MNP/MPH and DNP/MPH question

[Bloodborne]

I'm very interested in public health, epidemiology, infectious disease, those sort of things. I'm currently in a BSN program and am looking for clarification on these advanced degrees. I would like to be a nurse practitioner in addition to the MPH degree to work in the public health nursing and epidemiology areas. I do not want to skip over becoming a nurse practitioner in the process.

So my questions:

1) Does a MNP qualify one to take certification testing to become a nurse practitioner in and of itself or is there a special "Nurse Practitioner" masters program?

2) By doing a combined MNP/MPH degree, I would still be able to become a nurse practitioner?

3) If I do a DNP/MPH program (leaving out the MNP), would I be able to be a Nurse Practitioner based off the DNP or do you need the MNP too?

Thank you in advance! Any other useful information that I haven't though of is welcome, also.

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

I am still unsure of your career goals. So, you want to work in public health, epidemiology perhaps? If you want to be an epidemiologist, why not focus on the MPH and skip the NP route. The nurse epidemiologists we have are BSN prepared. If you want to be an advanced public health nurse, you can pursue a BSN to MSN or a BSN to DNP in Public Health. I suppose it all depends on what you want to do. It sounds as though you have many interests.

To answer your questions- what is MNP? Is it a Masters in Nursing Practice? Generally a Nurse Practitioner program is a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). Each school has a list of Nurse Practitioner programs. The masters you mention sounds like an entry into nursing degree. In other words, a graduate program offered to students who already have a Bachelor's with a major other than nursing and who would like to start a career in nursing.

Good luck!