All the degrees, no job

Specialties Doctoral

Published

I graduated with my FNP and DNP in 2015 and am still looking for a job. I am in a city where there are many nursing schools and therefore I am thinking that the market is just completely saturated. I have been a nurse for 14 years and have worked ICU for 12 and ER for the last 2.5 years. Thank goodness this is steady work. Ive gotten my certification and my COA and CTP-E from the Board of Nursing. I have applied to at least 5-10 jobs a week and cannot even get a call back from places. I wanted to apply for NP jobs where I can eventually lead me into utilization of my DNP.At this point I will take just about anything. I am considering applying for a retail clinic job just to get some experience under my belt? I cannot believe how well these clinics pay and it seems like way less stress than any other job for a new grad............Any thoughts???

Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.
Man that sucks when somebody chases a doctoral degree to just have to settle for charity work only without a paying job.

Tells you something about the value of the degree, eh?

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Yeah it's pretty obvious. To us anyway.

not so much to a good chunk of others on this forum.

All i I can say is I hope it wasn't expensive.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.

When I was a kid there was actually a seminary that opened up in an old donut shop. I remember seeing that it offered several degrees on the sign. One of them was a doctorate. I should've bought one back then when I was 12. I could've had "my doctorate" decades ago before finishing high school even.

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I'm thinking of getting my DNP, what is it about this degree that makes you think it is not valuable?

I have an MSN/ED, and can't find an on line education adjunct position. I was thinking that a DNP would help.

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It has no focus for us nurse practitioners

it doesn't help out in the job market

it sounds like it doesn't teach anything we couldn't learn online for much cheaper (or free)

If the letters do not mean anything to employers there is no point in getting it.

Before pursuing a degree one needs to ask him/herself the following

1. is the time investment worth it?

2. what is the degree program going to teach me before i spend all of this time or money

3. how do employers view this degree

4. what am i losing by pursuing it

5. how am i going to use this degree

Most people don't do that though, they just blindly chase letters, get in debt, can't find a job, and turn to all nurses for sympathy and hopeful responses such as "its ok you will be fine honey, don't worry, youll get a job sooner or later."

The time where DNP prepared nurses working at the bedside is commonplace is coming.

Are you ready?

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I am wondering all these people making negative comments instead of offering help or advice, why are they doing it? Are they being defensive? Are they defensive because they have only an MSN and this woman got her DNP. Are they afraid of being grandfathered due to some smart a... kids going for the suggested entry level education in advanced practice?

It sounds a lot like the remarks my colleagues made when I got my BSN.

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im all for further education as long as its useful.

doesn't seem to be helping anybody out though.

the OP does not seem to be having much luck finding a job

many employers do not want to hire DNP because of the thought they may want more money

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Specializes in Psychiatric Nursing.

DNP negativity is similariar to the BSN negativity as noted above. I think the DNP will in time become the standard. Hopefully we will be grandfathered. The DNP could be the vehicle to upgrade and standardize curriculums. Most APRNs should be paid closer to our physician colleagues when we do the same job.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.
I am wondering all these people making negative comments instead of offering help or advice, why are they doing it? Are they being defensive? Are they defensive because they have only an MSN and this woman got her DNP. Are they afraid of being grandfathered due to some smart a... kids going for the suggested entry level education in advanced practice?

It sounds a lot like the remarks my colleagues made when I got my BSN.

I want education that is going to make me better at life or better at something I find interesting, or education that will yield a divident on my investment. A DNP does known of those things, and unless you're interested in research-lite, policy-lite, and administration-lite you're not going to find any real purpose for the degree.

What does a DNP do that an ADN cannot? Similarly, what can a DNP achieve that a MHA cannot? What can a PhD get done that a DNP cannot? Even as healthcare becomes an increasingly corporate and revenue driven enterprise, I fail to see what a DNP is meant for. I think all of us DNP-oppositional types love the fact that you want more education. Most of us non-DNP types LOVE education. However, I think I can speak for all of us when I say "what purpose does it serve?"

And I certainly have no problem being "grandfathered" as we'll still be doing the same things we're doing now - working and making money.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.
DNP negativity is similariar to the BSN negativity as noted above. I think the DNP will in time become the standard. Hopefully we will be grandfathered. The DNP could be the vehicle to upgrade and standardize curriculums. Most APRNs should be paid closer to our physician colleagues when we do the same job.

Or if you really want to improve the financial state of the healthcare system, reimburse them the same rates they're reimbursing us.

I'm fine with requiring NPs to have a doctorate. I am oppositional to the curriculum. It adds no value.

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.
I am wondering all these people making negative comments instead of offering help or advice, why are they doing it? Are they being defensive? Are they defensive because they have only an MSN and this woman got her DNP. Are they afraid of being grandfathered due to some smart a... kids going for the suggested entry level education in advanced practice?

It sounds a lot like the remarks my colleagues made when I got my BSN.

I've always wanted a terminal degree, and plan to start pursing one as soon as I get my feet back under me (just became a CNM a year ago).

I will be going for a PhD, planning on epidemiology and public health. Right now DNP programs vary dramatically in quality and content, and the clinical requirements are underwhelming. While I am sure there are rigorous, challenging and well developed DNP programs, most are MSN programs with some extra fluff to pad the credit hours.

I find it disingenuous to consider it a clinical doctorate. Compare the DNP to a doctorate in, say, pharmacy or physical therapy. It's an embarrassment to the profession, that *this* is what we consider to be the pinnacle of nursing competency.

That is in NO way a reflection of the OPs qualifications as an NP.

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Specializes in psychiatric nursing.

I have done two semesters of a DNP program, just long enough to learn it will not teach me advanced clinical skills and it is focused on research and policy, as the other posters above stated. So I am dropping the program.

I love education, but I have 3 degrees already, and I don't have time or money to spend on the DNP to get nothing substantial in return.

The DNP is only useful if you want to go into academia, however it is not as impressive as a PhD in the world of academia.

The DNP is largely not respected in clinical practice and will do nothing to reduce the discrepancies in compensation between nurse practitioners and our physician colleagues.

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