor of Nursing Practice. There are five concentrations, so as you come away as a degree student, as a Doctor of Nursing Practice, and at the end of that program, you’re able to take your Board Exams.

The possible five concentrations that range from Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, 13-year olds and up, Preventative Primary Care, to the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner that is for pediatrics, 0-21. There’s also the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, and that is critical care, trauma center, ICU, ER. Some states are requiring Acute Care Nurse Practitioners to Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioners for their ICUs in critical care, 13-year olds and up. Family Nurse Practitioner, all ages. Preventative Primary Care. One of our exciting programs, the Psychiatric Mental Nurse Practitioner. That is for all ages as well, and deal specifically in the concentration of psychiatric mental health.

Each of the programs require two variables, going on, mostly, for … In order to take your Board Exams to become a Nurse Practitioner. During the program, you are doing your clinical hours. You are doing clinical hours with a preceptor that you have found and selected, hopefully someone you’re on the same page with, someone that’s going to work well with you and the needs of your community. Once again, no campus visits requires. You have a clinical team at Maryville, that it will qualify your preceptor the semester before your clinicals begin.

In your second year, in all of these five programs, while you’re doing your clinicals as well, for the Doctor of Nurse Practice portion, you’re completing a Scholarly Project. The Scholarly Project is really your voice. How you plan to positively affect patient outcomes in your field. We’ll get more into the essay requirements a little bit later in the presentation.

We require a BSN Degree, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, of course, from an accredited nursing program as a strict requirement. Our accreditation, as Ann said, we are regionally accredited by The Higher Learning Commission North Central Association. We are nationally accredited by the CCNE, the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education.

We are also looking for the best students in the country for this program. So you are required to have a cumulative grade point average of 3.25. Once again, that is a cumulative grade point average. It’s going to take in account all of your higher education, whether that is nursing, non-nursing, it has to be 3.25. Very strict. No conditional acceptances in this program. No 3.24, no 3.22. You must be 3.25 and above. And that is a good thing, because the other students in your cohort, your classmates, are all going to be the most dedicated and strongest students throughout the country as well based on their GPA requirements.

Of course, a registered nurse. You need to be licensed as an RN, you need to have had direct patient care for the current last year, one year of direct patient care. You need an unencumbered RN license.

We also require three letters of recommendation. You’ll see on the application, there’s academic and professional references recommended. However, three professional references will also work. If you do go the professional route for your recommenders, you need two individuals that are individuals you report to. That’s just a charge nurse, a doctor, a PA, a DO, an individual that you report to. The third reference can be a colleague. Someone you work side-by-side with, who would be an RN, that should not be someone that reports to you. So it shouldn’t be that you’re their boss and they’re giving you a good reference. That’s not really a professional reference that they’re looking for at Maryville.

We also require your CV or your resume. Make sure on your resume it says -current or -present to show you’re currently or presently employed for your most current employer.

Then we also require a three page essay. Your enrollment advisor is going to supply you with an Essay Tip Sheet. They’ll offer some help. If you submit this to your application, it’s a one-shot only deal. No rewrites, no revisions. Make sure you have a very handy idea and work and knowledge of APA formatting. Go ahead as research APA formatting. You should’ve had this in your BSN. This should not be a new concept, but APA formatting is required throughout Maryville, and that’s going to serve you well when it comes time to do your scholarly project.

So in APA formatting, you’re going to do a three-page essay. This is an exploration in showing the admissions committee that you’re thinking on that level. On that Doctor Nurse Practice level, that you are ready. Three experiences that have prepared you for the Nurse Practitioner role and for doctoral study and finally, in conclusion, your initial idea of your scholarly project.

The Essay Tip Sheet will break it down. What are your strengths? What were your strengths in your undergrad? Cases that stand out, it should keep bringing you back to your initial thoughts on how you want to positively affect patient outcomes. Maybe there’s a community that you want to work with, how can we do better as a medical community? You’re encouraged to publish this work, it’s exciting, not required. You will present this in front of the IRB.

All of this will enable you to receive the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, the most highest degree in your field. Less than 1% of all nurses nationwide will go to this level. It’s … You’re an elite group. It’s quite exciting and you’re actually consulted with doctors and DOs, and possibilities of teaching, possibilities of affecting healthcare policy, maybe, at your hospital. So many exciting opportunities that can come with the Doctor of Nursing Practice, and also many states are starting to learn towards requiring this. At the very least, if you’re standing next to
another Nurse Practitioner and you’re up for the same job, the Doctor of Nursing Practice is certainly going to stand out.

