Lot of questions from a newbie.

Trauma Columnist · Apr 19, 2007

Hi and welcome. You ask some good questions. The very basis of a NP is advanced nursing practice. Most research jobs I see at the local university require 2-5 years of nursing experience. Now after your accelerated BSN, you could probably pick up a couple of years of nursing experience while perusing the job market to decide what type of grad degree will put you in line for the job you want.

Does this make sense? If you just want to do research and not nursing, than another career track would be used.

VivaRN · Apr 19, 2007

Hi, and welcome! I am currently doing an MSN (FNP), MPH and finding it to be a great mix and very rewarding.

Looking at your interests, it doesn't seem necessary for you to become an NP - especially if you do not want to practice independently or be involved with patient care. That is the basis of advanced practice nursing and the NP is an advanced clinical degree.

The MPH part of the degree is WAY much more research oriented than the NP part. You don't have to be an NP to be involved in community/public health research. There are a lot of RN, MPH's, RN, PhD's or nurses who got their MSN in public health nursing. While they do require experience for "research nursing" jobs... once you are in grad school, if you make the right connections you can work with a professor as a grad assistant. You can collaborate for your thesis. If they like your work they may hire you. A lot of people find research-oriented jobs after doing work study with an organization. There are a lot of ways to get involved.

Before you go for your masters it wouldn't hurt to see if you can get a public health nursing job. That way you have some familiarity with the practice environment, experience working with a community and using public health methodology. I have experience working with underserved communities and it helps to have real-life situations to draw on when you are learning all the theory.

I should also tell you: in public health being an RN is like a golden ticket. Many of my MPH classmates wish they were nurses. There are a lot more jobs for RN or MD, MPH's because we are already familiar with, say, health education and diabetes outcomes. We can also do more skills-wise than people without a clinical degree. Nurses are very well represented in public health... you could be a nurse-epidemiologist!

Good luck!

deeptsna · Apr 19, 2007

TraumaRus and VivaRN -Thanks a lot for your replies.

VivaRN - I have been looking into MPH myself and am very interested in pursuing it sometime.I was hoping that a masters in nursing(APN)give me the opportunities to utilize my clinical skills both in public health and research.In my previous post I spoke about not having to deal with major decisions regarding the patients health ,the reason being ,the thought of making life altering decisions about the patient scares me to death.So I was wondering if there would be options to use my APN/MPH degree in ways I could use my clinical skills but not be the solely responsible for the patients primary care.

Also since you have experience in working in public health,do you know of opportunities available for RN,MPHs to work part time?

I would really like to be sure about what I am getting into and hence these questions.Thanks for being patient and reading.

Looking forward to more replies.

Thanks.

jjjoy, LPN · Apr 19, 2007

Your original post sounds like you are more interested in public health and research than nursing. That perhaps you are thinking nursing can help you get into public health and/or research, as opposed to applying nursing in a public health/research setting. It may not sound like a big difference but it is.

Many jobs that advertise for "nurses" even when not clinical nature want nurses with clinical experience (eg: they want a diabetes educator who has worked bedside for several years with hospitalized diabetics). That's why experienced nurses are in hot demand in other areas. If a nurse has that several years of bedside experience, they have many options in bedside care and will likely be taking a pay cut to work in public health or research.

I don't see how being an NP would fit into your career objectives. As another stated, the NP role is all about increased autonomy and independent practice. So it's good you're asking questions!

I'd recommend researching entry-level opportunities for nurses in public health, such as public health nursing, which since it's not acute care isn't as pressured in terms of immediate life-altering repercussions.

And perhaps you might look into epidemiology - it's essentially public health research and usually taught in the public health schools.

VivaRN · Apr 20, 2007

TraumaRus and VivaRN -Thanks a lot for your replies.
VivaRN - I have been looking into MPH myself and am very interested in pursuing it sometime.I was hoping that a masters in nursing(APN)give me the opportunities to utilize my clinical skills both in public health and research.In my previous post I spoke about not having to deal with major decisions regarding the patients health ,the reason being ,the thought of making life altering decisions about the patient scares me to death.So I was wondering if there would be options to use my APN/MPH degree in ways I could use my clinical skills but not be the solely responsible for the patients primary care.
Also since you have experience in working in public health,do you know of opportunities available for RN,MPHs to work part time?
I would really like to be sure about what I am getting into and hence these questions.Thanks for being patient and reading.
Looking forward to more replies.
Thanks.

I'm a little confused, but I'll take a shot...

Just to clarify: Getting your MSN is not the same as being an APN (NP, CNM, etc.). APN specialties are under the umbrella of the MSN (in most states). Getting your MSN in public health nursing would not give you the clinical scope of an APN. If there's a university nearby it might be helpful to talk more with them about this.

