A case of the jitters

On Friday, November 16, 2007, I took a sick day off from work. I have just been dragging. This is my second sick day this school year with the same type of illness. I always feel guilty—like I am not doing something that I am supposed to be doing—when I am not working. Perhaps that is because I am so used to running all the time that slowing down feels unnatural.

I was able to take advantage of the day to complete an administrative task. I was at our local police station with my husband to have my fingerprints taken for my new identity card. My husband is African and I am Black American if this fact was not flushed out in earlier blogs. We are still newlyweds having married six months ago. It feels like it has been six years already. This will permit me to travel in West Africa without paying visa fees for each country I enter as a foreigner.

Despite not studying these past few days, I do have some great news. I finally found a nursing graduate program that suits my needs. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has an online Family Nurse Practitioner graduate nursing program. I just missed the Spring (Winter) 2008 deadline, so I will be applying for Summer 2008. However, it is possible to take classes as a non-degree graduate student prior to admission. Up to 12 credits can be taken to later transfer into the program.

It gets better! The online tuition is $200 per credit! It does not matter if you are in-state or out-of-state it is the same tuition rate. You do have to pay a $150 administration fee per on-line course. If you were to attend on campus and were out-of-state, the tuition is around $600 per credit. Having studies at a northern Big Ten school, this is a real steal.

Now having found this program makes my heart sing. My office is full of university brochures, which I have been carefully mulling over. During the last several months I have requested loads of information materials from FNP programs throughout the nation. For some odd reason, I never came across UAB. I primarily used www.allnursingschools.com as a search catalyst. Many schools are not automatically linked to request information through this website. If that were the case, then I did not pay attention to their listing.

My search criteria included:
--No GRE requirement (or a GRE waiver for applicants for high gpas. I have a 3.51) I am not interested in taking any more tests like that. After the NCLEX, the next one ---I will take will be my FNP certification boards.
--A year program (or damn close to it)
--Ideally, online.
--Flexibility with preceptorships.

I had just about settled on the University of Kansas and Penn. At UK I spoke with someone in the school of nursing and she told me about everything I wanted to hear. She said that it was a program that could be completed just about entirely online. It was a yearlong. I asked her if I returned to the States during the summer months could I complete the non-online course work and clinicals then. “Yes, of course,” she said. I was sold! This was the program for me. She made me a telephone appointment with the MSN program coordinator. Boy, this appointment date could not come fast enough.

When I spoke with the woman on the phone, I recounted my understanding of the program from my previous conversation.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but those are not accurate aspects of our program. You spoke to the office manager and there is a reason why she is the office manager and not the program coordinator. Our program does not work that way. In fact we have recently revamped our curriculum. It would take you at least two years of on-campus study to complete it. Are you planning on moving to Kansas? We are a state school. We have limited admission spots each year and quite frankly out-of-state students are not priority candidates. I’m sorry to sound so discouraging, but I do not believe that we are the school for you.”

Damn!

She was discouraging. She reminded me of a school of nursing admission’s office at my undergraduate university, when I was studying for my first degree. I was in the school of liberal arts and wanted to transfer to nursing. I applied and a lady followed up on my application. Long story short, I allowed her to talk me out of going to nursing school. In retrospect, I could have fought harder for what I wanted. Although I knew how to fight, I did not completely understand all the many tools at my disposal I could employ to manifest the things I desired. Life just happened to me.

She was not the first person to discourage me. The first one was my mother. “Nurses are co-dependent,” she said. “Don’t study nursing!” So, I studied liberal arts. But my desire to be a nurse never, never left me. I was constantly looking for programs, checking into information, and trying to put myself in the most appropriate path to realize this.

In the end, there is a season and a reason for everything. Things are going to work out the way they were meant to. Nine years later I found myself in the p-e-r-f-e-c-t position to study nursing. In fact, I just walked right on in to nursing school. It could not have been a better place or time to study. Plus, the tuition was affordable at $150 per credit.

So, I thought hard about the UK’s program coordinator’s comments. I questioned myself as to if this was my cue to fight or to take her comments to heart. I took her comments to heart.

Then there was Penn as a possible choice. There are no online study programs at Penn. This was an option where I would suck it up, return to the States, and study full-time for a year to complete the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program.

The attraction to Penn was their name recognition; GRE waiver, one-year program, and the fact that the assistant dean of something important related to admissions took the time to email me to inquire about my life here in Africa (I figured that had to count for something). I wrote her a letter explaining the work I do here—at the time I worked with women and children infected by HIV and AIDS. I also posed some questions about the program. She never wrote me back.

I eventually phoned Penn to ask those questions needing those answers before moving on my application. She answered the phone. She said that she had received my letter. No courtesy apologies for not getting back to me. She answered my questions. When I spoke to her I felt like I was being “handled”. Do you know what I mean? I told her that I would be applying. I started requesting transcripts.

Weeks later I phoned the school again (just the general number) and she answered again. This lady answers all the telephone numbers! I asked to see which of any of my transcripts had arrived. She took down my email and telephone number to get back with me. If she contacted you, then she contacted me.

Earlier this week, I faxed the admission’s office a letter making the same inquiry as to transcripts received. Nothing! The same afternoon, I came to terms that I was just not feeling Penn. I was struggling with the idea of Philadelphia anyway. I could not see my daughter in Philadelphia Public Schools. That whole east coast hustle, bustle does not interest me at all. Now, I could do it if push comes to shove, but give me a choice and I will choose a more tranquil place with the option to enter the h & b from time to time.

You may say: “Well, you live in Africa!” I do. I live in a very busy, polluted, and congested city. However, my life and its exposure to the bustling capital are heavily influenced by the hours I work and where I live. I leave out early enough that we do not run into traffic. I return home either early or late enough that it is a straight shot. I rarely enter the market. My husband does the shopping and prefers I not come along. Our neighborhood is peaceful. Plus our excursions always lead us to the countryside as opposed to around town. So, my environment is predictable and controlled to a great degree.

Aside from that, I did not feel as though the folks at Penn were interested in giving me the time of day. Call it a gut feeling.

I got back on the Internet and Goggled “one year family nurse practitioner program”. FNP programs requiring one year of nursing experience came up. Not exactly what I meant, but I saw UAB and clicked on it.

I read that the program was 100% online. It takes a little over a year to complete. The GRE is required. But considering that it was 100% online, I decided that I would take the test to get in. However, in later talking with the MSN program coordinator it turns out that some information on their web page is outdated. The GRE is waived it you have at least 3.2 gpa on the last 70 credit hours of your BSN. I had missed the Spring 2008 deadline, but I could take classes as a non-degree student. The application deadline is December 20th. My application will be faxed and subsequently mailed on Monday, November 19th, 2007!

I had never even heard of UAB before now. Nevertheless, the program is fully accredited. The school is involved with many international liaisons. The University of Alabama at Birmingham is my new soon-to-be Alma matter.

So, now I just need to pass the NCLEX!