I am a 45 yr old male looking at nursing as a second career.
I have been accepted to Columbia University for their ETP/Direct Entry MSN program, specifically, the FNP track
Tuition at this school is roughly 1200.00 PER credit hour so I would come out of this program approximately 100 thousand dollars in debt and would be an FNP making perhaps what 80K per year.
I have also been accepted to my local community college ADN program. This program is highly respected and the cost is trivial relative to Columbia.
At the same time, I have applied for an Earn as you learn program through a local non-profit hospital that is extremely highly respected. This program would pay all my tuition and books plus give me a stipend of 175.00 per week while I attendted the same ADN program referenced above. I feel that I have an excellent chance of being accepted into this program as well. The down side or the upside depending upon how one looks at it as that I would be bound to this hospital for three years after completeing the program.
Any advice on which way I shoul go? I am so confused!!!!
You don't want the debt in this economy. Kate's got it right. In clinical, I heard all the same scuttle about new NPs etc without a shred of nursing experience. You would be wise to avoid this. I think there was such a huge influx of people (NP, CNRA, etc) who entered the workforce "cart before the horse" and it kind of stunned everybody. Facilities are starting to rethink these people and you sure will have to prove how you can contribute.
One thing that you have to let sink in... once you are licensed, you are responsible for what you do. It's you taking the responsibility. As an NP you in many ways are an independent contractor. So, if you accept a job beyond your ability, absolutely nobody is going to watch out for you. You will be expected to handle it. There will be no chance to say that you are a "new" NP and are just learning. IMHO there is no faster way to go down in a ball of flames in malpractice than to skip the basics in nursing edu that can only happen once you begin working under the direction of well-seasoned nurses.
Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
I'm also a career-changer. Here in Michigan we now have a lot of former "Big Three" employees who got through direct-entry MSN programs and become NPs - mostly in Family practice. Most of them didn't have any experience in health care before. Now, frankly speaking, I have no idea how some of them are going to work with real patients in real life. Ambulatory medicine isn't as "mundane" as it is too often portrayed, and all that super-massive amount of clinical knowledge is supposed to be learned within four years - that's unimaginable. My GP's NP (working first year; 4-year direct MSN after 25 years on GM) offered me lunch so that I could tell her how I live with my food allergies - it turned out, she'd never seen a single patient with severe food allergy before. I saw pediatric NP straight from school who didn't know how to use percentile growth charts and was totally lost when another mom asked her about risks and benefits of vaccinations!
That's why I'm going to get good ol' solid BSN first, and then go to MSN (which, BTW, can be done while working part time). If you even got someone willing to pay for your ADN... I would chose it.
Since you say you don't know which you'd rather do, being that you've done neither, there IS a chance that you'll get in to nursing and decide it isn't right for you, period. Doing the ADN first would be MUCH less of a loss for you, if that turns out to be the case (not that I think it will, but you NEVER know, right?). You can do it and have it paid for, that's a wonderful opportunity! You may be "bound" to that hospital for 3 years, but in that three years, you can start work on obtaining your BSN and then MSN, if you still want to do that, all while getting good, solid experience under your belt. To me, that sounds like a win-win.
Best of luck in your decision, and then along your path!
I would steer clear of the direct entry FNP for a couple of reasons. The first is that having the FNP with no nursing experience is fairly useless imo. I work with two nurses who went through entry level masters programs and they have not been able to find anything but work as bedside nurses. They make the same as I do with my BSN. Next, AVOID the huge student loans. They are hard to get out from under at any age, but starting to pay them off in your fifties means you will be paying them off into your retirement. Especially avoid private loans. I have private loans, and they were the worst mistake I ever made. I would have been better off financing my education with credit cards. I make close to six figures and still don't see that I will pay off my 75K in loans in the next ten years. I wish that I had gotten an ADN or a BSN from a cheaper public university. My co-workers who have ADNs are taking month long vacations in Thailand while I live at basically a subsistance level.
I started nursing school in a direct to NP program, but realized quickly that I wanted to get some bedside RN experience. I've now been an RN working bedside for 2 years and am doing my NP part time. I'm now realizing I'm STILL not ready to be an NP. I've learned tons bedside and am SO glad I didn't go direct to NP. Never devalue the bedside experience.
Do the smart thing......Go the ASN route first. You'll have plenty of time to set other goals. Get some experience. I agree with Jo PACU RN. I would not want to see an FNP without any nursing experience.
I also agree about starting in the ADN program. There are lots of RN-MSN bridge type programs that you can do in a shorter time period, so you wouldn't have to go to a separate BSN program before doing the MSN. Make sure you like nursing before you go into that kind of debt. We had several students drop out of our program and a lot more leave nursing within the first few years out of school. It's not for everyone, but it's really hard to know for sure until you're actually out there in the trenches. Also, where are you located? Near me, we have several excellent in-state nursing schools that do RN-MSN programs for much, much cheaper. I don't think the name of the school is as important at the FNP level as it might be at the pHD level.
Well, I'm partial to UNC, since that is where I went. So, if it were me, I would do the ADN and then move to N.C., work for a year to both get experience and in-state residency and then do UNC's RN to MSN program. I'm sure there are lots of state schools out there that do this. It's a really good program (and well regarded in the nursing world) and waaaaayyy cheaper if you're an instate student. And if you work at UNC hospitals, they will pay for part of it! http://nursing.unc.edu/degree/rn_options/rn-msn.html
netglow, ASN, RN
4,412 Posts
You don't want the debt in this economy. Kate's got it right. In clinical, I heard all the same scuttle about new NPs etc without a shred of nursing experience. You would be wise to avoid this. I think there was such a huge influx of people (NP, CNRA, etc) who entered the workforce "cart before the horse" and it kind of stunned everybody. Facilities are starting to rethink these people and you sure will have to prove how you can contribute.
One thing that you have to let sink in... once you are licensed, you are responsible for what you do. It's you taking the responsibility. As an NP you in many ways are an independent contractor. So, if you accept a job beyond your ability, absolutely nobody is going to watch out for you. You will be expected to handle it. There will be no chance to say that you are a "new" NP and are just learning. IMHO there is no faster way to go down in a ball of flames in malpractice than to skip the basics in nursing edu that can only happen once you begin working under the direction of well-seasoned nurses.