All pluses. But before I get ahead of myself, those are the requirements, and the essay, very important. We will … [inaudible 00:11:21] to discuss the essay formatting, and make sure you’re on the right track. Just use your enrollment advisor as a very valuable resource.

Ann Cook: Thank you Dane for sharing that information. Now we’ll move on to the five concentrations that we have here at Maryville that equal our five different career paths. Dane did touch base on those a little bit earlier.

So what we’re looking at for the concentration, is the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, the Family Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, and AdultGerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner.

We’re really excited to be offering all five of these different concentrations to our students, and the length, or the amount of credits you’ll be taking as a student with us here would vary depending on your concentration. They range in different credits and in different clinical hours, so the clinical hours will vary concentration to concentration. Ranging from the Adult Acute Care, which is 830 hours over those four semesters. Adult Primary Care is 580 clinical hours over three semesters. The Family Nurse Practitioner, you get to do 745 clinical hours over four different semesters. The Pediatric students, 580 over 3 different semesters. And then our Psychiatric Mental Health Program is 745 clinical hours over the four semesters.

When you apply to the program, you’ll want to have a clear idea of which concentration you would be liking to apply for because you want to touch base on why you’re choosing not only to be a Nurse Practitioner, but why you’re choosing to be a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner versus a Pediatric Care Nurse Practitioner. And that’s what we have.

Robert Dane G.: I was discussing a little bit about the scholarly project, which is your initial thoughts when you do your essay. Again, the purpose of the scholarly project is how you plan to positively affect patient outcomes. Your enrollment advisors are very happy to send you examples of scholarly projects and ideas in the past. You can go ahead and do searches as well. Should be something you’ve seen in your practice in your own clinical rotations. Cases again, many of you have worked side-by-side with Nurse Practitioners already. Some of the challenges, maybe in your community or state, or what you’re going through. Maybe there’s a community you want to focus on. Maybe there’s a community organization you want to pair with. Maybe you and a classmate want to do a joint project. Perhaps you had the same take and you’re doing the project, maybe you have a different take on the same topic. There are a number of ideas for scholarly projects as different, as what you’re experiencing in your field.

The scholarly project and the essay, again, it should be more factual based. You’re going to have references at the end of that, at least two or three references, a little bit of research that you’ve done if you’re coming up with statistics, then you’re coming up with ideas to support your theories. That’ll all come with the essay itself. The topics, as I said, can be as varied as you in your practice. We can supply some ideas. Of course, the ideas that come specifically from you and your community are always the best. What you may be experiencing in California could speak volumes to Arizona, and Florida, and Maine, and all the individuals that will be in your class.

You’re in a class size of 20 students per instructor at Maryville. We have more than 20, we open up another session.

Your program chairs. You will each be assigned a program chair, faculty supervision, support, through the scholarly project. Through the terms, and someone to ask questions for, to make sure you’re on the right track. At the end of the day, at the end of the three years and four months, you do present your scholarly project in front of the IRB.

Now, there’s no campus visits, so you’re always welcome, many students, it seems the students that live farthest away sometimes opt to present their scholarly project in person. However, many use, we have a format, I don’t really want to use the word “Skype,” because it’s so much more complex and integrated than that, but there is a way to visually present your scholarly project. You can even post your graphs and things on the screen as you’re presenting it. It’s interactive, it’s live, for the IRB, as well. But to get to that point, that’s at the very end. You have faculty supervision along the way, someone to turn to and support you in your journey to the Doctor of Nursing Practice.

Ann Cook: Thanks again Dane.

So tuition, that’s always an important aspect for all of our potential students. So with this program, you are taking Master-level credits alongside of our Doctorate level credits. For the cost for your tuition, each semester is going to vary depending upon which classes you’re taking.

The tuition rate for the Master-level courses is $797 per credit hour. The rate for the DNP courses is $897 per credit hour. Now, these programs, they range in credits, starting with the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care is 68 credits, all the way up to the Psychiatric Mental Health Program, which is 77 credits. So that AGNP, BSN to DNP, for the tuition, would be $57,496 and the Psychiatric Mental Health

Program, would be up to $64,669. All the other concentrations will fall somewhere in between those two.

