Going to Graduate School Directly After Graduating

[2016BSNGraduate]

I am a senior nursing student, who wants to be a family nurse practitioner. I am sure this is the path I want to take in nursing. However, I am debating between if it is better to wait to go back to school after graduating with a BSN and work first or go straight to graduate school? For any family nurse practitioners or any other advanced nurse practitioner specialty, what is your opinion on the matter?

Did you go straight to graduate school? If so did you feel at a disadvantage because of not having work experience as a nurse first before going?

Did you wait to go to graduate school? If so did the work experience help you in the program or not?

Thanks for sharing input!

[Dranger]

There is no reason why you can't go to work and do school. Not only are you gaining experience but also needed money for loans and life.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Moved to the Student Nurse Practitioner forum

[shopaholicRN]

I am not a NP but I am a new grad who has also been looking into graduate school. I know that where I live, you need to have 4500 hours of RN work experience before you can apply to a NP program. So just a helpful tip - look into the potential programs you would be applying to and see what their requirements are :)

[MallysMama]

I think a lot of it depends on the specific person. Are you a "fast" learner? Can you adjust to working as a new grad RN while also going through a rigorous graduate program?

My program (acute care) accepted a broad range of people- from one new grad to nurses with 15-20 yrs of critical care experience...and everything in between. We have all struggled in different ways- so I can't say that the new grad has done worse than the rest of us. But I, myself, have found it comforting to at least have a solid patient care background. I'm already comfortable in the acute care setting, which makes my clinical rotations a bit easier. (Though this wouldn't be the same for FNP...so I'm not sure if RN experience plays a direct role in how successful an FNP student is/isn't.)

I agree with the above poster, though, in looking into specific programs and seeing what they require.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

I liked the route I did. I earned my ADN and then I spent a year earning my BSN. Then I applied to an online MSN that has several days where they teach you skills before you go to clinicals. In my cohort, I think I am the youngest and the newest nurse but I like the route I did. I am sure being on a fire department and a paramedic before helped.

The downside is do you know enough people to get potential clinical sites? Most schools no longer find clinical sites. At least in my area. The established school no longer guarantees clinical sites and I see a lot of nurses from there posting begging for clinical sites.