DNP or CNP

According to the AACN white paper on the DNP, the AACN members identified 2015 as the date when nurse practitioners would need to have DNPs. However, licensure is not in the domain of AACN. State boards pf nursing determine what kind of education is needed for practice. There are no state boards of nursing at this time that require a DNP for nurse practitioners. Most nurse practice acts have a statement about educational requirements and most state a 'graduate degree' which includes master degrees. In addition to the educational requirement, most state boards of nursing also require board certification in your area of practice for licensure and to date, none of the boarding bodies require a DNP to take the board exam. Look at your state's nurse practice act to see what board exams delivered by what organization for specifics. When looking at schools it is important that the nursing programs (BSN, MS, and DNP) be accredited by the CCNE (and CCNE will continue to accredit masters programs beyond 2015 with no evidence to date that they will stop accrediting masters programs) and what the pass rate on the board exams are. Those two indicators will be useful when evaluating programs.

According to the AACN white paper on the DNP, the AACN members identified 2015 as the date when nurse practitioners would need to have DNPs. However, licensure is not in the domain of AACN. State boards pf nursing determine what kind of education is needed for practice. There are no state boards of nursing at this time that require a DNP for nurse practitioners. Most nurse practice acts have a statement about educational requirements and most state a 'graduate degree' which includes master degrees. In addition to the educational requirement, most state boards of nursing also require board certification in your area of practice for licensure and to date, none of the boarding bodies require a DNP to take the board exam. Look at your state's nurse practice act to see what board exams delivered by what organization for specifics. When looking at schools it is important that the nursing programs (BSN, MS, and DNP) be accredited by the CCNE (and CCNE will continue to accredit masters programs beyond 2015 with no evidence to date that they will stop accrediting masters programs) and what the pass rate on the board exams are. Those two indicators will be useful when evaluating programs.

DNP :)

I have a question. I have recently been accepted into a DNP program at a local state university. I have the option of going to another college in the area with a masters NP program. Has there been any other discussion about the DNP requirement? Any opinion about which is the better option?

Thank you

I am currently in a BSN to DNP program. First find out if the school is accredited. It is a new program and many are not accredited yet. If the program doesn't get accreditation, you can't sit for boards. Also, are you married? Do you have kids? How any loans do you have for under grad. I will caution you that the DNP program is EXTREMELY costly. It's almost $1000 per credit hour where I go....X 82 credit hours. Plus other costs. And there are a a lot of additional clinical hours, almost 1500 to be completed in 4-5 semesters... Makes working very difficult. If you are able to work off shifts and weekends, you may be able to pull off full time. I have a husband and a4 year old, and no sitter on weekends (my husband works)...so it's been difficult. Financially horrible. Just some things to consider....

MSN 500-700 clinical hours over 3 semesters.

Can go part time and be done in 3 years

Much cheaper as there are less credit hours

Just some things to consider...