Why you shouldn't become a nurse practitioner

[chillnurse]

You may not be able to work in your favorite specialty.

Currently, work in the ER as an RN? Do you love it? Good, well your first job out of school may not be in the ER as you have lingered during your nursing career. Love the ER? Well, recruiters love experienced NP's in the ER, so you may be out of luck for a few years.

You may take a big pay cut.

WHAT, A PAY CUT???? I MAKE 45 DOLLARS AN HOUR AS A LOCAL TRAVEL NURSE AND MY STARTING NP PAY IS LIKE ONLY 38 AN HOUR, DUHBULL YEW TEE EFF. Yeah, that's right, your first job might land you in a local community health center making less money with a masters degree, than with an associates degree.

You have to learn an entirely new trade.

The term "advanced practice nurse" is really misleading. We don't practice in any way as an RN does. Our role more so mimics physicians. "Man I have been an ICU nurse for 12 years and an ER nurse in a level trauma center at 16 different Mayo clinic locations, I GOT DIS BRUH." No, you don't get dis. What you have is a new steep stepping-stone into a new trade. You are on the other side of the brick wall now writing the orders for your old self to follow. Welcome to "advanced practice nursing."

Another 30-70k in loans and other fees.

Running short on change due to having to support a family, bills, expensive hobbies, or for some other reason? Well, the solution sure isn't to take out another student loan. Becoming a nurse practitioner costs A LOT OF MONEY. Yeah, it isn't medical school, but we also don't make what physicians make either. Count your coin prior to becoming an APRN.

Time

Looking for a 1 day a week online nurse practitioner program that requires no travel graduates in 5 months, 10 clinical hours, and a 2.1 GPA to get into? Looking at some of the online programs that exist, I wouldn't doubt there are at least a few of these. I am sure there are some great online programs out there, but trying to take the easiest shortcut probably won't pay off in a competitive market such as todays. A good program will require a decent time commitment. Should getting a master's degree not at least be as much work as your associates? Some seem not to think so, they seem to believe that once you have your RN you should instantly be crowned Dr. Nurse with the wave of a magic wand and the writing of a few 'nursing policy' papers.

Labels and role confusion

Get ready for this one... Labels. The patient walks in the room. "WHAT A NURSE, I WANT TO SEE A DOCTOR, WHAT IS THIS NURSE DOING HERE." All that extra school and you still get called a nurse. Where did the word practitioner go? Oh, that's not in a good amount of people's vocabulary. Nurse is a nurse is a nurse is a nurse nurse nurse. Don't think that big white coat with the MSN FNP flashing around is going to make people bow down to Dr. Nurse. You will need to present yourself well to avoid this dilemma.

Poor support from licensing agencies

This is a big one. Look around online and I see adds all over the place stating garbage such as: "EASTERN FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY OF PHEONIX GOVERNERS UNIVERSITY is now taking applications for their CNA-to-DNP program. Please apply online, no GRE, college education, high school diploma, or GED required." Wow. Good job ANCC, AANP, or whoever credentials these places, you sure do make sure that only the highest, and I mean HIGHEST standards of education are upheld in the prestigious field of nursing. I am sure the AMA would rather get kicked in the balls multiple times before they would allow the credentialing of a fully online medical program from a fully for-profit university with teachers posting online quizzes and tests from their garage. And people are lobbying for less nurse practitioner restrictions? I know there are great nurse practitioners and programs out there but PLEASE, let's be real.... Until some limitation is put on the quality of these bed-bug ridden basement nurse practitioner programs, we will never have the support for unregulated practice.

Now I am not saying that become a nurse practitioner is terrible, but these are some things to consider. I am sure this is going to be rather controversial, so I have put on my jock strap and am ready for low blows to the land down under.

Thanks for reading, if you made it past the 3rd paragraph without cursing me under your breath, we may be able to be friends.

Best of luck to you all!

why-you-shouldnt-become-a-nurse-practitioner.pdf

[chillnurse, BSN, RN, NP]

I know I apologize. I'll edit my future posts. I'm always in too much a hurry to edit but I'll do it from now on to make it an easier read.

I also don't think my word processor agrees with copy pasting to the forum lol.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

I know I apologize. I'll edit my future posts. I'm always in too much a hurry to edit but I'll do it from now on to make it an easier read. I also don't think my word processor agrees with copy pasting to the forum lol.

Just go back and edit your original post. It's a good read. Cleaning it up will make it that much better.

[uncnp]

good post

[llg, PhD, RN]

Thank you, Chillnurse.

[BlueDevil, DNP]

I'm not even going to try to be diplomatic.

I worked and studied hard to become an NP. Hours and hours of classroom, personal study, research. Hours and hours of clinical work in outpatient and inpatient settings. Blood, sweat and tears.

I really resent these schools with minimal requirements that are graduating minimally trained nurse practitioners. They and their graduates are lowering the standard and providing fodder to the people (especially the physicians) who don't "midlevels" to practice with any kind of autonomy. Looking at some of the programs out there, I don't blame them.

