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.
Specializes in Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist (SRNA).
You make some good points. There is a, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" element in this situation. I believe all "sides" of the situation evolved simultaneously. It's more complicated than "1 aspect caused another."
But ... now that we are in this mess ... we have to consider all of the elements simultaneously in order to move forward. Anyone, looking at any angle is likely to make matters worse by focusing on only 1 aspect of the situation.
1. Yes, some nurses have been treated very badly by the many elements within the health care system. That needs to stop.
2. Some nurses come into hospitals with woefully inadequate preparation for the complexities of the job they have accepted. That also needs to stop.
3. Some schools have the hidden agenda of wanting to recruit their undergraduates into their graduate programs -- and do so at the expense of their preparation for hospital-based careers. I talk to many, many students who have NO knowledge of career pathways "up the ladder" for hospital-based nurses. The only things they have even heard about are the programs offered by the school they attend. We should try to stop that, too.
4. As alternative roles have become more available to nurses, we need to rethink the basic career advice given to students about the necessity of "1-2 years of bedside experience." I have heard many experienced nurses say that -- both hospital-based nurses and faculty members. That philosophy is hurting our hospitals' finances severely and causing more strain on the staff nurses who work at the bedside. New models of education/training are needed. We can't keep counting on the hospitals to provide such education to people who have no interest in working in the hospital.
A lot of work needs to be done and many different fronts to address this problem -- both to make hospital roles more attractive -- and to get those people with no interest in hospital work out of our hospital education programs.
I went to an information session this morning for an ABSN program at a local state school here in Southern California. They were already pushing the subject of while you're in the ABSN program, you can apply to start the MSN/NP program so once you're done with the ABSN, you transition right into the NP program.
Specializes in Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist (SRNA).
Really? That's actually pretty pathetic. If you read the post you wouldn't need to be told I was talking about CRNA. Like I literally described the role. How juvinille.
It wasn't me that made the comment of you putting CNA. When I originally read your post, I actually didn't even catch that you had put CNA, as based on the content, I knew you were talking about CRNA. When someone pointed it out, I thought their reply was funny. I found it funny because we all knew what you meant, it's not a big deal. I apologize if I upset you.
Working on pre reqs right now, but my plan is to go as far as possible if things play out. I would love to become a NP and long term goal wise its on my list, But we shall see.
It's probably because you are going for an ABSN program. In my ABSN program, the students were just the type of go-getters who wanted to go further in their education. Ditto for BSN students vs RN-program students. There are plenty of of people who want to be/are RNs as a terminal career destination, as you will see in your various clinical sites soon.
Specializes in Neurosurgery, Oncology, Level 1 Trauma.
It's kinda sad, nursing has created this problem for itself. Nursing as a whole seems to want elevate itself compared to MD's. It seems as though leaders in nursing are always comparing themselves to MD's. I tell our new grad employees that our professions are different, MD's diagnose and prescribe treatment, nurses implement that treatment and care for patients. We need more nurses that want to care for patients and less that want to compare themselves to MD's.
Bedside nursing should not be used as a residency program for future NPs. This is unfair to RN staff, RNs who truly want a nursing career, and RN employers. Employee "churn" is not only disruptive, it is expensive. It costs employers $30K to $50K to replace employees.
RN jobs should be for RNs who desire a career in nursing. There are a lot of new grad RNs who have trouble enough finding a job.
NP residences should be encouraged to provide NPs with adequate clinical experience as an NP. NP clinical experience is what new NPs need.
I tell our new grad employees that our professions are different, MD's diagnose and prescribe treatment, nurses implement that treatment and care for patients. We need more nurses that want to care for patients and less that want to compare themselves to MD's.
Specializes in Neurosurgery, Oncology, Level 1 Trauma.
Obviously this is happening.
New nurses know that all you need is some experience and few years of grad school to get a comfortable 9-5 job with no nights, holidays, and weekends. Most pay even better than bedside care.
Only in nursing is there a culture that decries people for wanted to improve themselves professionally. Accept the reality that there will be a huge decrease in the number of experienced bedside nurses. Young people don't want to deal with the nonsense of being a shift worker.
It's sad but true that many nurses claim moral superiority when they stay at the bedside, I'm not one of them, lol. A good GBP is a great bridge between the world of nursing and MD's, but your still not a doctor. Half of the new grads I have seen in the last 3 years that are chomping at the bit to get to PAN or GBP programs were pre-med before going the nursing route and try to match wits and argue with our hospitals residents. Some of the best providers I've worked with were NP's with many years of nursing before going back to school. They diagnose and prescribe based on the whole patient and not just the acute problem. Just my opinion.
Yep. That is what I am seeing. Most of the students and new grads that I work with are using their BSN's and hospital staff nursing jobs as quick stepping stones to a grad school for an APRN role. It's contributing to my hospital's turnover problem and making us question whether we really want to hire the "best and the brightest" new grads anymore -- because most of them have no intention of doing hospital nursing for more than 1-3 years.
best and brightest are smart enough to realize quickly the dysfunction in nursing even if there main goal is to stay. We have to make the working conditions better for professionals and not keep it a dumping ground and abusive with low pay.
I completely agree with your ideas that we need to cease wasting resources on those folks who have no interest in actual patient care so that we can invest them in the rare new grads who actually ARE interested.
But im wiling to bet even the ones who start off as interested only in basic bedside see the abuse and repeated horrible working conditions and get out. If working conditions were better I bet even some would stay at bedside because life can get tricky. Unexpected things do happen and people get married and have babies,etc. Who wants to be in school their entire life.
dreamerachiever, BSN, RN
75 Posts
Yes!!