2015 DNP Requirement for APNs

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Hey everyone,

Is it true that all NPs and other APNs will have to finish off their DNP in order to achieve NP status after 2015? I'm currently applying for FNP school and I'm getting worried about this. I may or may not finish school before 2015 and I don't want to spend an extra 2 years for something I don't want at all. Can anyone give me some insight on this situation? Will I be grandfathered in if I start school before 2015 or will I have to finish before that. Thanks in advance.

So PMFB-RN do I understand you correctly that the DNP program was the same length as the MSN? Does this require applicants to already have their MSN (as I've seen some programs do) or is it a BSN-DNP that someone else mentioned?

I'm confused. If the DNP goes straight from a BSN, then what's the difference between it and an MSP?

I'm going to dig around but I find it difficult to round up answers from the various Nursing Dept. websites. Some are user friendly but many are not.

Thanks, all.

Ah, never mind. Univ of Minnesota's site is very clear.

Home - NURS - DNP, University of Minnesota

The BSN to DNP program takes 3 years.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
So PMFB-RN do I understand you correctly that the DNP program was the same length as the MSN? Does this require applicants to already have their MSN (as I've seen some programs do) or is it a BSN-DNP that someone else mentioned?

I'm confused. If the DNP goes straight from a BSN, then what's the difference between it and an MSP?

I'm going to dig around but I find it difficult to round up answers from the various Nursing Dept. websites. Some are user friendly but many are not.

Thanks, all.

*** Just as one does not need to first earn an associates degree to earn an bachelors degree, and how one does not need a bachelors degree to earn a masters degree, you don't need a masters degree to earn a doctorate.

All of the DNP programs I have seen are BSN-DNP. In addition some schools run online DNP programs for MSN prepared NPs.

Typical lenghth of DNP programs is 3 years.

I expect so. There are 5 CRNA programs in our area, 4 masters programs and one DNP. A friend of mine closly accociated with the DNP CRNA program at the University of Minnesota tells me that the qualiety and quanity of their applicants dropped off considerably when they swithced over from a 24 month MSN program. They didn't add a single clinical hour or clinical related class when they changed to DNP.

Unfortunate. I would actually be really interested in attending Minnesota's NP program because I'm in the Midwest and get reciprocity tuition with UMN - but their in-state, reciprocity and out of state tuition costs for the DNP are all identical! It strikes me as kind of a rip off.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
So PMFB-RN do I understand you correctly that the DNP program was the same length as the MSN

*** No, the DNP is a year longer than the MSN program.

Does this require applicants to already have their MSN (as I've seen some programs do) or is it a BSN-DNP that someone else mentioned?

*** No, like nearly all DNP programs desinged to train APNs no masters degree is required.

I'm confused. If the DNP goes straight from a BSN, then what's the difference between it and an MSP

*** Cost and length. The DNP is dramaticaly more expensive and is a year longer. There are no clinical or clinicaly related classes added beyond what was offered in the MSN program.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Unfortunate. I would actually be really interested in attending Minnesota's NP program because I'm in the Midwest and get reciprocity tuition with UMN - but their in-state, reciprocity and out of state tuition costs for the DNP are all identical! It strikes me as kind of a rip off.

*** Their NP & CRNA students do clinicals in one of the hospitals where I work. They are well trained from what I can see.

Thanks, PMFB-RN, and others for the information. I feel like a traveler who is arriving at the station after the train pulled out. Instead of 3 years schooling to become an NP, I'm looking at 5-6!

I do think NP should be well trained. This just seems wrong-headed. For one thing, it seems like it really makes things hard for low-income students or those with families.

Ah, well. Onward.

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Thanks, PMFB-RN, and others for the information. I feel like a traveler who is arriving at the station after the train pulled out. Instead of 3 years schooling to become an NP, I'm looking at 5-6!

I do think NP should be well trained. This just seems wrong-headed. For one thing, it seems like it really makes things hard for low-income students or those with families.

Ah, well. Onward.

Why no attend one of the many masters NP programs?

I'm considering a masters NP program but two things:

1. They seem to be rolling up their rugs one by one. Three schools I was considering have already closed their masters NP programs. (And started DNP programs.)

2. I'm wondering if, by the time I graduate, I will not be qualified to be an NP (without a doctorate).

Oh, and it does also seem that, as programs close, the remaining ones are bound to become more competitive.

I'm not giving up entirely, just feeling a little disheartened at the moment. I keep hoping that the pressure of Obamacare's need for NPs might reverse this trend, in order to get more NPs ready in time to meet the need.

I don't know if this point has been brought up as I just read the "last" page of this thread, but scwolf, my school no longer has just a MSN program so I am in the DNP program. They give us the option of obtaining the MSN along the way, which I am getting in August and will not be returning to complete the DNP. Point being, even though there are few schools that only offer the MSN you can still get it and stop there. I don't think there will be a doctorate mandate any time soon.

The NP MSN is going to come back. The University of Central Florida, 2nd largest school in the nation, just returned the FNP and ANP MSN programs to their offerings. They still offer a DNP, but it is a different program. The MSN is no longer an "opt out" from the DNP.

What does that tell you? DNP by 2015 is dead (but, I suspect, will remain alive as a rumor for a very long time...).

I bet that many other schools will return to MSN programs. Why? Allowing students to opt out of the DNP at the master's level is killing degree completion rates. Since the DNP is NOT going to be required by 2015, few students are doing the whole program.

Ok, so what does this mean - American Association of Colleges of Nursing | Frequently Asked Questions

I'd just like to be able to figure this out once and for all!

Inquiring Nurses want to know!

Who actually has the final say, for everyone, for all time?

Where does the buck stop?

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