I am currently a nursing student graduating with my BSN in May 2016. My dream has always been to be a nurse practitioner rather than a RN. I have been researching the different universities in my state that offer the nurse practitioner program. I noticed that they all do NOT require work experience. For those of you who are in NP school, did you work before going to school? Do you think that it makes a significant difference to work for a year and then go to NP school? I know that RNs are usually trained for about 6 months when they first get a job as an RN. Thus, would working for merely 6 months be of any true benefit in terms of going to NP school?
Thanks for the article BostonFNP. It was very interesting.
From my experience: I am a new FNP graduate with 2 years of RN experience. I don't believe my experience helped much with actual clinical skills. However, it did help me in other areas as others have suggested, such as confidence, leadership, prioritizing, working with different personalities, etc. I believe I would have done well in my FNP program even without any experience at all.
In addition to the issue of successfully completing a graduate degree with little/no RN experience is the job search issue. So far I have had two interviews. One doctor did not seem concerned at all about my RN experience, but the other seemed disappointed that I had less than 3 years of RN experience (do they even look at the resume before setting up the interview?). In my area, I have seen several jobs that require at least 3 years of RN experience if you are a new grad. That said, the first doctor has offered me a position and the second is still in contact with me as of 2 days ago.
Working as an RN is definitely a positive and will make you more marketable after graduation. However, there are many different paths to becoming an NP and you have to choose what is right for you and your current situation. Good luck with whatever you choose.
smileyfacefee
100 Posts
I think trauma would fall under Acute care nurse practitioner. They work in hospitals in all different settings including the OR and ER.