Are you a nurse practitioner without any nursing experience?

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Looking to find "that" nurse practitioner that I keep hearing about from other professions but have never come across that became a NP without any nursing experience. I have already been enlightened that there are programs that accept BSN new grads and direct-entry programs that only "strongly encourage" students to work as a RN during school, but are there really students who don't do it? I am very curious.

Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

DNP is a clinical practice doctorate, not an advanced practice doctorate. It does seem strange off the cuff though, probably because it has the "NP" in it.

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Indeed. But I think MANY people think the MSN, with its dozens of specialties and certifications and tracks, is odd/problematic.

So what do you propose? That there be only one advanced practice specialty in nursing? What about all the different areas of nursing that require advanced education (whether advanced practice or not)? Why wouldn't there be "dozens of specialties and certifications and tracks"? Who are these "many" people who find the current system odd or problematic? I've never encountered any.

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So what do you propose? That there be only one advanced practice specialty in nursing? What about all the different areas of nursing that require advanced education (whether advanced practice or not)? Why wouldn't there be "dozens of specialties and certifications and tracks"? Who are these "many" people who find the current system odd or problematic? I've never encountered any.

1. I don't mind the four APRN tracks. But I think the NP curriculum should be consolidated into a generalist NP program of study, similar to PA programs. It'd be cool if there were more fellowships or residencies for the specialties.

2. The four APRN tracks are fine. The problem I have is that within each track, you have different curriculum for so many different certifications.

3. Not really sure what ya mean here.

4. For me, the "dozens of specialties and certifications," particularly for NP education, is a double-edged sword. Sure, a NICU nurse who wants to be an NP, who solely wants to work with babies, can go to NNP school and forget about adults. That's great, they're not wasting their time learning things that won't be useful to them. But what happens if they want to later work with adults? They can't just go and find a residency or seek on-the-job training. It's back to school for them, which totally sucks.

5. Me. And the thousands of RNs who choose to go to PA school or medical school.

Alas, we are no longer on the topic of the post, and I am partially to blame for that.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
1. I don't mind the four APRN tracks. But I think the NP curriculum should be consolidated into a generalist NP program of study, similar to PA programs. It'd be cool if there were more fellowships or residencies for the specialties.

Residency and fellowships, why? I don't disagree with you on concerns for novices in specilaity settings but that goes for PAs and NPs, so fellowships for that setting i agree with, but residency for general practice, I am no so sure about.

2. The four APRN tracks are fine. The problem I have is that within each track, you have different curriculum for so many different certifications.

I like this about NP education/certification. It gets more directed clinical hours for novice providers.

4. For me, the "dozens of specialties and certifications," particularly for NP education, is a double-edged sword. Sure, a NICU nurse who wants to be an NP, who solely wants to work with babies, can go to NNP school and forget about adults. That's great, they're not wasting their time learning things that won't be useful to them. But what happens if they want to later work with adults? They can't just go and find a residency or seek on-the-job training. It's back to school for them, which totally sucks.

It is definitely better than MD/DOs or PA have it!

5. Me. And the thousands of RNs who choose to go to PA school or medical school.

RNs that choose to go to PA school, IMHO, are doing themselves a disservice in some ways (outside of a surgical specialty perhaps) but to each their own.

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Specializes in Neurology, Psychology, Family medicine.

Boston,

Can you elaborate on your last statement. About the disservice an RN does by going to PA vs NP? I'm interested in your thought process.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
Boston,

Can you elaborate on your last statement. About the disservice an RN does by going to PA vs NP? I'm interested in your thought process.

I would approach it by what you have to gain/lose in terms of your investment compared to what you gain by doing it.

NP route:

1. Can go to school part-time while working and incur less debt.

2. Can get hospital contribution to education in many cases.

3. Significantly shorter program starting as an RN compared to PA which again means further savings.

4. Can maintain pay grade by RN experience in some hospital systems when taking a novice provider job.

5. Possibility for independent practice further in your career.

6. Not (fully) regulated by the board of medicine in most states.

PA route:

1. Different education model, which may be good or bad for a given student.

2. Possibly more marketable in the surgical setting as a provider.

3. Broader range of clinical experience as a student.

In the end, in most cases, it is a larger investment for an RN to choose PA over NP without much career benefit.

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