If almost done with a MSN in 2015, grandfathered in?

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I looked but didn't see an answer to this question: if someone is in a MSN program to become an NP that will be finished in early to mid 2015, will they be "grandfathered" and able to be practicing NPs, or will they need to continue on for the DNP in order to practice?

Making the DNP a requirement for practice as a NP will mean opening the nurse practice acts in each of the 50 states. When the practice act for any profession is opened, it is open for review and possible revision from the public - this includes any and all special interest groups. Opening the nurse practice acts jeopardizes the advances NPs have already made and, obviously, many state associations and BONs are going to be resistant to this. This, combined with the fact that this will have to happen in each state, makes the 2015 call virtually impossible to accomplish. Some schools may only be offering the DNP, but it will not be necessary to become certified and practice as a NP.

If a change in a state's law occurs, MSN-prepared NPs will be grandfathered though it is unlikely that a DNP will ever be required, especially given the large numbers of NPs that are already practicing at the master's level. My opinion is that nursing will have a two-tiered process for becoming a NP - MSN and DNP - similar to RNs.

I would go for the MSN any day over a DNP at this point. Even on the unlikely chance that you would need to get a DNP sometime in the future, you can always pursue one while practicing as a MSN NP.

Just remember that the states were not the driver for the MSN to practice as an NP. Medicares requirement for the MSN proceeded all but one or two states. When the states did not require the MSN NONPF and the ANA went to Medicare and had it included in the 1986 OBRA which allowed NPs to bill Medicare directly. Nothing to say the same thing can't happen again.

David Carpenter, PA-C

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I'm not sure if I am clear to many with my post. As others have answered, I'll agree that if you have graduated from a NP program that that would be sufficient to practice. But if you want to stop the schools from changing their programs to longer, more expensive programs and have that be the new requirement, you had better start to take action. The sooner, the better .

If I were a student I would start an organization in my college, as well as contact and encourage every program in my state to do so. It's incredible how much effect such activity can have. :typing

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Dont be lulled into complacency by someone telling you It'll never happen and such. Don't be naive:yawn:

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The answer to this question is "probably not", but depends on several variables.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) recommendation is required reading for anybody wondering about this issue. It is a recommendation, not a law. If laws are enacted as a result of this recommendation and follow its proposed deadline, then nurses will need to be "in practice" as NPs by 2015. Not "in school", "in residency", or "in progress" or "looking for a job". This is an ambitious deadline and may or may not happen. Though it looks like it will happen. The educational institutions just doubled their business in this segment, so you can count on them to be behind the changes. The NPS themselves are behind it because it will make their numbers more scarce and their salaries higher. Members of the public who need access to more affordable healthcare (particularly the underserved and underprivileged) and those who aspire to service in this arena but lack the means or time to become NPs (versus the many who are doing it for prestige and wealth) because of these changes will unfortunately be the likely losers here.

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Specializes in Abdominal Transplant.

From Wikipedia (I know, but I've been looking and looking...)

In 2004, The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in conjunction with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) recommended that advanced practice registered nurses move the entry level degree to the doctorate level by 2015.[3] Accordingly, all APRN training programs are required to convert their master's degree to a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree by the year 2015. Although The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists approved this recommendation, it is not requiring program compliance until the year 2025.[4]

The majority of programs will grant a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).[3] Because 45% of the nurse anesthesia programs are located in Schools of Allied Health, these programs will award a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP). The Doctor of Nursing Practice will be the direct-entry, minimum academic requirement for advanced practice registered nurses; it is a clinical/practice-based doctorate but because it is not the entry degree for the profession of nursing (which includes advanced practice registered nursing), it is a terminal degree.

[edit] Grandfather exception

The future Doctor of Nursing Practice requirement will apply only to those who are not yet licensed and practicing as APRNs. Those currently licensed as APRNs will be permitted to maintain their current level of education and certification. Some APRNs who have been in the profession for many years have been grandfathered into continuing APRN practice and licensure even without a master's degree. For example, the first Nurse Practitioner program was created by a nurse educator, Loretta Ford, Ed.D, RN, PNP and a physician, Henry Silver, MD, in 1965 at the University of Colorado as a non-degree certificate program, and all the early NP programs were initially established as these type of certificate programs before transitioning them to master's degrees in the 1980s.[5]

Every state has different laws, rules, regulations, licensing and certification requirements for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, thus some states may not have a grandfather clause in their State Board of Nursing laws, in particular as it may relate to transferring a license from one State to another. The US National Counsel of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) continues to work on a collaborative muti-state compact licensure agreement for advanced practice nurses to be able to work in multiple US States with a singular active home State license.[6] there are on-going discussions on expanding that type of licensure nationally[7][8] similar to the existing Nurse Compact for recognition of RN and LPN licenses.

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There was an article in The Nurse Practitioner journal about this just this month. It said that it is very unlikely that this will happen by 2015 because of all the steps still needed to be taken, legislation to be changed, etc.

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