I hope I'm in the right place; I'm bad with forums.
So I'm pre-RN in college right now(doing pre-requisites) and I'm interested in being advanced practice. I know everyone says you should get experience before applying to a Graduate program, but I would rather just do advanced practice instead of being a floor nurse for years on end, getting experience. Most people tell me to go to PA school since this is more my fit but PA school is INSANELY expensive, compared to some of the NP programs around me. The only problem is, I don't know if I have a shot of getting in any of the NP programs without any experience. Is it possible? Or should I just pursue being a PA?
As the OP stated, she doesn't have experience: she's pre nursing. That's why she's asking questions on here. It isn't uncommon to want to go straight toward your goal. If she knows what her end goal is, why shouldn't she want to go straight for that. It makes sense in an inexperienced person's mind. That's why we pre nursing folks love this forum: we can get good advice from experienced professionals. So please, keep it professional without degrading the OP for a simple question.
OP stated that he (not she) wants to obtain an advanced degree without putting in "unnecessary" years of experience. In fact, his preference is to be a PA, but he feels that the cost of the education is prohibitive (perhaps it includes experience??). So we have a student who doesn't want experience in his chosen field, but wants the cheapest possible route to authority.
OP degraded himself by disclosing his value system. I just made it more obvious to the casual reader. And that's why nursing folks love this forum: you get good advice from experienced professionals who have seen/heard it all.
If you think about it,....if you want to be an ADVANCED PRACTICE nurse,...you need experience,...you can't possibly start out ADVANCED,....as someone else mentioned, go through the program,..work a year or two while finishing school. You will be a better nurse for it. As exciting as it sounds to rush through,...being advanced at anything requires experience.
If you want to be a PA you should go for it. Take the time to research different schools across the country and scholarships and grants to help costs. You may find your goal is more attainable after all.
MUSC in Charleston, SC doesn't require a bachelors degree for admission and most if not all prerequisites can be taken at 2 year schools.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
So these same nurses don't think highly of PA's either? They start off doing the same thing NP's do, and do it just as well. I can't see why a PA would need experience, so why should an NP? Seems a bit trivial to argue.
Some of those same nurses -- me, for one -- think highly of the PAs I've encountered. Their education is different from that of an NP, which is based on the idea that the NP student has experience as an RN before going on to Advance Practice.
Trivial to argue? And this from someone who has no experience in a medical profession of any kind? Please, do us all a favor and consider IT or accounting -- something where a person's life won't be in your hands.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
As the OP stated, she doesn't have experience: she's pre nursing. That's why she's asking questions on here. It isn't uncommon to want to go straight toward your goal. If she knows what her end goal is, why shouldn't she want to go straight for that. It makes sense in an inexperienced person's mind. That's why we pre nursing folks love this forum: we can get good advice from experienced professionals. So please, keep it professional without degrading the OP for a simple question.
It isn't the "simple question" many of us are having problems with. It's the attitude.
While reading this post, I couldn't help but get a big sense of deja vu. This commentator has the same vibe and feeling as a nursing student that was in my program when I was in school. It got very irritating to hear nonstop about "I'm going to graduate and apply for the next semester to NP school". She didn't participate in clinicals and thought she was better than everyone else because, as she would tell us, "I'm just going to be a nurse for a few months before becoming a nurse practitioner". If it drove us crazy, I hate to think what the instructors must have thought.
It certainly is possible to become an NP without RN experience. If you already have a bachelors degree in another field, there are many direct entry to NP practice programs.
I'm an APRN with 14 years RN experience prior to becoming an APRN. Did I think that 14 years helped - yes indeed.
Could I have done a direct entry program and been successful? Yes I think so and the research proves this out also.
but again, thank you.
Purple_roses
1,763 Posts
Sorry OP, shouldn't have assumed you were female. My apologies.