Student Experience
FNU students experience an unmatched feeling of connection and community with likeminded individuals through our distance education model incorporating online, didactic coursework with two brief campus visits for Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Post-Graduate Certificate (PGC) students and only one visit for Post-Master’s DNP students. The MSN and PGC programs also include a clinical experience in the student’s home community.
Frontier Bound
Students begin their journey with an enriching three-day campus immersion experience on Frontier Nursing University’s beautiful campus in Kentucky. The Frontier Bound orientation experience is where you meet your classmates, faculty, and support staff. Time is spent learning skills needed for distance education, making lifelong friends, reviewing courses, asking questions, and planning to be a successful Frontier student after returning home.
Online Didactic Coursework
After returning home from Frontier Bound orientation, students complete web-based, didactic coursework in their home communities. Courses are taught through active learning methods to encourage engagement and interaction. A variety of student support services will also be available while completing online coursework including academic advising, clinical site placement services, library services, mentoring, tutoring, and counseling services.
The friendships you make during Frontier Bound will also offer a wonderful network of support as you complete your online individual coursework. You’ll maintain your network of meaningful connections with fellow students and faculty across the United States through online forums, email and phone, while receiving guidance and support from staff.
Clinical Bound
Upon completion of the online didactic coursework portion of the program of study, MSN and PGC students return to the FNU campus for a second on-site session called Clinical Bound. This skills-intensive five-day session is a unique, hands-on active learning experience that prepares students for their clinical practicum while allowing time for informal communication between students and faculty members.
Clinical Practicum
MSN students and PGC students then finish their program with a clinical practicum. The clinical practicum allows students the opportunity to be in the community where they will work with a professional in the same field. PGC students’ clinical practicum is 540 hours, and MSN students’ practicum is 675 hours and can be completed in 4 to 10 months.
FNU faculty and staff are there for students every step of the way. The Clinical Outreach and Placement Team provides dedicated staff who work one-on-one to with each student to help them find a preceptor and clinical site in or near their community. Regional Clinical Faculty (RCFs) will evaluate the clinical site and preceptor and provide support and guidance throughout the clinical practicum to help ensure an excellent experience.will evaluate the clinical site and preceptor prior to the clinical practicum to ensure an excellent experience.
Graduation
FNU students graduate upon successful completion of all program requirements. Because of the strong sense of community students develop with faculty, staff, and fellow students throughout the duration of their program, many return to Kentucky to participate in the commencement ceremony which occurs in September of each year.