How long should you be an RN before starting NP school?

grannynurse FNP student · Jul 13, 2005

Physicians go into a residency program for three to four years after graduating. An NP does not.

Physicians also attend medical school for four years, an internship post graduation, several externships third and fourth years, to name a few. They also are supervised during their residency programs, to name a few of the restrictions. There is much more to being a NP then just having the degree and the book knowledge.

Grannynurse :balloons:

suzanne4, RN · Jul 13, 2005

Thank you.......... :)

DalNur · Jul 17, 2005

The NP program here in Canada does require you to have 2 years experience before entering. (But I guess you do not care too much about Canada, do you? :)

I am not sure about MSN program. You may gain research edge over other RNs but what else? Not like NP, you still can not subscribe prescriptions, can you? Maybe it is different in states??

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 17, 2005

h! i just graduated with my bsn last month and will soon be starting orientation for my rn position in a few weeks. my question is this: how long do you think someone should work as an rn before applying to np school? i want to become an adult acute care np someday and was thinking of starting np school (part-time) after i work as an rn for 1-2 years. while i'm going to np school part-time, i would still be working as an rn part-time as well. what do you all think?
-christine

i worked as an rn for 5 years before doing a 4 year preceptorship with an ob-gyn physician. then began an np porgram. but, if i had it to do over again, i would have started the program earlier.

everyone has to find their comfort zone. i say do it as soon as you can. one suggestion i have is work alongside a physician in your speciality field (a preceptorship) while in your np program. it helps in the clinical field.

siri, crnp, clnc, rlnc

tridil2000, MSN, RN · Jul 17, 2005

Physicians also attend medical school for four years, an internship post graduation, several externships third and fourth years, to name a few. They also are supervised during their residency programs, to name a few of the restrictions. There is much more to being a NP then just having the degree and the book knowledge.
Grannynurse :balloons:

i started my msn back in 1993 but stopped bc i had children. i lost 9 credits! ahhh! i hope to restart next year, and feel 1000% more prepared now to really be an np. i now have 18 years of various critical care experience, ccrn, cen and i'm also an acls intructor.

there's soooo much you just can not possibly learn from any book.

get some clinical experience before going for your msn. your peers will have it and blow you away when put on the spot. .... you don't want that.

bellcollector · Aug 1, 2005

But won't she be getting experience while in school if she intends to work part time and take classes part time? Just a thought.

cnmbfa · Jul 4, 2011

why wait at all?
Physicians don't have to wait. And start practice as new beginners.
1/2 the people I'm studying with in an accelerated program will immediately go on to obtain their masters. And begin practise will little previous experience. Whoever hires you would likely take that into account and "mentor" you?

Not so fast. Physicians begin doing several days per week of suprevised clinicals in their junior year of med school, then go through a full-time minimum three year long residency. They have been "Practicing" for at least five years before they are on their own. In my grad program, we did 8 hours a week for two semesters, then 16 hours for one semester, then a 10 week full-time internship. And I had a huge amount of experience and graduated from one of the best programs in the country. Even so, there was a huge amount I had to learn those first few years out.

While I am sure that somewhere in the USA there is an extraordinary nurse or two who suceeded as an NP with so little experience, but I am also sure they are few and far between.

I precepted NP students for about 7 years. I had one who was an older, second career student who had gone to grad school after less than a year of Part-time practice. Many of my other NP students had years of experience, and were stellar. This one made me quite nervous because she had so little awareness of what the role involved, and of how litte she knew. Even worse, she took feedback poorly. At one point, I told her that it felt as if I was giving her a gift by taking her under my wing, and that it felt as if she were shoving the gifts right back at me.

Because of the pressure to get up and running quickly so you can see lots of patients each and every day, you should not count on having a mentor or even a prolonged orientation. You also need to know that the job market for NPs is tightening up, and that you will be low man on the totem pole once employers realize how little experience you have. And, many NPs jobs originate from connections they already have with physicians and HC systems.

By the way, make sure that you won't be expected to find your own preceptiors and clinical sites. That not always easy, and a busy NP may not want to take on an inexperienced student.

Think about this carefully before you make your decision. I can think of no probelms that would stem from you having MORE experience, and many created by not enough.

senseiRN · Jul 4, 2011

The dean of our school encouraged us to go ahead and go straight to NP school right after our BSN. Her reason was that the responsibilities of an RN greatly differs from that of an NP... and that RN experience is irrelevant to NP practice (not making this up).

....... I also want to pursue an acute care nurse practitioner degree and would personally feel more comfortable once I've had my ACLS, CCRN, and a few years of nursing experience under my belt. I talked to a couple of practitioners (not ACNPs but FNPs) and they suggested getting a year or two of RN experience in your chosen specialty first.

cnmbfa · Jul 5, 2011

The dean of our school encouraged us to go ahead and go straight to NP school right after our BSN. Her reason was that the responsibilities of an RN greatly differs from that of an NP... and that RN experience is irrelevant to NP practice (not making this up).
Has this dean actually practiced as a NP?
I am suspicious of the comment about difference in responsibilities between RNs and NPs. Yes, what you do on the job is quite different, but the RN's knowledge and skills form a HUGE foundation for what the NP does and knows, and adds immensely to the NP's ability to make solid clinical judgments. I cannot immagine how I would have done as well as I have without the many years of experience behind me.
Is this dean under pressure to fill slots in a graduate program? Or to raise the profile of the program by having a high percentage of students who go on to graduate school?

senseiRN · Jul 6, 2011

She is a clinical specialist in medical surgical nursing and a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Her argument was that PT/Dent/Med students go straight to grad school........

newtinmpls, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2011

The answer to the question is another question: what feels right? I graduated as an RN (while still going to school as I was on a scholarship that covered up through BSN) and kept going. However the organization where I had worked (for 16 years) as a CNA wouldn't hire me (economy hit the fan, union hit the hospital and all the formerly happy-to-be-intermittant nurses were scrambing for anything and it was 'union first') so I spent a year as a CNA at one place and RN alternating weekends betwen 2 different LTC places. Eventually lucked into inpatient psych (and float to crisis).

As soon as I was finishing my BSN I was looking for DNP schools. I came to the game late, and figured as long as I'm all excited about school, why not run with it. That was the best option for me.

Do what is the best option for you.

Dian

phillycpnp-pc, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 29, 2012

I was a pediatric nurse for 4 years before i started my PNP-PC program in 2010. When i complete my program i will have 7 years of nursing experience when i get my first NP job.