NP w/no desire for RN?

Well, not so much NO desire...but are there any NP's out there that wanted to become (and had their sights set on being an NP from day 1) an NP with no real 'drive' to be an RN first? My cousin is finishing up her RN-MSN program and never really wanted to become an RN, but she really wanted to become an NP, so she went the RN route to become an NP (which I know you have to do).

I know this is somewhat rare, but wondering are there any other NP's out there that looked at RN as kinda pre-NP school/clinical stuff in order to become an NP? Like, they may not be real thrilled with what they are doing (RN) but they know they have to do it in order to become an NP. Keep in mind I'm not saying you would hate being an RN or hate RN's or anything to that affect, but you dream has been to become an NP and RN school/work is a sort of necessary 'not the most enthusiastic' hurdle?

I personally think you would be better off to have at least some experience. I am actually finishing up a masters entry program right now. I do plan to work while I get my NP and I really that experience does serve a person well.

There were leaders that did not have experience as soldiers and done well. Think about it.

Does this have anything to do with my comment below? Just wondering.

"When I was in the ARMY in 1970,the best officers and leaders were the ones who had the most experience. So who would you want in this life or death situation, a newbie right out of school or someone who had experience under their belt?"

I never said it did not matter at all. I stated it is an individual choice and not ours to say the choice for the individual. I am not going to tell anyone that their choice/s are inapproriate and not a reality. If physician assistant's students who enter the program with no medical background can make it than why can a rn make it through a np program as well?

Certainly you're correct but I just can't resist assisting someone with "reality"... based on my experience of course. Then they will have more info on which to base their decision. Perhaps they will investigate a little more closely and spend more time searching. Now, should I do this in a manner which does not offend anyone, regardless of who they are or what culture they're from? Or, if you come out of a café with turnip greens stuck in your teeth, should I just tell you that you have turnip greens stuck in your teeth or should I wonder how to tell you in a manner that will be conducive to your mental health yet get those turnip greens out of your mouth before you embarrass yourself further?

No one has yet addressed the fact that PAs have much more clinical hours than NPs before they graduate, therefore what is the comparison between them?

Everyone is ready throw stones at a glass house and they live in one as well.

Actually I live in a concrete house. I really do!

We are not putting them down or saying they are not true nurses. The options are there in the nursing field to work "hands on" or not and we need to make the choice that is suitable for us. Allow each of the future nurses to make choices and to experience the outcome of their choices. Why not support them and try to understand their choice?

The one single point I'm trying to make, in spite of all the extrapolation, is that most people would make a better NP with some experience under their belt. It's only reality. There's a reason many graduate programs insist on at least one year of clinical experience. Wonder why?

Wow what insight and intellect. I went straight into NP school and in less than one year out of NP schhol I am paid in the top 1% of all NPs. I'll be 'just plain dumb' all the way to the bank...

I'm sorry. Perhaps I should have put quotation marks around "dumb." I went straight to RN without going to nursing school and in less that 3 months was charge of a level I trauma center. So, what? We're not talking about the individuals at the ends of a Bell curve. What about the masses? For most people a little experience will certainly help.

More reality for you. Pay for the top 1% of all NPs is nothing to brag about...unfortunately! Now me having made as much as $254 an hour is, LOL!

If we do not show that same respect for our bedside RN counterparts, we are not showing ourselves in a very positive light.

I think the strongest nurses are the ones who work on acute med-surg. I've seen an ICU nurse almost come unglued after having to float to such a unit.

I have my BS in Behavioral Neuroscience, and I feel that too adds to my experience since I have worked in inflamation pharmacology in vitro, cocaine addiction, clinical research in endocrinology and also in residential treatment program for women with borderline personality disorder (talk about life threatening emergencies every day! and I administered meds at this program), and a counselor for domestic abuse. So I do think my experence in other areas is still "experience" although I may not have been an RN at the time.

True, and it's "valuable experience" that will benefit you a lot.

Now, can you guys relax a little? You just had a slight little taste of what you might be getting from people who question your very existence.

More reality for you. Pay for the top 1% of all NPs is nothing to brag about...unfortunately! Now me having made as much as $254 an hour is, LOL!

Reality for me??? What you just said doesn't make sense, because saying the top percentage of anything is infinite. Even if I said the top 50% it could still mean $75,000 to $30 million. So it may or may not be something to brag about... the fact of the matter is you have no idea.

And hourly figures such as the one mentioned can be manipulated by anyone. I have a contractor buddy who dug 3000 ft of trench for a job in one day and got paid $6.00/ft for it. But, he doesn't make $18,000 per day every day. If you still don't buy it, then I'll jump aboard and say I just got through "making" $600/hr as a $20 profit took me 2 minutes.

Pinoy, I know several RNs who just wanted to be NPs from the beginning. Some went on and it was no problem for them as far as getting accepted into schools and finding work after they became NPs. Others struggled with school and working as RNs because they didn't want to do any of it and the job is hard enough sometimes even when you love it. I know one who had quite an attitude about the lowlyness of bedside RNs. Starting every sentence with "I can't wait until I don't have to be a bedside nurse anymore because when I'm an NP....." isn't the most endearing thing a person can do. I also know people who went into nursing with the intention of becoming NPs and then didn't follow through because they were happy with nursing. It is something I've considered, but for me it would probably mean a pay cut and I don't know if I want to be stuck in one NP specialty when I can move around easily as a nurse.

Only you will be able to tell how much bedside experience you need to become an NP. Personally, I wouldn't want to be cared for a new NP who didn't have any bedside experience before becoming an NP because I don't think that 2 years in school without extra experience is enough to prepare most people to be independent practitionners, but that's just one opinion and you know what they say about opinions. If you think you can do it, then that's a decision you'll have to make.

