Anyone else rushing to become an APN before 2015?

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Reality is beginning to sink in and I'm getting nervous. I became an RN four years ago and have put off getting a BSN since. Actually in 2008 I enrolled in an RN to BSN program at a local University and took 2 classes. Since then I've had a baby and life was kind of a roller coaster so I hadn't gone back. I am now enrolled in a different school and am trying to figure out my time line to obtaining my MSN as an FNP. At this point, going full time for the entire graduate program isn't an option, as I have a family and work full-time. I hope to finish my BSN by December 2011, and am trying to determine whether I have the stamina to push it up to September 2011. The soonest that I figure that I will complete my FNP program would be December 2014. Talk about pushing it!!!! At that point, I may not even be permitted to test because of the 2015 deadline, and I'll find myself with another 2 years ahead of me for the DNP before I can begin working as an NP.

Now I'm struggling with how I'm going to do this!!! I may have to suck it up and go full-time, UGH!!! Anyone else feel the time crunch?

Specializes in Critical Care.

At UW-Milwaukee it is already too late to get a NP-MSN. Now you have to do the DNP with all the additional time and money involved.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Tele, Psych.
At UW-Milwaukee it is already too late to get a NP-MSN. Now you have to do the DNP with all the additional time and money involved.

This is exactly what I'm afraid of!

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Specializes in Cardiology, Research, Family Practice.
I wonder if the American Medical Association had any involvement in this.

No, they are very much against it.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Research, Family Practice.

I am in the exact same position. Jan. 12, I start the program to complete my BSN. Even though it's not "mandatory" right now, it is evident many schools across the nation are phasing out the their masters level APN programs in favor of DNP programs. You can still get a masters for some areas of study, but it will not be a degree that allows you to become licensed by your state board. So that's how it becomes a "requirement" so to speak.

In TX, this is already happening - they are no longer enrolling in many of their traditional programs to prepare students to become NPs. Unfortunately, it appears to me that by the time we complete our BSNs next year, the picture may look even more grim.

I wonder how this will affect PA programs?

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Specializes in PeriOperative.
What will a master's in nursing be for if the doctorate will be for advanced practice?

At any rate, I think the DNP idea is stupid. I'll go on record saying that. Let the attack ensue.

They've done this with other specialties (for instance, a newly minted PT has a DPT...ten years ago a bachelor's degree sufficed).

The only reason to do this is to keep people out of the field. It is an extra year or two of tuition. It is an extra year or two without income (at least not full time, for most). There aren't many of us that can make that sacrifice.

Salaries have not increased for other specialties who now require doctorates.

I'm curious what they'll want to escalate the degree requirements to in 10 years.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Research, Family Practice.
The only reason to do this is to keep people out of the field. It is an extra year or two of tuition. It is an extra year or two without income (at least not full time, for most). There aren't many of us that can make that sacrifice.

Salaries have not increased for other specialties who now require doctorates.

It's also more money for AACN. Physical Therapists did this a few years ago so they could bill Medicare and see patients without an MD referral.

I can't help but think that if these nurses who are behind this wanted to be called doctor, they should have just gone to medical school.

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Hi your posting caught my attention because it reminded me of my endeavor for a master's degree. I started a FNP/MSN program and completed more than 3/4's of the program then suddenly my school decided to drop the program because of the NYS budget crisis. The option they gave us (the last graduating class) was to speed up our program and facilitate our commencement. This meant that I would have had to go full time to school in order to complete the clinicals. That was not feasible:nurse: for me at the time due to having a new baby and working full time. This is when I decided to get a MSN in nursing education to "hold me over" until I am ready to complete a FNP program. So if the entry into the FNP changes to a DNP then I will be ready to go.

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Specializes in Ortho, Med/Surg.

At the recent California Nursing Students Association conference there was lots of talk about about this. And like a lot of you have stated, it's merely a suggestion at this point, and in all reality won't be fully implented in 2015. Something else that was mentioned was the fact that they will also be urging current APN's to get DNP's - with such things as no prescriptive authority if you don't have your DNP. So even despite trying to crunch, you may ultimately be forced into getting a DNP anyway.

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Specializes in critical care.
Something else that was mentioned was the fact that they will also be urging current APN's to get DNP's - with such things as no prescriptive authority if you don't have your DNP. So even despite trying to crunch, you may ultimately be forced into getting a DNP anyway.

I don't know about this. There is already a precedent of grandfathering in nurses who don't meet updated degree requirements. Why would they start rescinding licenses with the move to DNP when they didn't with the MSN? There are still advanced practice nurses out there who don't even have a BSN! (Not that I think there is anything wrong with these nurses, just pointing it out to prove a point.)

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Specializes in Ortho, Med/Surg.

It's just what I heard - there were several different ANP's there who've been sitting on comittees shaping these new policies in CA. And it wasn't that they would be rescinding a license, it would be taking away certain privileges, and they used prescriptive authority as an example. But they almost made it seem like a lot of this is still up in the air - and changes like this won't be happening for CRNA's until 2025. Seems to be a lot of wiggle room within it all for now!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Patient Safety.

It was my understanding as well that if you are in an educational program in 2015, that you will still be eligible to sit for licensure - in other words, you won't be kicked out or deemed ineligible as long as you are in the process of getting your NP at that time. This could all be rumor, though, but it was what was told to me in my educational program.

However, I've also been noticing that a number of schools have been eliminating their MSN programs and are now doing strictly DNP programs. It's been making me also think that I need to skedaddle to get my post-master's or whatever it is I need to start pursuing to get my FNP.

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I'll go on record to state that DNP to be an NP is stupid. Why do you need a Doctorate to be a clinician? It's just a way of keeping people out of the work force. That said, if DNP is required, will that, in turn lessen the amount of candidates and, in turn, increase salary? I have been a nurse for 4 years and started MSN for ANP. I can only do one class at a time and hopefully will finish by 2015. When I enetered nursing school in 2004, they push for BSN in 10 was a loud talking point. It never panned out. I'm not going to worry about the deadline. I doubt it will be enacted in the proposed timeline.

While we r on the subject of NP and salary, I have had many comments from friends that there is no pay increase when taking a job as an NP. This is in North Jersey where salaries are pretty decent. I for one would love to teach. However, I would like to go on record and say shame on the nursing profession for requiring 15 to 20 years nursing experience and a Masters degree to be an Educator and then paying sh**t. I make almost as much as a 4 year RN as my old nursing instructors. Now you want me to have a DNP? I would rather work in the private sector. Too bad, too sad.

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