Any danger of masters NP from AACN's 2015 mandate?

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Hi, I am new to the site and have been trolling around without making posts for some time now. I have a bachelor's in biology but want to go back to get my RN and have the dream of being a NP some day.

http://www.aacn.nche.edu/dnp

The AACN has mandated that in 2015, all NP's have to have a doctorate level education. (first question--is this true?)

There are some great masters degree programs out there that I have been looking at, but in light of this mandate, I worry that getting a masters degree will make me, in the long run, not as competitive and not as desired as a NP. I want to go into the field of migraine headache management, and so a 2-year master's degree sounds like it would be ideal, as I would probably want to take additional pain-management fellowships.

Does anyone else worry about this? I have seen other nurses on other threads take it lightly "oh I'll worry about it when it becomes 2015", but I don't want to waste my money and time on a master's degree when I could have just gotten a DnP in the first place.

That said, I would rather get a master's than a DnP.

Advice? Thanks!

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
The AACN has mandated that in 2015, all NP's have to have a doctorate level education. (first question--is this true?)

As of today, it is a vision only.

If this comes about, Masters-prepared NPs (before that date) will not be disenfranchised. There are other threads in the NP forum about this discussion, too. :)

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
https://allnurses.com/nurse-practitioners-np/2015-dnp-discussion-529004.html
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The AACN can't "mandate" anything -- they are a voluntary professional organization and have no statuatory or regulatory authority whatsoever. They can't even force their own members to do anything they don't want to. They are recommending the DNP for advanced practice educational preparation. However, so many schools are switching their programs over that it may well soon become a moot point.

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I recently went to Vanderbilt's Open House, and this situation was discussed early in the presentation. As elkpark said, the AACN can't mandate anything.

There is a recommendation that NP's move toward doctoral education, but then again, there has been a recommendation that all RN's have a Baccalalaureate as their entry-level degree, as well, for quite some time.

Long story short, they told they don't expect it to be an issue for quite some time, and the person who was speaking to us has a close working relationship with the Tennessee Board of Nursing. Each state is different, but they didn't see it being an issue anywhere in the U.S.

If you enter into a Masters degree program before a mandate is put in place by the respective state Boards of Nursing (if a mandate is put in place), you will be grandfathered in and will be eligible for certification. Each state will work closely with programs to ensure that nobody is going to be left "holding the bag", as they told us.

A DNP is a great choice, if time and finances permit, but if you don't want to get it up-front, you can always do a post-masters program.

Best of luck with your decision.

Kind Regards,

KCEG

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