The MPH is all about public health research - indicators, analysis, program design, interventions, monitoring and evaluation, epi, biostats, very data-based. You do not have to be an RN to participate in public health research if that is (exclusively) where you want to go... though of course PhD's design the research.

Question for you: Why do you want to be a nurse?

Part-time positions depend on the state you're in, how well the county public health depts. are funded and whether openings exist. It's too individual for me to say.

deeptsna · Apr 20, 2007

THanks JJJoy.I appreciate your comments.

Hello VivaRN,

While researching public health I realised there were a lot of RNs with the MPH degree and read about them (RNs) finding the combination (RN,MPH) a great one.So I decided to go the RN route as I believed that it would help me gain a better foothold in the field of public health.

I believed that getting the BSN would give me a broad understanding about health , disease and caring for the diseased and hence would be a stepping stone for me into the field of public health.Will it be wrong for me to become an RN if this is the real reason i want to get the BSN?

I would appreciate your honest opinions.

Thanks once again.

VivaRN · Apr 21, 2007

Thanks for your reply. I understand you better now!

I think it's awesome that you want to pursue nursing and public health! Your BSN will give you an excellent foundation. After you graduate (and maybe work a bit) you'll have a clearer idea about which path to take. BSN + work experience + MPH (or MSN/MPH) will have you rocking the public health world. Make sure you pick a school of public health with good connections.

Welcome to the profession!

~ VivaRN

deeptsna · Apr 21, 2007

Hello VivaRN,

Thanks once again. It feels great to get encouragement from somebody who is in the field I desire to pursue some day.

I hope to get your valuable opinions and advice in the future too.

Also, I am glad you understand what I was trying to say.I too was a tad confused when i read my post later :)

Best Wishes

jjjoy, LPN · Apr 23, 2007

THanks JJJoy.I appreciate your comments.
Hello VivaRN,
While researching public health I realised there were a lot of RNs with the MPH degree and read about them (RNs) finding the combination (RN,MPH) a great one.So I decided to go the RN route as I believed that it would help me gain a better foothold in the field of public health.
I believed that getting the BSN would give me a broad understanding about health , disease and caring for the diseased and hence would be a stepping stone for me into the field of public health.Will it be wrong for me to become an RN if this is the real reason i want to get the BSN?
I would appreciate your honest opinions.
Thanks once again.

As usual, with any advice, a lot depends on you. All in all, there ARE ways to make use of a nursing education besides clinical nursing. It's just not the norm and you may have to blaze your own path, so to speak.

Let me share my background. I was a bio major but had no idea what I'd do after graduation. Most classmates were pre-med and I wasn't sure I wanted that. My college had a public health school (only graduate degrees) and a nursing school (offering a BSN). I, too, heard that nurses were well-positioned in public health. The nursing advisors were encouraging as well saying there were practically endless opportunities within nursing. I changed my major to nursing with the idea that I might pursue a MPH after that.

My experience in nursing school was that the major focus was in acute conditions and inpatient nursing care. I enjoyed our 10-week unit on community health nursing. I also worked as a student research assistant to a nurse researcher. We had various observation days: spending a day with a home health nurse, a diabetes educator, etc, Most everything else was inpatient acute care: renal patients, diabetic patients, abdominal surgery patients, orthopedic patients, oncology patients, etc.

It WAS interesting to see what the inpatient experience was and I enjoyed interacting with patients, but I was also interested in the larger trajectory which we only had a little exposure to. I had also hoped to have more clinical skills mastered during school, but we had few opportunities to perform many common procedures and weren't taught at all how to draw blood or start IVs.

I don't work clinically myself and have found interesting jobs that utilize my background, but there's no obvious job title that I can look under when job hunting. I currently work in health information and I'm enjoying a job that stimulates and doesn't require juggling competing priorities with people's lives hanging in the balance! While I'm still interested in public health, I'm not sure if it's worth it to me pursue an MPH. I've got more research to do myself!

Because I have a RN license, I sometimes feel pressure to take a bedside position. I open a nursing publication and see lists of job openings for both new and experienced nurses... and they are almost all acute or chronic clinical care. I see interesting job descriptions that require several years clinical experience. I have to put up with questioning, incredulous looks as to why I'm not working in a hospital when I have the qualifications to do so and there is clearly demand and the pay is good. There's also the accusation that I took up someone else's spot in a nursing program who wanted nothing more than to be a nurse. And hiring personnel can be reluctant to hire RNs for non-clinical positions if they can't offer comparable pay.

I hope it doesn't come across that I have only negative things to say! It's just that school advisors will tend to tell mostly positives. This has been my experience and everyone is different!!!!

Once again, good luck with your choices! If you do decide to pursue nursing, I'm sure you'll make the most of it!