Nurse Practitioner Route: No RN Experience?

Nursing Students NP Students

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Hi! I am getting way ahead of myself, but here goes nothing. I am currently a second year BSN student, with TONS to learn. My goal has always been to become a nurse practitioner in a primary care setting (either FNP or Pediatrics). I also would like to do primary care because of a pre-existing back injury.

I was wondering if I will be able to enter NP school directly after I (hopefully) recieve my RN licenses? Do I need experiece for all programs, or is it just recommended? I would like to do it directly after I get my bachelors for a few reasons: I am a bit worried about bedside nursing with my back (clinicals are going ok right now). I also worry that I will not want to go back to school when I am a bit older, I would rather finish it sooner rather than later.

Any advice and/or personal experience would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! :)

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Different educational institutions will have different requirements.

I am currently doing my NP and the school I chose required proof of at least 2 years of RN experience.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

Talk with the schools you're interested in to see what their requirements are. I started my MSN right after graduation and took 1-2 classes each semester while I worked full time. My school wanted so many hours of RN experience before allowing you in the CLINICAL portion (your last few semesters). So by the time I started clinicals I had about 3 years under my belt. Took me 4.5 years in total but, hey, I did it with minimal loans since I took my time.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

I am not an NP. I am a bedside nurse.

I have taken classes alongside direct-entry NP students (when they were completing the RN portion of the program). I was not impressed.

There are NP schools that will take you without any bedside experience. Most of them, from my personal observation, are sorely lacking in terms of clinical hours and experiences. I firmly believe that bedside experience in that particular specialty is absolutely invaluable. If you want to be a PNP, I would get a couple years of pediatric RN experience. This will help broaden your knowledge base to pull from while you are in your NP career.

Although some many direct-entry NPs will state that bedside nursing is unnecessary because NP is a provider role, the original NPs were expected to have years of experience to bridge the gap between the lack of clinical hours provided in the program. Now? It seems like everyone and their dog is walking into these advanced programs absolutely clueless (and yes, as a new grad, you ARE clueless). How can you practice advanced nursing without having mastered the basics?

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

Yes, you CAN find such program, especially among for-profit schools.

Although, it is probably not something you SHOULD do, in terms of quality of learning, job prospects or cost of your education. Especially so if you are not sure what exactly NP degree you want and why.

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So... Being that PA's and NP's are fairly close in roles.. PA's aren't required to have bedside experiences are they?? Neither are MD's even! But I'm pretty sure Ohio State is one that does not require RN experience to begin NP clinicals

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
So... Being that PA's and NP's are fairly close in roles.. PA's aren't required to have bedside experiences are they?? Neither are MD's even! But I'm pretty sure Ohio State is one that does not require RN experience to begin NP clinicals
All the PA programs I've looked into require prior healthcare experience. It doesn't necessarily have to be nursing experience since the PA role is part of the medical model, not the nursing model.
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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Thread moved to Student NP forum.

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Specializes in NICU, Trauma, Oncology.
So... Being that PA's and NP's are fairly close in roles.. PA's aren't required to have bedside experiences are they?? Neither are MD's even! But I'm pretty sure Ohio State is one that does not require RN experience to begin NP clinicals

Usually PA programs require some type of healthcare experience but beyond that they also complete WAY more clinical hours than NP students. If I remember correctly it's something like 2000 v the 600 for NPs.

MDs also get lots of clinical hours, then internship, then residency, then fellowships.

the comparison is not even remotely the same. PA and MDs are a medical model. NP is an advanced practice role of nursing not a stand alone profession

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.
Neither are MD's even!

What MD walks out of medical school and starts a practice without a residency? That is their "bedside" experience.

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.
It seems like everyone and their dog is walking into these advanced programs absolutely clueless (and yes, as a new grad, you ARE clueless). How can you practice advanced nursing without having mastered the basics?

Why would anyone want to put themselves in an advanced practice role without practicing the basics?

Either you don't understand what an NP does or I don't.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Why would anyone want to put themselves in an advanced practice role without practicing the basics?

Either you don't understand what an NP does or I don't.

Huh?

Apparently, a lot of people. See the OP and allnurses for more examples.

The NP education, as it is, expects the nurse to come in with a notable amount of experience. The scant amount of clinical hours in most NP programs is laughable in comparison to PA/MD schools.

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