How to pick a nursing program

I think it is preferred to have a year or two of nursing experience, but many programs don't require it. I've heard it from both sides of the fence.

My adviser says to go and get into graduate school the fall semester after I graduate - that way I'll have 6 months experience (I'm hopefully graduating a semester early) but still be in student mode.

Others say to work for a year, because the things you learn as a nurse will be applicable to schooling as a NP.

I think the whole experience thing will depend on your area and the type of NP you want to be. Lets say you want to be a PNP, but there is little need in your local area you should get some nursing experience you make you a little more appealing. Especially on a peds or PICU unit.

However, in my area (rural Iowa) NPs, and PAs for the matter, are in great need. They will hire most anyone who seems qualified. And it appears that NPs who worked on their RN part time during school felt that they got the experience to make them look appealing.

You might want to have this moved to the Nurse Practitioner forum under specialties.

Thanks so much for the info!!! Very helpful.

The amount of practice required varies from school to school. It also will depend on the competitiveness of the particular program.

For example, my University requires at least one year of full-time RN experience before applying for any of the advanced practice programs (CNS or NP). This year we had 60+ applications for the Family NP program (for 10 spaces). All successful applicants had at least 2 years of experience, and the mean years of RN experience for accepted students was 5 years.