And for the program length, you’re going to be looking at a total of 10 semesters. We have three semester a year. Spring, summer, and fall. They’re all full 16-week long semesters. 10 semesters is about three years and four months to complete the program. We do have a fee per semester. It’s call the Maryville ONE FEE. It’s $650 each semester, and that covers all of your fees to Maryville. It covers your clinical fees and your transcripts and your technology fee, your exam proctoring fee. There’s not going to be a lot of surprises there. The only fee that that does not cover is your background check. That’s about $79 to $109, depending upon your state. This does not cover the cost of your books.

Robert Dane G.: Excellent. Thank you Ann.

The online experience. This is us, the online department at Maryville University. I wanted to preface this by stating something we’re very proud at, here at Maryville, is that the company Apple recently designated Maryville University with a special award, designated for digital media and use of digital media. Maryville University is only the eighth university Apple has ever singled out and distinguished, and Maryville University are the recipient for 2016, 2018. This by no means mean you need an Apple computer. You could use your Windows, whatever technology you’ll be, walkthrough technology. You also have a 24/7 IT help desk. The technology, make sure it’s compatible, that was all part of the application process.

I always encourage my students to apply. There’s no application fee. Once accepted, you get a wealth of information. You’re going to get 24/7 IT help desk, as I stated, financial aid advisor. What about financing? What am I eligible for? So you’ll have the financial aid department to work through your FAFSA, to let you know eligibility. This is all before you get started. And your student advisor, at student services, are going to set you up with a welcome call, orientation, where you’re going to have full access to the Canvas platform that Maryville uses.

I know many of you might be used to Blackboard, which a lot of schools use. Maryville University has actually invested in Canvas. We feel that Canvas is an upgrade. It’s exciting, dynamic. We feel it makes learning fun, but you can tell us that, because you have full access to Canvas. We’re going to simulate exactly what to expect so there’s no unanswered questions that first day.

As Ann said, the schedule is 8-week and 16-week courses. Most of your classes are three-credit hours. So you might have 8-week, three-credit hour classes back-toback in a 16-week semester. You might have three-credit hour 16-week courses. We would be happy to supply you with BSN to DNP, the different schedule, the different concentration template, schedule, of how that would be laid out.

Your courses are asynchronous. You are logging in when you are available. This is perfect for the student who is working full time, has life going as well, that is working 3 12’s, or nights. Nursing is 24/7, so it’s very compatible with the no campus visits, around your schedule and around your life, but also what you need to [inaudible 00:21:54] take your board exams, but to become a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

Beyond my environment is Canvas. It’s really worth seeing. I always explain to my students, I feel it’s the difference between black-and-white TV and color TV. It’s dynamic, it’s exciting, but you can tell me that. You can log in, you can have access, you can find out those time management. Is this going to work for me online? Is this going to work for me, my time-management skills? It’s not secret Maryville University puts everything upfront. If it’s not right for you, it’s not right for us. Historically, I will warn you, we have a 94% retention rate. So, it is working for most students, and once again, it’s really worth seeing.

Our programs start on a Monday. You have until that Friday of Start Week, to withdraw with your enrollment advisor. Should anything we’re saying not meet your educational goals, you’re in charge, you let your enrollment advisor know by noon on that Friday, and you’re not financially responsible for the class or classes that you just started. Once again, if it’s not right for you, it’s not right for us. Maryville University is a private non-profit university.

Faculty and peer interaction. Once again, check us out at U.S. News & World Report, our faculty ratings are some of the highest in the country. It makes my job very easy as far as when I’m discussing with you on presenting the program, to know that you’re going to be in excellent hands when you’re a full student and you’re meeting your instructors that first week.

There’s a number of different modalities that are used. Again, you’ll have exposure to that through the online orientations that are supplied after you’re accepted. You have a faculty supervision in one of the concentrations only. All the courses are asynchronous; however, in the BSN to DNP Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program, you do have faculty supervision. It’s a time to check in with faculty to make sure you’re on the right track.

The faculty supervision will discuss personal issues, objectivity, are you being objective? Of course this is, as all Nurse Practitioner Programs, it’s holistic, mind, spirit, and body that we’re treating. But with psych we’re also treating the mind and we also have to make sure we’re on the right track, as far as treatment and therapy. Dr. Rick Pesano who presides over the Psychiatric Mental Health Program likes to stress that in psych, yes, we have the required pharmacological psych courses, but along with prescriptive authority, we emphasize treatment and therapy. At the end of the day, we want people to get better. Again, Maryville University wholeheartedly prescribes to the holistic approach to Nurse Practitioners and the role that Nurse Practitioners play in quality of medical care.