More reality for you. Pay for the top 1% of all NPs is nothing to brag about…unfortunately! Now me having made as much as $254 an hour is, LOL!

the strippers i used to work with made $300+ an hour....:chuckle

(just had to throw that in there for laughs. this thread was getting too serious)

anyways, i like what you have to say and agree with you.

-Sue

p.s. no i was not a stripper; i was the head waitress.

Hey CGFNP..............congrats on being in the top 1% of the NP pay scale, and for recognizing you didn't need to spend the better part of your life taking orders, but rather thinking for yourself. This is definitely an accomplishment, and I believe anyone who thinks otherwise is simply green with envy....not just about a good salary, but that you didn't buy into the "I've got to be a hospital slave and work my way up, for I am not good enough or smart enough yet." Again, PA's aren't handed this line of thinking, why do NP's need to follow it? Oh, and if you add in the clinical hours for undergrad work, NP's and PA's come up with about the same number of clinical hours.

Specializes in RN Psychiatry.

Some people really like the way the field of nursing encorporates a certain set of values that attend to a person holistically which many other fields don't, its not that being an RN is a bad thing that is to be avoided, but rather a different position from an NP that does not incorporate the same tasks. and it is def not always a money thing because many bedside nurses often make more, yet I feel like those who protest this path feel some sort of insecurity about it, like these NP's undermind their positions because some do not desire to work as bedside nurses, its not really an issue from where I stand, becuase I see the bedside nurse a critically important job that requires not only skill and intellect but the ability to organize and be resourceful, its just not the role where I see myself (personally, speaking only of my own life) being most happy, whereas I feel the autonomy I can achieve as a cns or np is very essential to my happiness in a career, and I feel my talents lie in creating inno vative treatments and medication regiments for my patients. In addition I see that working on the floor can really take allot out of a person physically and mentally, and I feel that I have basically killed myself in those aspects for the last 10 years of my life (and esp the last 5) and I am looking to move into a career that can provide me with a different lifestyle. I want a job where I don't have to trade christmas for thanksgiving (or work both!) as I have most of my life. So those are just a few of the reasons... but I can think of many more.

and another thing, premed bio majors aren't given crap if they don't want to work in a lab doing academic research for years before going to med school, and being someone who HAS done tons of lab work, I think it could be an asset, but I certainly don't think that is the only way to learn about biology or be competant in practicing medicine, in fact there are many MD's who were friggin literature majors! And many turned out to be excelent doctors . I think this RN/ NP battle has allot to do with the old way vs the new way and people learning to deal with change and adjust, and realizing that they don't need to have an inferiority complex about it or fear invalidation, because its just unnecessary anxiety that in the breaks the unity of the nursing profession (which continues to cause other proffessions to devalue nursing as a whole).

take care dz

Not a nurse, but if you have no desire to become an RN...wouldn't it be better for you to just become an PA or MD?

Good luck to you :balloons:

Specializes in RN Psychiatry.

I thought I'd use a metaphor. Why would someone who only wants to learn how to ride a bike be forced to suffer working as a bike maker for a long time after they already know the basic idea ( ie know how the pedals go around, what to do if the chain falls off) before they can be accepted as a bike rider. NPs and RNs are not one thing that is better than another, they are DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONS wouldn't it make more sense to get lots of experience as an NP to learn how to be a better NP then to get experience being an RN when you have no desire to use those skills in the future ( of course this would vary depending on the type of NP you want to be)..

does anyone follow me on that?

Reality for me??? What you just said doesn't make sense, because saying the top percentage of anything is infinite. Even if I said the top 50% it could still mean $75,000 to $30 million. So it may or may not be something to brag about... the fact of the matter is you have no idea.

And hourly figures such as the one mentioned can be manipulated by anyone. I have a contractor buddy who dug 3000 ft of trench for a job in one day and got paid $6.00/ft for it. But, he doesn't make $18,000 per day every day. If you still don't buy it, then I'll jump aboard and say I just got through "making" $600/hr as a $20 profit took me 2 minutes.

I must have been asleep in that MBA class!:chuckle Try to relax; I know the salary ranges of NPs as well as the economics of the health system.

I must have been asleep in that MBA class!:chuckle Try to relax; I know the salary ranges of NPs as well as the economics of the health system.

Who says I take part in this health system? I don't have anything to do with it. See a patient, wait 6 months to find out you didn't check the right box so they won't pay you the $12 you had coming for talking to a geriatric patient about their multiple health problems and 20 medications for 45 minutes. No thanks...

I know the salary ranges too. I also know that survey represents about 1/4 of the practicing NPs who probably actually make up the lower end of the $$$ because they were dorky enough to take the time to fill that survey out in the first place. Of course, one could argue the same about a stupid web forum... Look, the only mistake you made (which you've already fessed up to) was generalizing. For the most part, you're exactly right. Doesn't really matter, as all I'm doing is making a living so I can comfortably figure out how to make real money. Aren't we all???

I also know that survey represents about 1/4 of the practicing NPs who probably actually make up the lower end of the $$$ because they were dorky enough to take the time to fill that survey out in the first place. Of course, one could argue the same about a stupid web forum...

hahaha good point.

the strippers i used to work with made $300+ an hour....:chuckle

(just had to throw that in there for laughs. this thread was getting too serious)

anyways, i like what you have to say and agree with you.

-Sue

p.s. no i was not a stripper; i was the head waitress.

What kind of outfit did you wear?:chuckle

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