All the degrees, no job

Psychcns · Apr 27, 2016

Why didn't you go to PA school? Might have been a better fit.

PG2018 · Apr 27, 2016

Why didn't you go to PA school? Might have been a better fit.

Didn't exist in my state at the time. I shouldve gone to med school when I was in my 20s instead of embarking on another enjoyable career. But I'm successful in what I do. If I were a PA, I might have not gotten the outstanding job I presently have.

JaneBSN · Apr 27, 2016

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.

Amen to that! "Alphabet soup", seems a little mean-spirited!

See it in my own life. Graduating next month with my PMHNP. Not all my coworkers are happy for me. Many are very supportive, though. At a family party this weekend, not only did my own sister not speak to me, she turned her head when I came near. Lol! We always had difficulties, but really? She always talked about me, behind my back as the person who never finished anything. Well, 4 degrees, and 3 sets of letters later, she can eat my alphabet soup......

good luck, OP! How about teaching, outright? I apologize for the thread drift, your thread provoked some strong feelings. I am so proud of you for earning all those letters! Please update us with what happens!

Psychcns · Apr 27, 2016

Hi Psych guy. I also have work that I love. I do locum tenens and I work as a provider inpatient and outpatient psych. I love and appreciate psychiatry more as an APRN than I did as a staff nurse. I was a good staff nurse and I also worked as a nurse manager. I like the autonomy and responsibility of provider work and I am glad to not have to work within the RN group process. I am very grateful to nursing for developing the APRN role and for doing the hard political work of obtaining prescriptive privileges which enables me to treat patients as a provider.

chiromed0 · Apr 27, 2016

Well, I think I'm kind of in the same boat. Terminal degree in another field, some direct RN experience in critical care and the FNP. Flooded area with great NP programs. Getting interviews but no offers. I think in general that experience AS AN NP is going to trump everything. You just have to keep digging to get it. Also, I think relationships more than jobs ads gets you in the door. Gotta meet people so it's not going to be a quick career transition. I have to agree on the DNP being overkill for the moment. I think the profession messed up by working to require a DNP without lobbying first to gain acceptance of 50 state autonomy in exchange for the extra effort. Now there is no reason to do it b/c we have already admitted that a DNP doesn't justify any more practice rights than an MSN.

Aromatic · Apr 28, 2016

I also felt much of the nursing degree i obtained (at the masters level) was much of worthless stuff that does not help in practice. Learning to diagnose, treat and prescribe in a 17 month program is a difficult enough task. Adding in classes that not do assist with our most basic job duties is not the way to go. We have to be prepared at the most basic level before theorizing and researching, not the other way around.

Goldenfox · Apr 29, 2016

I also felt much of the nursing degree i obtained (at the masters level) was much of worthless stuff that does not help in practice. Learning to diagnose, treat and prescribe in a 17 month program is a difficult enough task. Adding in classes that not do assist with our most basic job duties is not the way to go. We have to be prepared at the most basic level before theorizing and researching, not the other way around.

I'm sorry, but PsychGuy is correct. Up until recently, I was liking my DNP program but I am now thinking of dropping out. I too am beginning to question what the worth of the DNP degree really is. There is no employer out there who cares whether you have a DNP or a MSN if you are a nurse practitioner, and they certainly aren't going to offer you even one penny more in salary because you have a DNP.

After reading and re-reading many of the posts on this forum (and elsewhere) and thinking a lot about it I'm no longer able to come up with good excuses to rationalize the time and money that I'm spending on it. I love learning, and clinical science, and all that good stuff. But I really can't stand to do ANOTHER course on culture care and nursing theory and assorted related BS. Its too too much! Health science educators need to come up with something newer and better than the DNP. A real clinical science doctoral degree.

Aromatic · Apr 29, 2016

I looked into the DNP a while back, and felt the same way you did. Just more cotton candy to chew on but nothing really healthy or helpful.

It seemed to try to cover so much base in so little time. Sort of like a mix of nurse educator, administrator, clinician, researcher etc. Very poorly drawn together though. Plus the cost and time put into the degree was way too much and no further pay raises or increase in independent practice are provided.

But really most degrees in all fields seems pretty worthless, so what can I say? Slap some letters on it and people will pay for it though. What a mess our education system is...

PeacockMaiden · Apr 29, 2016

I agree with what many people are saying here and what I previously said here about the DNP program that I am currently in (which I will drop or take a leave of absence from after this semester is over).

I really enjoyed my DNP classes and the classwork was interesting and I'm learning a lot about research, administration, and policy. However, any job I get as a NP will be to prescribe medications and provide basic education, that's it. Employers don't care about my knowledge of research and policy. (They probably should, but that is not the reality of the jobs being offered to many practicing NPs).

The DNP degree with it's current curriculum is missing the mark on filling the needs of what most employers in practice want from their NPs. More education on advanced clinical skills would be valuable for most employers...research and policy skills, not so much.

I don't know how the current curriculum of dnp programs can be changed to reflect the reality of what employers want and what practitioners want because there seems to be a big disconnect. If enrollment goes down in DNP programs then maybe the curriculum will change.

Psychcns · Apr 29, 2016

Most NP and MD jobs are seeing patients one at a time. NPs (masters level) have shown their outcomes are equivalent to MD's. I think both the DNP and the MD eventually will have to work at a higher level if they are to be paid more. More complicated patients, research, teaching, work as unit directors, set policy, specialize, etc.

AndersRN · Apr 29, 2016

Most NP and MD jobs are seeing patients one at a time. NPs (masters level) have shown their outcomes are equivalent to MD's. I think both the DNP and the MD eventually will have to work at a higher level if they are to be paid more. More complicated patients, research, teaching, work as unit directors, set policy, specialize, etc.

I don't know how much more you want employers to pay an FM doc making 200k+/year or radiologist making 350k+/year... Why are you lumping the DNP degree with MD/DO? Do physicians have the same identity crisis that NP have?

PG2018 · Apr 29, 2016

I don't think our reimbursable work will ever take into consideration our degrees. We may some day find parity in physician reimbursement, whether our rates are raised or whether their rates are lowered (an interesting construct). I don't think a NP/DNP or a MD/MPH should get anything extra because they got some tangentially relevant degree.