You also have discussion boards, Facebook groups, peer interaction. You have faculty. You’re working closely with the other students in your courses, class, and curriculum. You’re not required to come to campus. Many of our students will participate in graduation. It’s such, exciting to watch. It’s like old home wake. They know each other so well that they never met face-to-face. Graduation is a special, special time at Maryville. But you’re not required to come to campus at any time to us at Maryville, founded in 1872, but you’re always welcome.

The online experience, it’s online, it’s tailored around you and your schedule, but it’s very personal as well.

Ann Cook: Beautiful.

So one of the biggest questions is always about clinical and clinicals and acquiring preceptors. As Dane said, we are 100% online program, no campus visits. Which means, along with the asynchronous courses that you’re doing online, you will be completing your clinical hours locally with preceptors that you do find yourself. That is a requirement of Maryville. We like to put that out there right away so students can have a little bit of time to find your preceptors.

Now who can be a preceptor for you? For the most part, we’re looking at Nurse Practitioners, MDs, or DOs. In the Psychiatric Mental Health Program, it can be Nurse Psych, Nurse Practitioners or Psychiatrists. We do recommend that our students have possible preceptors in mind during the application process.

For the BSN to DNP program, you will not have your first clinical until the first semester of your third year of the program, so your seventh semester is your first clinical. You do have some time to find your preceptors, but again, the earlier you can start searching, the better it’s going to be for you.

You can start reaching out to your network of peers and providers in your area and see if there’s anybody who works with students, and if they don’t know somebody who works with students, always follow up with the “If you don’t work with students, do you know somebody who does?”

Your clinical hours and schedules is going to be dependent upon your program and concentration. Like I mentioned earlier, they’re going to range from a total of 580 clinical hours all the way up to 830 clinical hours.

Further questions on that and the specific concentrations would be fantastic questions for your enrollment advisors

Lauren Galvin: All right. Thank you guys so much for that helpful information.

We’re now going to start our Q&A session. So if you have not submitted your questions yet, please go ahead and do so now. You can do that in the Q&A box that’s on the left-hand side of your console.

I’m also going to leave up our application deadline here on the screen, which is coming up Monday, July 17. Which, that term class start date is August 28.

All right. So we’re going to get started with some questions here.

The first question I’m going to send to Dane. This question asks, “I have never done online courses. What kind of support will I get from the school?”

Robert Dane G.: Once again, our student ranking a U.S. News & World Report are very high as well. You have a student advisor with you the whole time here at Maryville University. You have … In some of the programs you have faculty supervision, like in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program. For your scholarly project portion, you have faculty as well, faculty supervision there too. Your instructors, they have regular office hours that you can sign up for, for special needs, situations as well.

We help you here in graduate admissions, with the application process, navigating the application process. We are representing you to the admissions committee. You have your 24/7 IT help desk, very helpful with any IT issues. Bottom line, is that, everyone at Maryville is committed to your success and education. We’re not a type of school that will sign you up for classes, and you don’t hear from us again. Everyone is actively involved in making sure your questions are answered. The information is provided.

Every single class you take, there will be questions on your Board Exams, regarding that. Every class in the Doctor of Nurse Practice program are all required for you to have a degree in Doctor of Nursing Practice. It’s almost, for the Doctor of Nursing Practice class, it’s almost course-by-course, it’s almost chapter-by-chapter that you’re completing the scholarly project.

You have quite a bit of support from many different departments, financial aid department for financial aid questions and FAFSA questions. There are just numerous departments, they’re all there to support you. Once again, by applying and being accepted, you will get exposure to just see what to expect. Once again, you have until that Friday of Start Week, if anything I said does not ring true, or does not meet your goals, you have until that Friday of Start Week before you’d be financially responsible for the class or classes you’ve started. They are very confident, and they’ll put everything upfront for you, but in the end, you’re in the driver’s seat.

Lauren Galvin: Great. Thank you. This next question is for Ann. “How many times a year do you enroll?”

