Advanced Practice Nurses-MSN to Phd. starting 2015?

[uthscsa2011]

Has this been mandated? I heard they are changing the requirements of all advanced practice programs such as clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, ect. to require a doctorate and not just the MSN starting in 2015. Is this true?

[babyNP., APRN]

Nope. Nada.

I'm super excited for 2015 to roll on by to prove it to everyone.

In order for a doctorate (a DNP, not a PhD) to be required for NP, one of these things must happen:

1) State boards of nursing require it. However, some of them still accept certificate NPs, so we're not even up to every state requiring even a mere MSN.

2) Every school of nursing gets rid of their masters NP programs and only does DNPs. Two top level universities (UCSF and UPenn) don't even offer DNP as a choice, among many others.

3) Federal legislation requiring DNPs for NPs. Considering the expansion of healthcare with ACA, no way would the feds do this.

#2 is the most feasible, methinks, over the long-term, but it's gonna be a long while before we see this in the marketplace where the majority of providers are DNPs.

OP: Look at which universities you want to go to. If they require it for their program, then you have no choice.

[OfficerRNBSN]

It's not going to happen. Individual states might decide between now and then to start this, but no one will have to be a Doctor Nurse by 2015. Just not gonna happen and frankly I'm not on board with it. Yep, I use that mean word "midlevel," and I fail to see why a midlevel needs a doctorate.

When the DNP yields absolute autonomous practice, Schedule II prescriptive privileges and includes a cadaver lab, in depth physio, patho, pharm, and micro classes, as well as rotation through most specialties I will acknowledge it as worthwhile. What has the doctorate done for physical therapists and pharmacists? I'm not aware of them doing anything now that they didn't do before they had only bachelor's degrees.