Acute Care NP??

[valx92]

Hi all, looking for a little advice. I graduated with my BSN in May 2014 and I have been at my first job on a cardiac step-down unit since November 2014. I want to further my education, and my end-goal is to work as an NP in a hospital with a focus in eps/cardiology. Since I've only been out of school for just over a year now, some of the adult-gerontological acute care nurse practitioner programs seem like a bit of a stretch for me to get into. I'm going to apply wherever I can, but I'm worried I won't get in without two years of experience, a CCRN, or having worked in an ICU. I submitted an application for transition into my hospital's MICU, but the rest I can't really do much about for another year. I don't really want to wait to apply until next year, because I'm just worried that the longer I wait, that life will take over and it will get harder to return to school. Would I be better off applying to a school for adult-gerontological primary care nurse practitioner and making the transition with a post-master's certificate later? Am I better off waiting another year to apply? Also, why does it seem like at some schools the acute care NP programs are an MSN, and at other schools they're DNP degrees. Am I missing something? Any help or advance would be appreciated. Thanks in advance :)

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

1). Check the requirements of schools you are interested in, but in general one year of hospital bedside is enough. ICU, CCRN and such belong to CRNA schools realm, not ACNP. They are nice to have but not necessary.

2). To apply or not depends on how you feel about it. If after one year you feel that you know what you are doing, you want to know more, want to read and think, to ask "why", then just go for it. Additional considerations may be about money, time (a whole lot of it), and if your GPA is high enough for your chosen school. Good schools, both campus and online based, became more and more picky and want applicants with GPA 3.5 or above, so make an appointment with admission adviser and ask what they want.

3) Marketability of ACNP depends on region and facility and AT THE PRESENT TIME(!) a little bit below that of FNP and Primary Care Adults, but it is kind of difficult to say what will happen in two to three years. If your hospital has ACNPs, ask them about situation with jobs.

4). At this time, each State boards make their own requirements about licensing advance practice nurses; not a single of them currentlyrequires DNP and it is unlikely any will do it any time soon. So you can apply and finish MSN program and start working as ACNP and go for DNP when and if you feel like it.