Reactions to being a NP

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.

My NP take home last year with 3 years experience was 3x my highest RN take home after 18 years, but that is by far a secondary consideration. I inherited more money than I could ever earn in 10 lifetimes, so I certainly didn't go to NP school for money. I went because it was what was next for me in my personal and professional development. What I appreciate about it beyond the intellectual stimulation is that I make my own hours, and run my own practice the way I want to run it. I do what interests me and have the autonomy to decline cases I feel are outside my scope or patients that rub me the wrong way. Best of all, I don't have to go to endless staff meetings.

At the end of the day, it is a completely different career than staff nursing. The two really have nothing in common. It is a career change in every sense of the word.

CCNP-FL

1 Article; 58 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care Medicine.

If current NPs want to continue to have autonomy, job selection, and make a wage that reflects their education, they need to demand higher standards from those in charge:

1. 2 years RN experience, at least one year in field of NP program you're applying to.

2. GRE required.

3. Increased clinical hours.

4. Increased science/medical course with decrease in theory and "fluff" courses. One nursing theory/EBP class is enough - not half the curriculum.

5. Shut down "for-profit" NP schools.

BRAVO! I am just about to start the NP Program at Nova Southeastern University (South Florida) and I picked it specifically because it is a non-profit university that also has respected osteopathic medicine, dental, optometry, pharmacy programs, etc. So many schools appear to just sprout up out of the woodwork and that bothers me. The same goes for RN schools that seem to just appear out of nowhere as well in strip malls.

We need more uniformity and stricter standards for RN and ARNP programs.

(I admit, however, Nova doesn't require the GRE, so that was also a selling point......)

Well written IcySageNurse.

Many people don't understand basic economic theory: job security, autonomy, and salary are directly related to the requirements to enter a field.

The current low standards will absolutely ruin the opportunities nursing has worked so hard to create.

mmcc26

78 Posts

Unfortunately, I think part of the problem is that it's really easy to be a bad nurse - and bad nurses still make money. It seems every school in the country has a nursing program, including accelerated ones for people coming from a different career, so it's as simple as stopping by your local nursing school and registering for classes. Now that the nursing market is oversaturated, it's bound to happen with advanced practice nurses too. Again, it's simply too easy - consider Walden University's FNP program, which I've heard has a 96% acceptance rate. Essentially, if you have a pulse and an RN license, you can go. Considering you can do the work part time and online, it's again just an easy way to move up a bit to a higher salary, even for people who have no desire to do it.

I really think standards need to move up. Look at CRNA school - so many want to do it, but they're kept from it due to the high requirements (high GRE and GPA, one year of critical care experience, etc). NP schools have bare minimum standards, so people just aren't impressed when people go - they just see the higher income part of it. NPs can't keep proclaiming superiority because of "being a nurse first" if 90% of NP schools don't even require RN experience before application!

Major changes need to happen to the NP model because within a decade it's going to be ruined. The huge influx of schools and grads, most of whom have no RN experience and may not even be good providers due to lack of standards, will oversupply the market. Unable to find work, they will take the first offer they see, even if it's working as an NP for 50K per year. This drives down the salary for everyone, and over time, becomes the new norm.

If current NPs want to continue to have autonomy, job selection, and make a wage that reflects their education, they need to demand higher standards from those in charge:

1. 2 years RN experience, at least one year in field of NP program you're applying to.

2. GRE required.

3. Increased clinical hours.

4. Increased science/medical course with decrease in theory and "fluff" courses. One nursing theory/EBP class is enough - not half the curriculum.

5. Shut down "for-profit" NP schools.

You are so spot on. I am not a NP student, I'm currently working on a BSN, but I have to say... There are a ton of girls in my school who plan on becoming NPs because of the income and the fact that they think its less of a "dirty job". They think it's easier and that they will make hundreds of thousands of dollars doing it.

