NP Navigator

Ratings & Reviews ^§

12 reviews collected from current residents and alumni.

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  Preceptorship
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  Clinical Prep
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  Class Workload
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  Value for $$$

• Solid State Nursing School Northern Illinois has a solid reputation for its Nursing program. I graduated from Oakton Community College, and went into NIU's BSN completion program. After graduation, I looked at other MSN/NP programs in the Chicagoland area, but NIU was an easy decision for me. I felt well prepared me for the national nurse practitioner certification exam. - Alum
• Phenomenal professor that kept it "real" Donna J. Plonczynski, NP was the highlight of my time at NIU! Amazing professor, person, role model, educator. She kept it real and shared real life practice. Her classes were exciting, stimulating , integrated and was the best preparation for NP practice, even when I had been an RN for 25 years. The department as a whole was very helpful in planning class schedules and requirements for taking boards etc. - Alum
• NIU NP program This program worked very well for me while I was working full time. Classes were taught by experienced nurse practitioners. I felt they supported us and helped as much as they could throughout the entire program. - Alum
• Needed more skills, and help with securing precept I do not feel NIU helped prepare us for nurse practitioner after school. There were a lot of skills that were lacking. But they never even offered. The program was terrible at securing our preceptorships for us. And if you secured your own, you are screamed at through emails and face-to-face. This is terrible! I have heard from multiple students that they had similar experiences. I had to go all the way to starved Rock (per NIU), from, Batavia, for my women's health rotation. That was a really long semester! And a ton of expense and time. Only to not be able to count those visits because we never saw women's health visits at the family practice. How ridiculous! They needed to research this better before sending their student out an hour and a half away. As far as classes that were taught, I did enjoy them very much. They needed to teach a lot more skills labs. - Alum
• Adult Nurse Practitioner Program I enjoyed my NP program at NIU. The overall experience was wonderful and it prepared me well for my boards. For some feedback, there are two things that I wish were different. I was a relatively new RN when I signed up, and I chose the Adult NP program. I wish someone would have guided me to the FNP program instead since job opportunities can be limited if you do not see pediatrics. This is something that I did not realize at the time. Secondly there was zero help finding a preceptor. I believe that preceptors deserve compensation for their time. This program needs a structured and reliable approach to assisting their NP students. They should have someone on staff whose sole job is to find and contract NP preceptors instead of shifting that burden onto the students who already have so much on their plate. I have actually served as a preceptor for some NIU students. All I received in return was a jacket and some continuing education hours. Surely the university could offer more. - Alum