Nurse practitioner?

[rider82]

I have recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in health and exercise sciences and was wondering what steps I would need to take to become a nurse practitioner. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[Anoetos, BSN, RN]

I am quite certain you will need to get a BSN and of course an RN first. Additionally, I am not aware of any NP program which would not require at least a year of experience working as an RN.

These programs are very competitive, only marginally less so than PA programs I believe.

[elkpark]

Welcome to allnurses!

Actually, since you already have a baccalaureate degree, you would also have the option of applying for "direct entry" MSN programs, which are for non-nurses with a BA/BS in another area. These programs combine a "basic" nursing education with a Master's program, and you come out the other end a Master's-prepared nurse. Different schools offer different specialties/concentrations in the Master's portion of the program -- there are plenty of programs around the country that offer various NP specialties (have you gotten far enough in your investigation to figure out that you'll need to decide what kind of NP you want to be?)

IMHO, one of the cool things about nursing is that there are usually a few different paths to get to wherever you want to be. If you want to be an NP and are starting out with no nursing background at all, you can:

1) Complete an ADN (community/junior college), get licensed as an RN, apply for a Master's program that doesn't require a BSN (there are some, although not as many as the programs that require a BSN). There are also still some hospital-based diploma programs around the country that usually offer an excellent basic nursing education and prepare you for licensure.

2) Complete an ADN, get licensed as an RN, complete a BSN (lots of on-line programs for this, much quicker and easier than becoming an RN in the first place), and have a wider selection of graduate programs to become an NP.

3) Look into "accelerated" BSN programs, which are designed for people who have a BA/BS in something else and want to become nurses. These programs are very intense, rigorous, and fast-paced, however, and not for everyone; they take the same content and clinical experience as traditional nursing programs and cram it into a much shorter time frame. Then, BSN in hand, get licensed as an RN and apply to grad school.

4) talk to traditional BSN programs in your area about whether you could transfer in the nursing program, and how much time and $$$ would be involved in your completing a traditional BSN, given that you're coming in with an existing BS. Then, BSN in hand, get licensed as an RN and apply to grad school.

5) Or, a direct-entry program as described above.

Let me guess, you didn't want that many choices, right??? Any one of those five options would get you where you want to go. Which one would be the best choice for you depends on too many individual variables for any of us to be able to advise you. Do you want to do it the cheapest way possible? The fastest? Do you have a family or other reason why it would be important to you to attend a particular school? Are you locked into your current geographical area, or are you willing to relocate to attend school? Many things to consider.

How's your GPA? Most nursing programs these days (because of the huge demand) are much more competitive than most people realize (or could ever imagine ...) You'd be amazed at who gets turned away from nursing programs these days. But, you won't know unless you try! It certainly can't hurt to talk to programs in your area and see what's available to you and what your chances are.

(And there's the entire controversy about NP and other advanced practice nursing graduate programs transitioning into DNP (Doctorate of Nursing Practice) degrees instead of Master's degrees. I won't get into that here -- plenty of discussion about that elsewhere on the site.)

Best wishes for your journey! :balloons:

[elipscombs]

Can you tell me if someone without any healthcare experience at all can get a BSN in Nursing, then go to a Masters/Doctorate NP program and get a good job straight out of school?

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Hello, elipscombs

It's done all the time.

There are those who feel the new RN should have experience before starting an NP program, however. I feel this way.

But, it can be done.

[Anoetos, BSN, RN]

I stand corrected. I really thought you had to get the BSN first and have some clinical experience before moving on to advanced practice nursing. This is good news for many then.

Shows how much I know.

lol