Ann Cook: So great question. You are able to start the BSN to DNP at the beginning of either our Spring, Summer, or Fall Semester. The good news is, as Fall Semester does start August 28, and there is still just less than three weeks to put an application together, which is more than enough time. Most of my students can get applications put together within a two-week time frame. Like we’ve mentions earlier, the application deadline for the Fall Semester is July 17, and that would be starting classes for the Fall Semester, August 28, which is a Monday. That is the last start we will have this year. If your goal is to get started on your way to being a DNP yet this year, now would be the time to get your application started.

Lauren Galvin: Great. Thank you. Dane, I’m going to send this next one your way. This is, ask, “Do you need to take the GRE?”

Robert Dane G.: No GRE, GMAT testing required. There’s no application fee. Once again, we’re a not-for-profit, private university, but you do get a wealth of information just by applying.

For the online programs, there’s not a stats class or a statistic requirement for entry. You do, for the Doctor of Nursing Practice, for your scholarly project, pretty early on, you’re going to have a graduate-level statistics class. Okay, I heard some groaning, through the phone. I know … [inaudible 00:32:40] I know statistics [crosstalk 00:32:41] maybe, not always, your most fun.

Actually, I had a student who had completed a statistics class from Berkeley, that actually he was able to transfer, but he opted to take Maryville University’s statistics class, because it’s renowned, and he’s had heard so much about the faculty that teach statistics.

Why is that important? And that’s because in your scholarly project, it’s all about quantifying the information you’re collecting. It’s, for instance, you’re saying 20% of patients are misdiagnosing or misprescribing their own insulin injections, well where are you coming up with 20%? So you need to reference that, and you need to set up some statistics or have some analytical ability there that are brought forth through those programs. So statistics, biostatistics, very important early on so you can start quantifying this information that you’re collecting. Very important as well.

No GRE requirement, no statistics requirement, and no application fee.

Lauren Galvin:Right. All great news.

Ann, this next question asks for the BSN to DNP Primary Concentration, “How many clinical hours per week will I need to do?”

Lauren Galvin: Great question.

That will actually depend up on which Primary Care concentration you’re looking at. All of our programs have the first clinical is called Advance Health Assessment. That one is a five-credit class over a 16-week period with 80 clinical hours as part of that. So that one’s pretty manageable at five, about an average of five hours a week.

After that it’s going to depend upon if you’re doing Family Nurse Practitioner, in that Primary Care area, or if you’re doing pediatrics or Adult-Gerontology Primary Care. So for the Family Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program, we would be looking at two semesters of a total of 215 hours, which is about an average of 14 hours a week. Then the last semester would be your Pediatrics in Women’s Health. That one’s a little bit higher at 235 hours over a 16-week semester. That’s about an average of 15 hours a week, if you average that out.

Now for the Primary Care Pediatric Program and the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Program, and even the Adult Acute Program, those concentration-specific semesters are going to be 250 hours per semester, which is a 16-week long semester. Which is going to be about an average of 16 hours a week. And those semesters, you’ll also have your online didactic course that you’re taking alongside of that.

Lauren Galvin: Great. Thank you.

Dane, this next question is asking about some application specifics. So, “When do I have to complete a FAFSA form,” and two, the application essay requirement, can you just clarify?

Robert Dane G.: Yeah, I think I understand the question and where it’s coming from.

First of all, FAFSA. What is FAFSA? FAFSA is Free Application for Student Assistance or Federal Student Aid. It is free, and it is a service that Maryville provides. The financial aid department will let you know individually what you’re eligible for. Do you have take FAFSA? Of course not. Some students opt not to take it, some want to take the whole thing, or they might do partial. That’s all worked out with the financial aid department.

I’m not licensed, myself, for financial aid. I’m an enrollment advisor. We do not, of course, promise financial aid to anyone. It all depends on your eligibility. But through the government, Free Application for Student Assistance or Aid, you are, may do that, and you would have a financial aid department to come into the department, you come into the picture to discuss financing. That’s usually a important piece of the puzzle, to make sure you’re a student, and to discuss affordability of the program. But by no means is it required.

Some students may opt to pay cash. How that would work is, you would pay classby-class, and usually you are paying an installment over the course of the class or classes each semester are you’re taking those. By no means would you pay for the entire tuition upfront. But if you’re paying cash, that’s done in kind of an installment basis.

Many students opt to do FAFSA, that is a service for you, and for those students who have financial questions.

The second part of your question, I think, was a little confusing regarding, there are not three essays required. Popularly, there’s three parts to the essay. The essay, ideally, is three pages, in length, one essay, and there is three parts, questions, specifically, that the Essay Tip Sheet will cover.

