grad school??

[vag4789]

Hi All, I am a junior nursing student and I'm basically trying to figure out what to do with my life after graduation. I would like to obtain my NP degree one day. My dilemma is that I don't know whether it is better to go right into a NP program or to first get some experience working as an RN before I pursue a career as a NP (i know that there are some schools that require experience, but there are also many that do no). I would really appreciate your input, especially from those out there working right now.

[mammac5]

I don't think you can go wrong either way, so it's a matter of both personal choice, how much you may want a break from school, whether you want to stay in school so your student loans can continue in deferrment, where you want to go to school, etc. All these are things you'll need to consider.

It will definitely be helpful to have nursing experience, but it's not mandatory in all schools. You must think about what is your likelihood to go back to school once you're out there working and earning a paycheck...it can be one of those deals where you have great intentions, but the financial obligations pile up and it's hard to drop everything and go back for your masters. I don't know if you have children or not, but if you are waiting to have kids you may want to think about how long you want to wait. And do you want to add the cost of daycare to your continued education or would you rather complete school first, then have kids when you're working as an NP?

In other words, I have no answers for you...but loads of questions you might want to considerr as you make your choice. Best of luck!

[UVA Grad Nursing]

Most graduate programs for Advanced Practice nurses (CNS, NPs, CRNAs, CNMs) want at least 1 year of fulltime RN experience. The programs that are not advanced practice (informatics, administration, education, CNL, community health, etc) often do not require as much clinical experience.

Another question to ask yourself is what sort of Nurse Practitioner do you want to be? There are about a dozen different types of NP certifications (adult, family, pediatric acute care, pediatric primary care, acute care, oncology, psych, occupational health, neonatal, etc). I generally recommend that BSN students work for a bit to be sure they are 100% sure what they want advanced specialty training in. While it is possible to obtain secondary certifications (a secondary NP certification), you will likely need to pay for this post-masters program on your own. Most schools prohibit financial aid for non-degree students.