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.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

I've had parents call me because they didn't want their precious babies to have to get immunizations prior to employment.

I've had parents come with their new grads for job interviews and be offended because I wanted to interview their baby privately.

I've had parents call as THEY tried to fill out the employment application for their precious baby.

Such parents are shocked when they are told that we need to deal directly with the RN applicant -- and if their precious baby is interested in the job, she should get in contact with me herself.

Oh. My. Goodness.... I would be MORTIFIED!! I mean my parents drove me to my first job interview -- when I was 16/a newly licensed driver. It was dark in rural WI (land of the killer deers), and it was a 30 min drive. But they knew enough to keep quiet.

[callinshotz, RN]

With all due respect, why is this even a topic for discussion. I am a perspective nurse so I don't know what I don't know. However, isn't there over 2.5 million nurses and a couple 100,000 NPs? Now you can want to be an NP all day long. But not everyone who aspires to do it actually starts the process to get in. Not everyone who applies gets in. Not everyone in finishes. There is a shortage of PCPs and I think it's great that NPs are filling that gap. I honestly don't think it's an issue for someone to be ambitious. Especially in this day and age.

[Julius Seizure]

With all due respect, why is this even a topic for discussion. I am a perspective nurse so I don't know what I don't know. However, isn't there over 2.5 million nurses and a couple 100,000 NPs? Now you can want to be an NP all day long. But not everyone who aspires to do it actually starts the process to get in. Not everyone who applies gets in. Not everyone in finishes. There is a shortage of PCPs and I think it's great that NPs are filling that gap. I honestly don't think it's an issue for someone to be ambitious. Especially in this day and age.

There have been many really good, insightful posts on this thread about the downsides of bedside nurses leaving after 1-2 years to be APRNs. Its not that ambition is a bad thing. Its that having so many nurses only working for 1-2 years each before leaving for grad school leaves the bedside nursing workforce a mile wide and an inch deep.

High turnover means that the most experienced person on the unit might only have 3 years of experience, and that nurses who have barely been there a year are now training new grads. It makes a difference in how smoothly things run and how safe the patients are. In addition, good nurses are unable to find new grad residencies, or even jobs at all, because there is so much competition for these spots - only to have many of those nurses leave again two years later. It costs the hospitals money, contributes to staffing inefficiency, and isn't the best use of resources.

No one is saying that it is bad to aspire to be an APRN. They are just saying theres got to be a better way to do this.

[callinshotz, RN]

Again, I don't know what I don't know. All I've observed is not all nurses who say they are stepping away from bedside for APRN are actually doing it. The numbers say it's not as serious as nurses on these boards let on. I do agree that standards for np programs should be more strict. But the argument that too many nurses are running to np is not justified. Especially with the PCP shortage. There are still plenty of nurses who stay put and plenty of new grads to fill slots.

[llg, PhD, RN]

There have been many really good, insightful posts on this thread about the downsides of bedside nurses leaving after 1-2 years to be APRNs. Its not that ambition is a bad thing. Its that having so many nurses only working for 1-2 years each before leaving for grad school leaves the bedside nursing workforce a mile wide and an inch deep.

High turnover means that the most experienced person on the unit might only have 3 years of experience, and that nurses who have barely been there a year are now training new grads. It makes a difference in how smoothly things run and how safe the patients are. In addition, good nurses are unable to find new grad residencies, or even jobs at all, because there is so much competition for these spots - only to have many of those nurses leave again two years later. It costs the hospitals money, contributes to staffing inefficiency, and isn't the best use of resources.

No one is saying that it is bad to aspire to be an APRN. They are just saying theres got to be a better way to do this.

I just loved this post so much ... I wanted everyone to read it again.

Thanks, Julius.

[Julius Seizure]

Again, I don't know what I don't know. All I've observed is not all nurses who say they are stepping away from bedside for APRN are actually doing it. The numbers say it's not as serious as nurses on these boards let on. I do agree that standards for np programs should be more strict. But the argument that too many nurses are running to np is not justified. Especially with the PCP shortage. There are still plenty of nurses who stay put and plenty of new grads to fill slots.

I agree...sort of. The problem isn't that we are gonna run out of nurses because they are all becoming NPs. I believe you are correct about that. I'm just not sure that is the crux of the issue.

[Accolay]

I don't know the answer the the OP's question, but I thought it was pretty weird when some classmates from nursing school were going straight into an NP or PHD path. Most of them were early 20somethings, and I cannot fathom how one would know that they want to do those jobs, especially since many of them had never actually worked anywhere in healthcare before, (and probably some of them hadn't worked anywhere at all).

Seems like it could lead to a lot of job dissatisfaction down the road.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

Most of them were early 20somethings, and I cannot fathom how one would know that they want to do those jobs, especially since many of them had never actually worked anywhere in healthcare before, (and probably some of them hadn't worked anywhere at all).

Seems like it could lead to a lot of job dissatisfaction down the road.

Isn't this exactly what physicians do?

[callinshotz, RN]

I said the exact same thing but it didn't post. The problem isn't with the amount furthering their education or lack of experience. It seems like the problem lies with the quality of the programs and requirements for admissions. We have to also remember that nursing has always been a female driven field. So there will always be programs that are designed for the convenience of mothers. But there are ways to improve the quality. One step would be finding other ways to fund program so you aren't spending half the time working in research projects. They need to replace that with clinical rotations. I think there also needs to be a residency requirement. Advance practice nursing is supposed to be for providers who love and respect the foundations of nursing that adhere to the biopsychosocial model and not the biomedical model. Healing the whole person and achieving total health or at least managing the health of the whole person.

[Spine_CRNA, BSN, RN]

These problems exist at the provider level too...look at the rates of physician burnout.

Absolutely it does. ED, critical care, ortho surgeon, anesthesia have tremendous burnout and people wishing they chose different life paths. Incessantly bogged down by government regulation, socialized healthcare, paper work, decreasing individual purchasing power... These are a few reasons why healthcare ends up hurting providers.

[Spine_CRNA, BSN, RN]

The wrong direction for this discussion is blaming the young RNs/students that pursue APRN early/ before they have their degree.

[Spine_CRNA, BSN, RN]

I don't know the answer the the OP's question, but I thought it was pretty weird when some classmates from nursing school were going straight into an NP or PHD path. Most of them were early 20somethings, and I cannot fathom how one would know that they want to do those jobs, especially since many of them had never actually worked anywhere in healthcare before, (and probably some of them hadn't worked anywhere at all).

Seems like it could lead to a lot of job dissatisfaction down the road.

So you don't understand their ambition and think it's "pretty weird". That's not a valid criticism of your peers. And like Boston wrote, that's very similar to what Physicians do. People are still under the impression that nursing is on the job training. It is, yet other options have developed as alternates and I think that's where much of the criticism stems from: reality not meeting an expectation one had of what nursing is. Healthcare continues to change and there are reasons out the wazoo to leave bedside nursing for APRN. Don't blame the person. Instead fix bedside nursing.