new nurse: career advice needed :)

[NurseNancy88]

Hey my fellow nursing peers! So just a quick introduction: I graduated this may with my BSN in nursing, landed my first job on on a medsurg floor in a hospital.

My dream and passion as long as i can remember is to get my nurse practitioner or dnp license, run a private practice, and regularly team up with other health care professionals maybe a few times a year to provide healthcare services in third world countries or impoverished areas.

I've gone a medical mission trips to Mexico and other countries and completely loved every minute of serving those in imminent need of health care services. However, I've realized that in order to branch out of bedside nursing, at least a year of hospital experience is required.

I realize these ideas may seem a little far fetched but these are dreams really close to my heart as cheesy as that sounds and any advice and feedback is welcome.

So here are my questions:

how many years of bedside hospital experience should i have before pursing a family nurse practitioner or dnp?

how many years of working in a clinic should i have under my belt??

any advice on how to pursue any of this??

I've looked into University of WA's DNP program but it didn't say much about what type of clinical or hospital experience is required. Any advice helps! Thanks!

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

how many years of bedside hospital experience should i have before pursing a family nurse practitioner or dnp?

this is a subject of great debate. i'd say apply in a year to begin the year after, giving you two years before you begin.

how many years of working in a clinic should i have under my belt??

i don't understand. do you mean working in a clinic as a np before embarking on mission trips? i've been on two international mission trips since being licensed and i had zero np experience at that point. i went to haiti and tanzania, and in neither case is prescribing or choosing diagnostic tests much of a big concern, lol. they have stethoscopes, thermometers and penicillin. maybe metronidazole. that's about it. none of the usual challenges in modern health care are present.

any advice on how to pursue any of this??

go to work, start looking at schools you might consider for your lifestyle/budget, etc and talk to them.

btw, the dnp is a degree, not a license. your np license comes from your state, and is (at this time) neither dependent upon or related to a dnp vs. msn degree.

[FNPdude74]

For most universities now, RN experience is not required to become a FNP. For other specialties such as ACNP, you may need the appropriate RN experience in the ICU, ER, etc.