2015 DNP Requirement for APNs

IndiCRNA · Jan 4, 2013

IndiCRNA,
What is the name of that college you are referencing?

Sent you a PM.

Vishwamitr · Jan 5, 2013

??????? I'm a little confused but what exactly are you referring to that has anything to do with decorum?

Sad day for sure if this does go through. I need to get my ass back in school ASAP.

takotsubo82 · Feb 27, 2013

DNP? Please! For what purpose? It doesn't make you a better NP. If I want to be a doctor, I'd go to med school. If I want to teach at a university or into research, I'll do a phd. I really don't see a purpose of DNP. However, what I would like to see is more residencies and fellowships being offered to new grad NPs like me. I think that will come in the years to come when the healthcare act kicks in next year in 2012.

kguill975, MSN, APRN, NP · Feb 27, 2013

DNP? Please! For what purpose? It doesn't make you a better NP. If I want to be a doctor I'd go to med school. If I want to teach at a university or into research, I'll do a phd. I really don't see a purpose of DNP. However, what I would like to see is more residencies and fellowships being offered to new grad NPs like me. I think that will come in the years to come when the healthcare act kicks in next year in 2012.[/quote']
I agree!!! We need university affiliated residencies and fellowships.

NPAlby · Feb 28, 2013

I would like to get my DNP but I can't justify the cost or energy. I'm a nerd I love school but if there's no pay financial pay off what's the point? The degree is not cheap.

kalevra, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2013

How about mandating that all APN programs require the Rn to actually have a year or two of work experience before they are eligible to apply. By work experience I mean paid work experience in the capacity of an RN. The part time job you held at the pizza place while an undergrad does not count towards your APN program.

I just find it strange that you can be an Advanced Practice Nurse without ever having experience working as an RN. I found a description of UIC Graduate Entry Program for Advanced Nurse Practitioners.

allnurses Guide · Mar 4, 2013

How about mandating that all APN programs require the Rn to actually have a year or two of work experience before they are eligible to apply. By work experience I mean paid work experience in the capacity of an RN. The part time job you held at the pizza place while an undergrad does not count towards your APN program.
I just find it strange that you can be an Advanced Practice Nurse without ever having experience working as an RN. I found a description of UIC Graduate Entry Program for Advanced Nurse Practitioners.

CRNAs have required a year or more of acute/critical care experience prior to going to nurse anesthesia school for a long time now.

The only problem requiring experience is that there is no studies that show it helps students to have that experience, and too much experience between the time a student starts graduate school has been shown to be positive indicator for poor academic performance.

kalevra, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2013

CRNAs requiring ICU experience for at least 1 year makes sense. They have to be really good at monitoring a patients status in the OR. The ICU floor with their highly acute patients that are close to death is a great place to hone those skills. Some things are learned under the pressure of real life.

As for having too much time working between your BSN to CRNA transition, how about going back to school after getting that one year ICU. It allows the RN to gain real world experience and not too far out of academia that they cannot perform to a satisfactory level.

I mean I just find it strange that our profession can completely skip actual "nursing" in order to advance their own "nursing" career". Its not like we spend thousands of hours at clinical honing our skills before we are responsible for the life of 4 patients. Nursing school is not the same kind of pressure as the real world.

Just my own opinion on the matter.

allnurses Guide · Mar 4, 2013

CRNAs requiring ICU experience for at least 1 year makes sense. They have to be really good at monitoring a patients status in the OR. The ICU floor with their highly acute patients that are close to death is a great place to hone those skills. Some things are learned under the pressure of real life.
As for having too much time working between your BSN to CRNA transition, how about going back to school after getting that one year ICU. It allows the RN to gain real world experience and not too far out of academia that they cannot perform to a satisfactory level.
I mean I just find it strange that our profession can completely skip actual "nursing" in order to advance their own "nursing" career". Its not like we spend thousands of hours at clinical honing our skills before we are responsible for the life of 4 patients. Nursing school is not the same kind of pressure as the real world.
Just my own opinion on the matter.

I agree that all APNs should have at least a couple of years experience before going back to school or at least be working full time while going to school to gain experience while in school, but the reality is that there isn't any research that I know of that supports this.

myelin · Mar 4, 2013

The only study done on the subject found that RN experience did not contribute to NP competency. I know many on this website think that their personal pathway is the only viable one, but direct entry programs are not exactly new (mine is over 20 years old) and graduates make excellent NPs. I don't understand why nursing as a field can be so myopic sometimes. Bringing in people from other fields to become NPs, as long as they get rigorous training, seems to be working very well.

kalevra, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2013

The only study done on the subject found that RN experience did not contribute to NP competency. I know many on this website think that their personal pathway is the only viable one, but direct entry programs are not exactly new (mine is over 20 years old) and graduates make excellent NPs. I don't understand why nursing as a field can be so myopic sometimes. Bringing in people from other fields to become NPs, as long as they get rigorous training, seems to be working very well.

Really? Would you mind sending me a link to the study, I would love to read it.

takotsubo82 · Mar 5, 2013

Thank you for posting this. The scope of practice for RNs and NPs are not the same. The training is also very different. There are studies out there to prove this, just look it up yourself. I totally agreed, RN experience is good if it is applicable to your specialty of practice. I can see how would it be beneficial for a NP who works in the acute care setting to have hospital RN experience. However, as for primary care NPs, I don't think it's necessary. I don't want to get into the argument of PA and NP training, which has been debated over the last decade on various blogs. If PAs can do it w/o nursing experience why not APRNs?

As a primary care NP, I do not want to manage MI, trach/NG tubes, IV, CRNA, lumbar puncture, DKA etc.. It's not in my scope of practice period. I am happy seeing patients in ambulatory care. Most RNs who work in the acute care setting have a hard time transitioning to outpatient care model when they are in NP school. We don't always have the whistles and bells like you do in the hospital. If that is your cup of tea, by all means get your CRNA and ACNP and stay in the hospital setting. DNP is totally a different subject that I don't think is necessarily for NPs, unless it includes residency and fellowship.