Best path to take in pursuing a career in Nurse Practitioning?

Specialties NP

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I have recently graduated with a B.S. in Biology and have decided to go to nursing school. What is the quickest way to pursue becoming a nurse practitioner? I'm not sure if I should go straight into a B.S.N program or something else? A & P I and II were not required to complete my undergrad degree.

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Well, I'm not super positive on this but the route I took was an associates degree RN program, 2 years, then went right into the FNP program, 2.5 yrs.

Now I know University of Miami has a 12-15 month MSN program, there are probably other schools that do as well (not sure which ones). So you could really do it in 3.5 yrs if you went that route.

In your situation you might just want to become a physician assistant which I believe is a 2 yr program. Seems like it could be quicker.

You could also complete medical school in the time it would take you to become an NP from where your starting, should you have an interest in taking that route. But then you'd have to add years for internship/residency.

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Thank you so much for replying! I will definitely do some more research.

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Specializes in Med surg, cardiac, case management.

I agree to look at the MD and PA programs as well as NP programs. Nursing has a different focus than medicine.

Also, you might want to consider one of the direct-entry MSN programs. I got my MSN in less than 2 years full time (also from a biology background) and if I went another year full-time I could get my ANP or FNP.

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I would also suggest looking into direct-entry MSN programs.

I already have a BA (in linguistics), so when I started out looking into nursing, I was quickly pointed away from BSN programs because I already had a bachelor's degree (and all the breadth requirement stuff that went along with it). The direction I was given was to pursue a MSN. My ultimate goal is to become a FNP.

I'm also mindful of the need to be flexible: If I don't get into the entry-level MSN/FNP program here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I will take a swing at a generic MSN, with more coursework thereafter to get to FNP. Third choice is applying to local ADN programs, then trying to get into a master's program later.

Of course, much of this application process is going to be in parallel, as there's no telling whether or when I'll get into my first- and second-choice schools!

I wish you the best of luck!

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