Do you feel more people are entering nursing only to become APRN's?

[BiscuitStripes]

I am not a nurse yet, but I'm an EMT, have worked in and around the hospital, and I am currently finishing my last two prerequisite courses before applying for ABSN programs. It seems like 90% of my current classmates in nursing prerequisite courses, along with other prospective nurses I've worked with, are entering the nursing profession with the goal of become a Nurse Practitioner or CRNA.

Do you, especially those already working as nurses, feel a lot of new graduate nurses are entering nursing for the sole purpose of becoming an APRN? I feel like since APRN's are gaining more popularity, people are entering the nursing field to become an APRN and not a "nurse", in lieu of becoming an MD/DO or PA. I'm not saying more education is bad, but it seems like people want to be an NP, not a nurse, if that makes sense. Which leads me to believe (and I know it's been discussed before) a huge over saturation of APRN's is in the near future.

Thoughts? Again, I'm not a nurse yet, so I could be completely off base.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

I don't know any nurse who became a nurse because they didn't get into med school, but I'm not saying I know every single nurse out there.

I was talking with a PA student recently and she told me that apparently you can now become a PA and then do a fast-track sort of course to become an MD after PA school. I would think someone who didn't get into med school would opt to do something like that.

There is one such program in the whole country, it leads to D.O. degree (which is less prestigious and generally shunned from most prestigious residencies like Derm or Rad/Onco) and cuts down just one year overall, with a total whole big 12 slots in the whole place):

Accelerated Physician Assistant Pathway - LECOM Education System

And, on top of it, one still has to go through residency bottleneck.

I know at least 100 of foreign-trained MDs who couldn't, or wouldn't, go through USMLE/residency pathway for a range of reasons and switched to nursing. Over 80% of them went either to NP or PA eventually. In addition to that, at least 5 out of my MSN class of 42 went through pre-med for at least some time, and there is also a trickle of "non-traditional medicine-related doctorate" students such as chiropractors and naturopaths going mostly into direct MSN programs. Their professional organizations estimate about 2 - 3% of them doing so every year.

So, it is a rather common thing. It is rather easy to estimate that summary expected 25 years income of CRNA, PA or well-placed NP specialist is simply higher then one of primary care MD while putting less demands on personal life and expenses. It would be even more common if PA programs stopped being so fiercely unwelcome to foreign-trained MD applicants.

[Dodongo, APRN, NP]

I don't know any nurse who became a nurse because they didn't get into med school, but I'm not saying I know every single nurse out there.

I was talking with a PA student recently and she told me that apparently you can now become a PA and then do a fast-track sort of course to become an MD after PA school. I would think someone who didn't get into med school would opt to do something like that.

I declined interviews for medical school, and a year later decided to go into nursing instead. I'm pretty happy with my decision overall.

And I live right next to that bridge program here in Pittsburgh. It is a 3 year D.O. Program for PAs. It doesn't make much sense because there are already 3 year programs for traditional Bachelor students. So it's not a very good deal IMO. And like was said it's DO so unless you are a stellar student you won't be matching into super prestigious specialties. Further, I think half of the students must declare family practice and be relegated to that. Even if their interests change.

[WestCoastSunRN, MSN, CNS]

I'm an educated woman. But I cannot, for the life of me, say this word -----------> "anesthetist" .....especially if I have to say the word "nurse" right before it. i mean, c'mon. Try saying it five times fast.

[llg, PhD, RN]

^ don't be surprised when you go on interviews and hiring managers ask where you see yourself in 5 years. If you (Heaven forbid) say you just want to be bedside nursing, you'll be looked upon as having no motivation. It's almost expected that no one stays in bedside nursing, as if it's just a stepping stone.

At my hospital ... you'd be hired. We love nurses who want to stay at the bedside. What we don't want is for people who consider our staff nurse jobs to be just short-term stepping stones to other types of jobs. We need staff nurses to take care of our hospitalized pediatric patients.

[NPvampire, MSN, RN, APRN]

I went to RN school with the hopes of NEVER going to any more school as long as I lived. Family demands of time and hours led to my advanced practice. Getting up or home for those "12s" in a hospital setting at 4 am or 3 am respectively, working every holiday ...not conducive much to family life. I was an RN for 6 years before my MSN and I even worked some as an RN after my grad degree and licensure - certain settings the money was equal for years or was easy to squeeze in a shift here or there. But I notice a lot of my classmates and students that I precept now, in psychiatry, have never worked in psychiatry before. How can an APRN program (and I've seen online AND B&M) admit for a specialty you have never even worked in!?

I think a lot of young'uns are in for a rude shock when they hit the APRN and it's not all scrooge-mcduck money pits and doctor status and an easy life. I work harder in an office than I ever did at the hospital - including the asylum. And the docs, at least in my restricted state, treat us like garbage and we earn peanuts compared to what we can bill medicare/medicaid. Most experienced RN in a hospital make more than I do, too.

Think about why you want to be an APRN ,the cost of the education, and consider what state you plan to reside in also.

And the only reason I left my RN employer when I became an APRN is because they told me "we don't have room to hire you." Well, ok, see you.

[rleah, BSN, RN]

Quote from RNperdiem

Nursing is often a backup plan for people who don't make it into med school, and advance practice is the alternative.

I don't know any nurse who became a nurse because they didn't get into med school, but I'm not saying I know every single nurse out there.

I was talking with a PA student recently and she told me that apparently you can now become a PA and then do a fast-track sort of course to become an MD after PA school. I would think someone who didn't get into med school would opt to do something like that.

I know a nurse whose original plan was Med School. She got her Bachelors in Science, but decided not to apply for Med School after becoming a single mom. At that point nursing made a better fit for her needs. She worked Med/Surg for about 5 years before going to PA school. Definitely one of the best nurses I have ever met.