Career Switch at 23

welcome to allnurses. Your question is better addressed in our pre-nursing forum: https://allnurses.com/pre-nursing-student/

In general it's a year or so for pre-reqs and then 2-3 years for nursing school. If you have a degree already you have an option to do an accelerated program in 12-18 months after pre-reqs.

To become a NNP you would need to become an RN and get your BSN (vast majority of graduate schools will require this), work in a Level III NICU for a few years, and then go to graduate school for a masters or a doctorate as a neonatal nurse practitioner, which is usually another 2-3 years. Many people work part-time while in school to pay for expenses.

You are very young, there are some who make career switches in their 40s-50s even in their 60s, so I wouldn't worry about that.

best of luck.

From pre-reqs to NNP would take about 5-6 years depending on traditional BSN and ABSN and the amount of pre-reqs that you need to take. Nursing school is 2-3 yrs (12-18 months for ABSN). Then 2 yrs at a NICU and 2-3 yrs for NNP. That is everything went as planned. One of the hurdles is getting a NICU job as a new grad. It depends on your location and timing.

I second everything BabyNP and Guy said.

I'd also add that the NNP route is a very, very niche specialty. As the PPs mentioned, NNP students are required to have NICU nursing experience. Working as a NICU nurse alongside NNPs would help you discern if the career would be a good fit before you invest your time, effort, and money in a very intensive graduate program. The NNP role can be very high-stress (especially if you work at a high-risk delivery center), and you'll likely be working some nights, weekends, and possibly 24-hour shifts for your entire career. I absolutely love working with NNPs, and thought about attending NNP school; however, once I started working in the NICU I was pretty turned off by the NNP lifestyle (high liability, crazy shifts, almost no potential to move to outpatient care). Even if you think you're set on the NICU/NNP route now, I'd definitely recommend going into nursing school with an open mind; you may find that you have a passion for fields you never even considered.