Dnap. Is crna worth it in the next years

Nursing Students SRNA

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I want to become a crna and by the time I do and if I get accepted into a crna school it will be the year 2020 or so. So I will be a crna not a dnap. My question is. By the year 2025 they are making changes to all schools that crna will be dnap instead(from what I have read up on). Which means more school time. What does that hold for the future for regular crna's? Less pay? Will we be wanted just as much as dnap's? Will we be less respected and less wanted? I'm only nineteen so I don't have much experience on these type of topics. I'm set on being a crna though so no I am not going in it for the money. I guess what I'm trying to say is do you stay where you are at or once 2025 comes do I continue on with my education?

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Anything people answer here will just be opinion and conjecture. There is no way to predict the mentality of the medical field and nursing specifically in 2025 and beyond. I will mention to you that older nurses who have their ASN say back in the early and mid 90's they never foresaw a time where they would be expected to go back for their BSN's to be a bedside med surg nurse. Also LPN's 15 years ago had a very secure and valued position in the hospital setting and now have essentially been phased out of the hospital. Just saying.

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Anything people answer here will just be opinion and conjecture. There is no way to predict the mentality of the medical field and nursing specifically in 2025 and beyond. I will mention to you that older nurses who have their ASN say back in the early and mid 90's they never foresaw a time where they would be expected to go back for their BSN's to be a bedside med surg nurse. Also LPN's 15 years ago had a very secure and valued position in the hospital setting and now have essentially been phased out of the hospital. Just saying.

I second this!

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

There are still certificate only and Bachelor only CRNAs working. There are no plans to make any CRNAs return for a doctorate in 2025 or later, but having said that you could in the distant future run into problems if you wanted to move from one state to another if that state BON required a doctorate to practice as a CRNA. It is doubtful that scenario will happen until all APRNs are required to have a doctorate.

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Would it be smart of me to wait and work bedside for a couple years after my bachelors and then apply for the dnap even though it will be more debt and time. Or go straight for it with less time and have less debt but worry about the possible future? This is something I really want to do but I want to be independent, not have to hold my spot at a hospital because everyone else requires the dnap. I'm talking about me being old though I don't think the near future has that much change or does it......?

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

I doubt many hospitals are going to require a DNP/DNAP for a long time if ever in your career lifetime.

All nurse anesthesia programs are making the switch to a clinical doctorate, and many have already made the switch. All clinical doctorate nurse anesthesia programs will be a minimum of 36 months versus the average of 27-28 months now.

Some programs (TCU) are offering the non-clinical classes online prior to having to go to campus allowing their students to work while going to school for the first six months.

It is cheaper and quicker to get your DNP/DNAP up front versus going back later to complete a post masters DNP/DNAP.

I would personally look for good quality programs first that will teach you to be an independent provider and worry about what degree is offered second.

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Very good info here. I'm struggling between decided whether or not to get my DNP or MSN.

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Specializes in CRNA.

There will be CRNAs without a doctorate in practice for a long time-last year only 70 of approximately 2500 people who took the certification exam were graduates of doctoral programs. That number will steadily increase though and about 2020 it looks like more than half will be graduates of doctoral programs. If I was 19, I would plan on the doctoral route. It is not that much longer than the MS route (0 to 12 months longer, depending on the program) and is more efficient than returning to earn a post masters doctoral degree.

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I reckon by 2020, the majority of programs will be DNP anyways so you may not really have a say in the matter.

For example, of the 6 or so programs within a 3-4 hour drive of me (the only ones I am really looking at), 2 of them have already switched to only offering the DNP.

I don't even graduate nursing school til May, so I'm already operating on the assumption that if and when I do get around to trying to go to anesthesia school, that I am gonna need to plan on doing a 3 year DNP program.

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If I have my choice I will go for the DNAP. Why? Overall less time and money. I can finish in 3yrs. as compared to 5yrs. as it takes 2.5yrs. post masters to gain the DNAP

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I am preparing to apply to CRNA programs as well. I am a little confused by some of the wording used in the OP so I might not be interpreting this correctly but I believe the issue is MSN prepared CRNA's vs. DNP prepared. They are changing the entry level degree to be DNP. Like another user posted, it should still be pretty easy for MSN's to find jobs, at least for the next 10 years or so.

My good friend was part of one of the last BS Pharmacy programs in the US. In the early 2000's they abolished the BS degree and made the standard the PharmD (doctorate) that exists today. She still found a job pretty easily out of school, and even though by now everyone wants the PharmD degree, her experience still earns her some credibility. Just a few years ago she decided to pursue a PharmD completion program, but only for her own benefit, not because her employer demanded it or anything.

I am going to apply for mostly MSN programs. It is somewhat a gamble. I figure if and when the pressure is put on to have the DNP by then I will then go through a completion program. A lot of people would rather just get it all out of the way and go to a DNP program in anticipation of future changes. And a lot of programs have already switched to DNP (seems like more than half are now DNP).

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Hi Dab-can you help me understand your viewpoint that a DNP is a financially better route compared to a MSN-DNP track? You may be in school a longer time period, but you take the same number of credits overall and can work full time as a CRNA a year earlier. The MSN offers a faster return of investment as well as the ability to take advantage of employer retirement plans and tuition benefits to pay for the DNP. If you're willing to take classes part time while working, then the MSN to DNP looks like a financially superior route to me. What are your thoughts?

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