In APA formatting, you’ll have your introduction. The admission committee want to know your experience from your previous nursing coursework. So, describes specific educational-related experiences, influence that you’d had, impact, on … That would be the first section, or number one.

The second section is clinical. Your experience as a practicing nurse. What are some experience, what are some cases you had, what stands out? What your strengths were in your undergrad, some of your experiences there. Your experiences as a practice nurse, your experiences that demonstrate your greatest strengths, influence, impact.

If you answer these questions back to yourself as you’re doing a rough draft, just answer the question back, and as you’re answering that, usually what happens, you keep coming back to what concerns you most. What are your strengths? What is it that you do that’s special? What’s your voice? You keep coming back to a topic, to an initial topic, and that’s your conclusion. Your initial thoughts on your scholarly project. How do you want to positively impact patient outcomes? You, personally. Your community. Your life experience. Your story. How are you going to positively affect patient outcomes? What are you going to do for them?

That’s really the breakdown of the essay. There’s three main parts, but it’s only one essay. Three pages, need some references, title page, schematics, and APA formatting, we can supply references for that. That’s a great question. I say it’s a little bit of a complicated part of the application process, but we are here for information and to make sure you’re on the right track.

We can help you out in regards to that. It’s a little bit tricky for the BSN to DNP students, because, for the scholarly project, it usually is if you’re a Nurse Practitioner already. Your experiences are going to be maybe Nurse Practitioners you’ve worked side-by-side with. So it’s as a Nurse Practitioner, how will you positively affect patient outcomes? So it can be a little bit tricky, but at your level, and if you have a 3.25 cumulative grade point average, and you have that experience, and you’re dedicated and you’re wanting to go to Doctor of Nurse Practice like all your peers and everyone that’s on this webinar, I think that essay is not as challenging as you might think, and actually an exciting application tool.

Lauren Galvin: Great. Thank you so much for clearing that up.

This next question is for Ann, this asks, “Once I apply, how long until I get a decision?”

Ann Cook: Yes. It’s about a two to four week wait to hear back decision once we have a completed application. So what’s a completed application? That’s when we have all of the pieces and we can check all of the boxes off on your application. That would include your online application, your transcripts, again, we require transcripts of everywhere you’ve attended after high school. Your recommendation, your resume, your essay that Dane has covered, and then there’s a quick transfer credit request form, that we require of our students. Once we have all of those pieces we submit it to the admission committee. The nice thing with our admission committee, they’re reviewing application files on a continual basis. So once your application is submitted, you get added to the list to review, and it takes about two to four weeks to work your way on up to the top to get reviewed by the committee, and then we’ll know from there.

Lauren Galvin: Great. Thank you very much. All right, we have time for just a couple more questions. Again, if you have not submitted your questions, go ahead and put those in now. This next question I’m going to send to Dane. This is asking, “Are there breaks between semesters?”

Robert Dane G.: So Maryville University, we have three semesters, three starting points for the BSN to DNP program. We are on 16-week semesters. Your Spring Semester starts in the middle of January. Your Summer Semester starts first week in May. Your third semester starts on August 28. On the last week of August. We’re starting on August 28, for our last offering for 2017, and your timing is just right if you’re looking to apply.

We do go year-round. There’s a month off for the holidays, mid-December to midJanuary. Other than that, there are no breaks between the semesters. We do go year-round. You are logging in when you’re available as well, as long as you’ve got wifi for the didactic courses, you’re good to go. I have students in the military, they’re coming back to their base at night, they’re doing their Patho Pharm. I have students, might have a cruise planned, well, guess what, the cruise ship’s probably got wifi, so it might be possible to do some of your work or check in class, while you’re on vacation. Ideally, most students will study up more ahead of time, let their instructors know, and then they’ll catch up a little bit when they get back. Or even they’re scheduling their clinicals when their preceptor’s available. There’s a lot of autonomy in the program, but no, do expect to go year year-round. Three 16- week semesters, that’s 48 weeks with a month or four weeks off mid-December to mid-January.

Lauren Galvin: Great. Thank you.

This next question is going to Ann. This is asking, “Are there ever any live dialogue with an instructor so that we’re getting real input from them? Like a live chatroom or discussion board?”

