My professor told us NPs have no future...

[anilechim]

Hi everyone,

I'm just starting out in nursing school. I'm in my first semester, and currently at the tail-end of A&P I. On Tuesday night, one of my classmates asked our professor, who spent the bulk of his career prior to teaching as a scientist for Schering-Plough Research Institute, what a Trump presidency could possibly mean for the future of healthcare professionals. My classmate went on further to ask our professor what he thought a job market in the future would look like for NP's. Before answering the question, our professor went on and on about how MDs and PAs will always be needed, but that he doesn't see a job market for NP's other than as nursing instructors. He was even pretty much shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes! This immediately raised a huge red flag for me. I was pretty horrified by how dismissive he was of this career path. He actually said, "yeah, that's an avenue a lot of nurses are taking these days, mainly because it's the only way to advance their careers."

Can he possibly be serious?! And furthermore, is there any truth to his assumption? I personally know two women who were nurses for 20+ years who recently went back to school to pursue DNPs and are currently working in their specialized fields alongside a group of doctors, and they're very happy and successful. I follow multiple nurses on Instagram who have large social media followings who are recent grads/current NP students and none of them have been relegated to teaching because there is "no job market for NPs."

My lab instructor is a highly respected doctor and I plan on discussing this with him tonight, since I'm sure he knows a lot more about this sort of thing than my lecture instructor seems to think he does.

I would love to "hear" your thoughts on this. Personally, I was horrified and quite offended.

[TriciaJ, RN]

Makes me wonder if the professor had previously tried to become an NP and failed. OP will probably never know the answer to that, but it's the first thing I always consider when someone disparages an entire profession out of hand.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Can he be serious?? Sure! Is he right? No. People believe all sorts of things. Let it go.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

I believe the previous posters have adequately addressed the main perceptions of job availability and quality of NPs out there now and to come.

My only bit of advice would be to think about the unproductiveness of being "offended". Be concerned, ask questions, but don't shut someone's opinion out because it's "offensive". Shore up your being with knowledge on the topic. Confront said professor if you like. Either way, you'll feel better if you've armed yourself with actual facts and not personal conjecture.

I do applaud you for asking practicing nurses about their opinions but don't rely on the opinions of random people on the internet.

All right, I'll throw in my opinion. I believe we will continue to see increased demand for NPs. Are we over-supplying? I think that's possible, and certainly when it comes to positions in larger cities who do not suffer as much of a shortage of primary care providers. I think one will always be able to work in rural unpopular areas.

Also be aware if you do have an unsatisfactory discussion with your lab professor, there are some (certainly not a majority) MDs that see NPs as a threat and hold them in poor regard. For one thing, there has been a lot of resistance from MD lobbying groups in allowing NPs independent practice. On the other hand, where I work in the NICU, the MDs seriously appreciate the neonatal NPs who pick up the bulk of the scut work and take the main call duties overnight.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Doctors and NPs also have to deal with changing roles, responsibilities for the long term too. If your prof is a doctor (I think he was), then he might see the rise of the NP coming at the expense of the primary care doctor.

Winning for NP's might mean losing for someone else.

Turf battles are nothing new.

Just as a lot of nursing jobs were lost to the medical assistants in doctors offices, doctors in certain areas worry about losing ground to NP's. This view might have colored the viewpoint of your professor.

[Salter444]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. His opinion is based on his view and not on research or facts - so take it with a grain of salt.

[brap740, BSN, MSN]

Don't consume all the BS that professor is serving you on the collegiate educated platter. Liberalism is a sickness and its rampant in the colleges.

I laugh at that guy. Just do what they want to get the grade, and think for yourself after you graduate.

[Buyer beware, BSN]

This professor's statements about the future of NPs have a lot of validity to them but not for the reasons he states.

The state of all education but especially nursing education as it relates to us has been underfunded by state and Federal governments for years.

It's a complicated situation but a lot of it has to do with the Department of Education flooding the market with expensive no strings attached loan money that has caused tuition inflation across the board while simultaneouly fueling the rise of the worst scourge to education ever, the terrible "for-profit career college industry." (ITT tech, Corrinthian)

So like the rest NP education has suffered with a proliferation of poor quality institutions that offer incomplete access to guaranteed clinical training that is the heart and soul of a well respected practitioner, NP or otherwise.

The NPs you know are very lucky to be connected with their medical nurse-maids but you must know that many others have been left in the cold indebted and wondering why they ever bought the hype.

The war between medicine and nursing has been simmering for years. But with the so-called "boomer" influx of walking wounded, do not believe that medicine wiil relinquish that pile of money to NPs unless they can control NPs as they exclusively contol PAs.

So guess what? You do think will win that one?

[DeeAngel]

He's wrong and ignorant. He doesn't even work in healthcare which to me means he knows not the slightest thing about that which he pontificates so freely. Say nothing further and roast him in course evals.

[Peepsimus, BSN, RN]

I had a similar conversation with one of my professors recently, but she had a really different opinion than your professor. She teaches PA classes as well and urged me to stay on my track for the following reasons:

1. The world needs smart nurses with curious, medically-geared minds as part of the patient care team, whether it's an office or hospital environment. Making smart people feel like they're wasting their talent by not pursing an MD is a disservice to everyone. They fill different roles, are better suited to different personalities, and have different approaches to patient care. It's crap to make people feel like they're failing because they choose the path that suits the way they want to work and live and care for people instead of the more prestigious one.

2. DNP programs definitely need more medical rigor in them and less theory. Nurses want it. It would help provide even better patient outcomes and give NPs skills they need to do their jobs well. If we want the programs to shift some of the focus and cut out diploma mill options, we need nurses who will drive the change and raise the standards and push for improvements instead of just complaining that the standard should be higher.

3. Knowledgeable and experienced NPs help balance the primary care workload, manage patient education doctors aren't given time to do, and bridge significant gaps in healthcare. While some doctors are angry and vocal about being anti-NP, a lot of them benefit daily from working with NPs and have a lot of gratitude for the role they play. Don't feel like you have to choose between the kind of work you want to do and being respected in your workplace.

I'm not sure how valid these are in practice, but they stand up to logic and anecdotal conversations I've had with doctor and nurse friends. The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the role is shifting and that the education needs to shift with it.

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Any profession can fall prey to oversaturation and NP's, though needed at the moment, can presumably end up like lawyers and people with useless business degrees. That said, no one can really predict the future with such accuracy. Picking a career and having success in it is always a combination of luck such as being in the right place at the right time, personal determination, having the right connections, raw talent, and good training. It's always a gamble so you must play your cards right.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

Um, well, from the way I hear it, a lot of NPs are going to be needed as more hospitals are looking to expand the roles of NPs, RNs, PAs, etc. to "the top of their license" to improve access to care. So, he truly has no idea what he is talking about. No to say that he's a bad instructor and you should write him off, but that was a very uninformed statement.

[Jules A, MSN]

Um, well, from the way I hear it, a lot of NPs are going to be needed as more hospitals are looking to expand the roles of NPs, RNs, PAs, etc. to "the top of their license" to improve access to care. So, he truly has no idea what he is talking about. No to say that he's a bad instructor and you should write him off, but that was a very uninformed statement.

Unfortunately in my area two decent size hospitals I know of are now backing off hiring NPs in an independent role due to an onslaught of new grads who are not prepared to practice after graduation. One is still hiring NPs in ancillary roles for low wages as basically the physician's handmaiden, imo. Where as PAs are going strong in the hospitalist role.