It feels like many people are not taking the nurse practitioner role seriously, that they are just looking for a "higher" role than RN and they want it as fast and as cheaply and as easily as possible. Sorry, but I would not want someone like that treating me or my family members.

Right. I'm going to go put on my body armor now and stand over there near the OP.

I agree with you. There are a great many NP programs that need to be closed, beginning with the diploma mills which shall not be named. Most of these, List of for-profit universities and colleges - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , for example. NP school should be as selective, competitive and rigorous as MD/DO programs. We aren't covering the same material, but that is no reason to accept such abysmally low standards for accreditation and practice.

The OPs statments may or may not be true for every NP.

Favorite specialty: I only want to provide primary care, I have no interest in any specialty as a full time endeavor. Within PC I do specialize in orthopedics; I do many procedures and see a great many sports med pts, including providing care for mx area athletic teams, but I would never leave PC to go to an ortho practice. I have no doubt I could walk into any ortho practice win town and get a job, but I don't care to.

Pay cut: was not true in my case. I went from $39/hour to $65/hour + bonuses (which are 1/3 to 1/2 base salary) overnight.

You have to learn an entirely new trade: Very true, but I would think this would go without saying.

Another 30-70k in loans and other fees: This was not true for me or for anyone I know. Be smart.

Time: I spent 2.5 years getting my MSN and 2.5 years getting my DNP. Quality takes time. I probably could have done it all in 4 years, but in this household, it is family first and I was not willing to neglect my family for the sake of finishing faster. I completed 94 graduate credit hours in 14 semesters. I then spent 9 months in an optional unpaid FP Residency. It is not a race.

Labels and role confusion: this has never happened to me. People have asked me to clarify my role, and I am happy to do so, but I've never had the kind of conflict or personal turmoil alluded to here.

Poor support from licensing agencies: Yes, as above. Mediocrity should not be rewarded. you don't get a trophy, or a NP license just for showing up.

[Riburn3, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

BlueDevil nailed it. Paycut is the only real plausable downside of that entire list, and it likely only applies to a select few. Just about everything else applies to regular nursing as well, and at that point you're opening up a different can of worms.

[zmansc, ASN, RN]

I would love to see the standards for accreditation and practice increased. I think there are a number of ideas on ways to do this. Whatever changes get made should be made to all programs across the board. Those programs that are rigorous, will step up to the plate, and those that are not will not be able to meet the new standards and will get closed down.

I do think that there is often a rush on this site to claim, were different than the medical model of education and therefore we are inferior and we should change toward that model. I would disagree with that, in that I think our difference is one of our strong suits. I don't believe the medical educational model is the only way to be educated as a provider, and I believe we have strengths and differences that are worth nurturing.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

DNP,I cannot imagine making 65 bucks an hour as an NP. You are making more than some of the CRNAs at the hospital I work. However, didn't you say in a previous thread that your facility is unusual in that it pays NPs and MDs with similar experience the same pay rate?As for this thread, OP makes a good point in that becoming an NP has its draw backs.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

DNPI cannot imagine making 65 bucks an hour as an NP. You are making more than some of the CRNAs at the hospital I work. However, didn't you say in a previous thread that your facility is unusual in that it pays NPs and MDs with similar experience the same pay rate?As for this thread, OP makes a good point in that becoming an NP has its draw backs.[/quote']

With productivity, I am over $65/hr average as well.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

DNP,I cannot imagine making 65 bucks an hour as an NP. You are making more than some of the CRNAs at the hospital I work. However, didn't you say in a previous thread that your facility is unusual in that it pays NPs and MDs with similar experience the same pay rate?As for this thread, OP makes a good point in that becoming an NP has its draw backs.

In some job markets...of course the cost of living compares...bedside nurses with experience make $60.00 plus, plus in the Boston area. I know that is a fact personally.

So yes it is possible for a FNP to make that.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I know I apologize. I'll edit my future posts. I'm always in too much a hurry to edit but I'll do it from now on to make it an easier read.

I also don't think my word processor agrees with copy pasting to the forum lol.

No it doesn't...sorry. Firefox works best for me. If you can't edit...report it we can do that for you.

[chillnurse, BSN, RN, NP]

Thanks, I shall fix it as soon as I get home on an actual computer. The pa and nP in the ER group where i am make about 65 an hour. Ones in pain clinic make 60-80 + an hour, but that does not really county in regards to what most of us are interested in. The dr i work for basically told me I have the ability to pull a pretty high salary if i see a good amount of patients. That and he doesn't want to hire any other nps at the moment since he has had some bad experiences with new graduates and it will cost him 22000 to add another license to his ERH system. And the cost of living is pretty low where I am at in KY.

My area is pretty good for NP. rns where i live start off at 19 an hour. pretty terrible. But it is because there is a flood of RNs since its like the only major the local comm college has that is worth a hoot.