DNP 2015 Will you be grandfatherd in if your a student?

[Angela.CRNA2B]

I have a question a friend asked about the NP program. She is just starting a Nursing Diploma Program will transfer to a BSN and then MSN to be a NP. She is thinking it maybe around the year 2015 she is still in NP school would she have to continue on for the DNP or would she be granfathered in? I found another program that will take her Nursing Diploma and it's a RN-MSN program, through St.Louis University school of Professional Studies, this may be a quicker route so she can get in the program before the 2015 dead line. Could I get some idea on how long this may take her? She is right out of Highschool no previous college. Thanks

[RockyCreek]

There is a very long 'sticky' thread on this very subject under the tab "Specialty" then click on "Advanced Practice Nurses". I encourage your friend to read all the comments.

The short version of the story is that the DNP is only a proposal at this time and is not mandated. Anyone that is a licensed NP when/if it becomes the new requirement will mostly likely be grandfathered. There is no guarantee of anything at this time because nothing has been decided.

As for the timeline on achieving the NP, this is widely variable. In general, a BSN for a diploma RN takes 1-2 years depending on whether you go fulltime or parttime. The MSN adds 2-4 years, again it depends on fulltime [not recommended!] or parttime. The DNP looks to add more years on top of that but I am not exactly sure of the credit hour timing so I don't know how quickly it could be done. Add to this any time that you would spend working as an RN [highly recommended] and you can see that this is a very long process.

Lastly, you may want to mention that SLU is in the process of 'restructuring' their graduate school so we are all waiting to see what that means for the NP programs. We are assuming that the DNP is part of the plan but no one really knows for sure.