NP w/no desire for RN?

Specialties NP Nursing Q/A

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?

GO FOR IT!! Skip the RN time and don't look back. PA's aren't required to "do time" why should nurse practioners be required to do such? Also, something I've noticed as I investigated your question among nurses with varying degrees of experience:

The nurses that climbed their way up the hard way always seemed to think many years of experience were needed prior to becoming an NP. It's almost as if they were thinking, "I went through the punishment, and you should too". Luckily, this type of thought is changing, and these nurses who have worked being miserable with their two year degree for 30 years will soon be retiring. I had the unfortunate experience of being under their grumpy preceptorship during most of my BSN clinicals-- YuK! An interesting sidenote to this: most of these nurses were overweight, ate junk food at work all day, compained incessantly yet never did anything about their complaint, and took smoke-breaks whenever they could. This is the antithesis of what NP's stand for: mind/body holistic healthcare. No wonder these nurses never went past two years education.

Very interesting opinion that you have as well as poor experiences with preceptors. I saw this thread and was interested in it as I thought initially I was going to enter college as pre-med and become a physician. Due to circumstances with my family I did not take that route but instead went into a BSN program figuring I would naturally become a NP but needed to work for financial reasons as an RN. And now I can NEVER picture doing anything but bedside nursing. I pride myself on the care I give to my patients and the emotional support to their families. I absolutely could not picture doing anything but this. And in ICU I certainy learned so many invaluable lessons from the RN's who may be a little over weight/may eat a donut because their there and some do still smoke...although they have a 2 year degree from 30 years ago...they have the EXPERIENCE which I think is more important when a patient v-fib arrests or a patient's IABP ruptures spontaneously.

Too bad all RN's couldn't have a focus solely on mind/body and holisitic healthcare just like the fat, calorie consuming, chain smoking NP's at my place of work - but I do not criticize them for the personal choices that they make, I only judge them on the kindness and compassion for which they treat their patients.

Please do not miss my point: Change needs to come to our healthcare system as DM is epidemic and appearing at younger and younger ages...in a country where a quadruple bypass is viewed as being a normal deal, but a heart healthy vegetarian diet is viewed as "radical"...health care costs are becoming nonaffordable for those who work but must pay huge premiums in addition to the plan offered by the employer. If we as healthcare workers cannot model the behavior we teach, why would we expect someone to "buy into" what we are saying? Great, go munch on a donut laden with trans fats, then tell a patient he really needs to get his VLDL count down or he may have another heart attack.

I am talking about epidemic diseases that are proven to be preventable: obesity, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, lung, mouth and throat cancer from smoking, etc. I'm also talking about the economics of too few dollars and an increasing number of critically ill elders in our country who will depend on those dollars.

Yes, it's not a perfect world, prevention won't happen as not everyone knows how to or is willing to lead a healthier lifestyle. But I believe that we who have chosen healthcare as a profession owe it to our patients to role model this behavior. Unfortunately, our current medical system emphasizes fixing a problem, rather than preventing illness. Cancer, medical equipment, and drugs are a very big, very profitable business. Perhaps the pharmaceutical sponsorship and underpinnings of the first medical schools in the US is responsible for the fix it after it is broken mentality.

Yup! that may be my plan too. I really don't want the "bedside" nursing career. I'll put in my time and do the best I can at it, but it'd just be a stepping stone to another place. You hear this all the time from the CRNA's getting their year ICU experience and then, SEE YA...off to CRNA school. So yeah, why not NP's too?

I agree as well. Nursing is harder on it's own in this regard than most other professions. (Maybe this is because we feel we have to prove ourselves as a profession in the first place due to our varying rather than standardized educational level for entry into this field). I have been an RN for 13 years with a diploma degree, and I am just about finished earning my BSN not just for the glamour of it but as a stepping stone to advanced practice, hopefully as a CRNA. Not that this has not been a valuable experience for me-- I have learned more than I realized I would going into school again that's for sure. But it was not my dream to practice as a BSN nurse, it's just required to move up. I personally would have bought into the mentality of needing years of experience before AP before being back in school, a PhD professor of mine was very enlightening on this very topic-- do doctors have to practice at the undergrad level before being accepted into med school--- pharmacists--chemists--engineers? I only wish I had been smart enough to get my BSN earlier get the year ICU and apply to CRNA school when I was younger and before having kids. I applaud people who are motivated from the start of their career and have plans for advanced practice from the beginning rather that waiting for the dissatisfaction with their options to push them into advanced practice later on. By the way I am one of these later mentioned nurses so no offense intended to anyone else on this matter.