Ann Cook: Yes, there is. As we’ve mentioned already, the program and the classes are asynchronous, which does mean there are no set log-on times. You can login whenever it fits your schedule. We have students all over the country in different time zones who are working nurses. We do have what’s called Live Sessions. They’re optional, and they’re recorded, as we understand, again, all of our students are working nurses, so we know that people aren’t always going to be able to attend them. The instructors will have these optional live sessions. It’s more of an open Q&A, because if you have some questions about something in the class or content, one of your other classmates probably has the exact same question, and everything can get answered at the same time and answered in a clear manner.

But again, if you can’t attend, you’re not going to lose any points. If you’re at work, stuck with a patient, or have something with your family come up, you can pull up a recording of the live session later, and then your instructors as well, will be available outside of those live sessions. They’re expected to return any questions or concerns within a 24-hour timeframe, and again, like Dane mentioned earlier as well, we do limit the class sizes to 20, so your instructors aren’t going to be stretched over too many students. We like to keep every student load in a pretty manageable area.

Lauren Galvin: Great. Thank you very much Ann.

One of these questions in here, I can actually answer for everyone. There’s a question that came in about if it’s possible to get a copy of this presentation via email. The great news here is that this system will automatically make this presentation on-demand, after this presentation ends in the next couple of minutes. By probably tomorrow morning, you’ll be able to use this exact same link, and watch the presentation over and over and over as many times as you would like.

So our next question here, I’m going to send to Dane. Someone who jumped on a little bit late is asking if you can give, just quickly, how long the program is for each of the concentrations.

Robert Dane G.: Programs, the BSN to DNP program is three years and four months in length. Again, we’re on 16-week semesters, three semesters a year. Three years and four months. At the end of three years and four months, you’ll have the ability to take your Board Exams. You’ll have all the information provided at the end of three years and four months to take your Board Exams, whether your certifying body in your state is the ANCC or the AANP. You’ll be able to take your certifying body to become a Board-Certified Nurse Practitioner is the goal, is the plan. Then you come away, at the end of three years and four months, with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.

The beauty of this program is that if you’re doing them separately, one of the requirements for the Doctor of Nursing Practice is that you’re already an Advance Practice Nurse, that you have taken your Boards, you have your Board certification in hand. In fact, we have to have copy and proof of that to submit to the admissions committee before you’re eligible for the Doctor of Nursing Practice, which again has a 3.25 grade point average requirement, very strict. This is a way for you, you have your Bachelor of Science in Nursing, to go all the way and finish with the Doctor of Nursing Practice, and then take your Board Exams. It’s a lot shorter than doing it separately, it also comes out, tuition-wise, about $5,000 less, than doing them separately, because there are two Master’s classes that are less. It’s less expensive, tuition-wise, and it’s certainly shorter. It’s a wonderful program, for those that qualify.

Lauren Galvin: Great, thank you.

Ann, this next question is asking, “Is it possible to continue working, or are there any parts of the program when I’d have to take time off?”

Ann Cook: We actually want our students to continue working throughout the program, and that is how we’ve designed our program, as a program for the working RN. Since we don’t have any campus visits or skills fair, or residency, we would like you to keep working, whether it’s full-time, part-time, or PRN status, to keep those nursing skills up throughout school. Some of our students will start working, continue working full-time when they start the program, and when it gets time to those clinical semesters, at the end of the program, will bump back down to parttime or PRN. Not everybody has that availability, and we have had many students who have completed a BSN to DNP while working full-time. Of course, that means it’s going to be a little busier and more hectic for you, but yes. Please continue working throughout the program.

Lauren Galvin: Great, thank you.

And thank you both for the very helpful information and answers to all those questions. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions this evening. If we were not able to get to them, I apologize, but an enrollment advisor will follow up with you in the next day or so to get those answered for you.

Before we close out this webcast for the evening, putting up here on the screen the Schedule and Appointment link, you can also find it in the Resources section, located in the bottom-left of your screen. You can click on that link and it’ll take you to this appointment scheduling tool that will set you up with an enrollment advisor to discuss how to get started on your application or to finish your application. Any questions you have, our team is here to answer them for you.

So as I mentioned earlier, tonight’s webinar is being recorded, and you can use the same link to access the on-demand version at any time. Keep in mind that the approaching application deadline for the Fall Term is Monday, July 17. Schedule an appointment today to discuss your next steps.

Thank you again for joining us this evening. We hope you found this webinar useful, and we look forward to speaking with you all soon.

Thanks, have a great evening.