new requirements for NP licensing?

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I will be finishing up a 2-year RN program this spring and ultimately plan on furthering my degree. I would love to be a nurse practitioner eventually. I had planned to take a few years off from school until my son starts school, as I have already missed out on so much because of the demanding school schedule. One of my friends at school went to an area RN-BSN/MSN information session a couple weeks ago and told me last week that they said that starting in 2015, if you aren't already a nurse practitioner you will be required to have your doctorate, not just a master's. Anyone who is already a NP will be grandfathered in. Well this throws a wrench in my plans. I have now applied for the RN-BSN program at our school which is very flexible and mostly online. But that pretty much means that in order to finish my master's and have my NP by 2015 I'm going to have to continue to go to school at least part time for the next few years. So my real question, has anyone else heard this? Is it only in certain states or is it everywhere? Thanks.

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What state are you in? I'm in California and on the licensing board website their isn't any mention of it for our state.

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I'm in Virginia.

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Specializes in ER, ED.

I am in a similar boat as you are. I am in my senior year of an ADN program (I have a bachelor's in another discipline), and am thinking of continuing to get my NP licensure. My mother is an RN in MA and has told me that she heard that the regulations would be changing to a doctorate degree by 2015. I have also heard the same in NH. The good thing, however, is that it sounds like it will only be one additional year of schooling (well, depending on full/part time status).

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Please see this rather lengthy thread about the DNP requirement "vision" (not required as yet; just a vision) for 2015:

Doctoral degree to become an NP???

I feel sure this will come to fruition. It will be U.S. state-wide if it does.

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