I was always under the impression that NPs are "advanced practice nurses" -- ie. they've actually had somewhat lengthy experience in the field, but apparently not. I know of a few who are planning on going back to school to become NPs immediately after graduation. I find it a little disturbing that someone who has had no experience as a nurse can do anything that is considered "advanced practice". No good will come from this.

allnurses Guide

BostonFNP, APRN

2 Articles; 5,581 Posts

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

I was always under the impression that NPs are "advanced practice nurses" -- ie. they've actually had somewhat lengthy experience in the field, but apparently not. I know of a few who are planning on going back to school to become NPs immediately after graduation. I find it a little disturbing that someone who has had no experience as a nurse can do anything that is considered "advanced practice". No good will come from this.

NPs are advanced practice nurses. They are educated and trained in advanced practice. This training does not vary based on prior RN experience. All graduate NPs, regardless of prior RN experience, must pass a national board certification examination as demonstration of competence for entry-to-practice.

The research supports that NP competence is fairly independent of prior RN experience. Much of the advanced practice role is very different from the RN role. Prior RN experience may help but it not required to produce quality NPs.

IcySageNurse,

I also agree with you wholeheartedly. .. I am also a BSN student (second degree) and even I see what will come of the profession if standards aren't set appropriately high.

However...devil's advocate here... what of PAs? A PA gets ANY bachelor's degree....a few measly hours as an ambulance driver (emt basic)...and a couple of years in grad school... voila! Now you're a PA... making (according to the latest from Advance NP/PA) just under 10K MORE than NPs. They didn't have to grind away as full fledged nurses (or anything but a history major) for 2+ years. They don't go to school any longer than NPs. Yet they still earn more and don't have employment problems.

Don't get me wrong, I want to preserve the integrity of the profession...but if the educational/preparatory requirements are too demanding, I foresee a problem.

I do agree that nursing school has an insane amount of time wasting fluff. If, when I pursue grad school, I encounter the same BSN fluff, I will be very disappointed. We do need more advanced A&P and Patho...just from my current perspective. I can only imagine where it goes from here.

My argument is that somehow PA schools are turning out grads that can command more money as well as equal respect... Take someone like me... I could have just worked as a CNA for 6 months and gone to a PA school for 2 years... plenty don't require a GRE... and today I could have already been a PA... Yeah me. The chick with a pathetic shred of experience compared to most of you...and I'd be making more $ than many here.

So along with higher educational and experiential demands, NPs are going to have to carve out a helluva niche. .. like CRNAs have...

Just my late night been studying too long rambling thoughts... :-)

zmansc, ASN, RN

867 Posts

Specializes in Emergency.

Not to take the thread back to it's original topic BUT.... The reaction I get/got was "wow, that's great. I would/should/will do that, but...." and then each co-worker lists their own reasons why they didn't apply to a NP program. I have yet to encounter people who give me a negative reaction, or maybe I just focus on the positive ones! lol

zmansc, ASN, RN

867 Posts

Specializes in Emergency.

Now back to saving the NP profession from the certain ruins that it appears headed into.... lol

MommyandRN

342 Posts

Specializes in ICU, OR.

When I was applying to FNP programs 5 years ago, I got the opposite reaction. People saying "why would you do that, they don't make enough $. Become a CRNA instead".

Specializes in Cardiac, ER.

I was thinking the same thing trauma!! I'm just starting the NP program and three of my now former coworkers graduated from the program in May,..they aren't making much more than an experienced nurse!!! Of course the hours are better and the work is different,...but the pay is not that great!

PMFB-RN, RN

5,351 Posts

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
However...devil's advocate here... what of PAs? A PA gets ANY bachelor's degree....a few measly hours as an ambulance driver (emt basic)...and a couple of years in grad school... voila! Now you're a PA...

Or they could go to a community college and get an associates degree to become a PA.

vera4130

150 Posts

Specializes in ICU.

Or they could go to a community college and get an associates degree to become a PA.

I don't know what kind of PA programs your state has, but I think in most you have to have a bachelor's and it's heavy on science requirements (1 year bio, 1 year gen chem, 1-2 semesters organic, science major A&P, etc). Most of the programs near me are 3 years graduate programs.

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