Specializes in ECMO.
I agree as well. Nursing is harder on it's own in this regard than most other professions. (Maybe this is because we feel we have to prove ourselves as a profession in the first place due to our varying rather than standardized educational level for entry into this field). I have been an RN for 13 years with a diploma degree, and I am just about finished earning my BSN not just for the glamour of it but as a stepping stone to advanced practice, hopefully as a CRNA. Not that this has not been a valuable experience for me-- I have learned more than I realized I would going into school again that's for sure. But it was not my dream to practice as a BSN nurse, it's just required to move up. I personally would have bought into the mentality of needing years of experience before AP before being back in school, a PhD professor of mine was very enlightening on this very topic-- do doctors have to practice at the undergrad level before being accepted into med school--- pharmacists--chemists--engineers? I only wish I had been smart enough to get my BSN earlier get the year ICU and apply to CRNA school when I was younger and before having kids. I applaud people who are motivated from the start of their career and have plans for advanced practice from the beginning rather that waiting for the dissatisfaction with their options to push them into advanced practice later on. By the way I am one of these later mentioned nurses so no offense intended to anyone else on this matter.

no, because a lil something called a MANDATORY RESIDENCY. something RN's, ANP's, PA's and everyone else dont have.

Please do not miss my point: Change needs to come to our healthcare system as DM is epidemic and appearing at younger and younger ages...in a country where a quadruple bypass is viewed as being a normal deal, but a heart healthy vegetarian diet is viewed as "radical"...health care costs are becoming nonaffordable for those who work but must pay huge premiums in addition to the plan offered by the employer. If we as healthcare workers cannot model the behavior we teach, why would we expect someone to "buy into" what we are saying? Great, go munch on a donut laden with trans fats, then tell a patient he really needs to get his VLDL count down or he may have another heart attack.

I am talking about epidemic diseases that are proven to be preventable: obesity, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, lung, mouth and throat cancer from smoking, etc. I'm also talking about the economics of too few dollars and an increasing number of critically ill elders in our country who will depend on those dollars.

Yes, it's not a perfect world, prevention won't happen as not everyone knows how to or is willing to lead a healthier lifestyle. But I believe that we who have chosen healthcare as a profession owe it to our patients to role model this behavior. Unfortunately, our current medical system emphasizes fixing a problem, rather than preventing illness. Cancer, medical equipment, and drugs are a very big, very profitable business. Perhaps the pharmaceutical sponsorship and underpinnings of the first medical schools in the US is responsible for the fix it after it is broken mentality.

I agree with you 100%! Just today I had a patient tell me that she had gone to her cardiologist's office and the NP told her to lose weight. My patient told me that the NP had absolutely no business telling anyone to lose weight, since she was at least 50 lbs overweight herself. That's not the first time I've heard that. I look at it this way, if I'm going to tell people to lose weight, exercise, stop smoking, etc., then you better believe that I'm going to follow my own advice. There is nothing worse than a hypocrite. What a joke...a 200 lb, cigarette smoking, sedentary RN telling a patient they need to lose weight, quit smoking and get off their butt!

Something else, I could swear that I read somewhere that 80% of RN's are overweight and a large number are smokers as well. That totally destroys our image. When I graduated from nursing school, my best friends' husband called to congratulate me and he said, "Don't go and gain a bunch of weight now that you're an RN". Yeah...our image totally sucks!

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

please keep to the topic "np with no desire to be rn".

But there are plenty of direct-entry NP programs, which take people who aren't nurses but have baccalaureate degrees in something else, people who have no healthcare experience at all ...

I am willing to bet a great deal of money that the docs couldn't care less -- nor will anyone else outside of nursing. The MD is the entry into practicing medicine, not a terminal degree that only a tiny percentage of practitioners ever achieve ... They will certainly still not consider any nurses to be their equals or equivalents. (Even) a clinical doctorate in nursing still represents just a fraction of the time, effort, and study that docs put into becoming MDs. And (as I've said before), as long as you can become a Registered Nurse with (just) an Associate's degree, we will never really be taken seriously as professionals by any of the real professions.

I told several doctors about the Nursing Doctorate (ND) and they were NOT happy! When the NP has "ND" after their name and they're called "Doctor," then a patient won't be able to tell the difference between the NP and the physician! I'm 100% for the doctorate degree...I just hope I'm grandfathered in when that occurs!

Also, I couldn't agree more about the educational requirements for RN's. It just blows my mind it's the only profession that doesn't require a Bachelor's degree. The ADN's I know talk about all the "worthless" classes that we had to take...well guess what, EVERYONE with a college degree has to take those classes. How many school teachers do you know who have an Associates degree? NONE! Yeah...engineers, teachers, accountants, etc., they all had to take those "worthless" classes to get their degree. That's a big reason I went back to school and became a nurse practitioner. Now I'm not longer frustrated that I'm getting the same pay as someone who went to the local Ju-Co.

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

please, please do not let this thread turn into an adn-bsn debate.

Thank you for your reply. I am happy to know that someone else has taken notice of this besides Dr. Weil. We are afterall, "healthcare" providers, but perhaps a better fitting description in many instances might be "disease-care" providers.

no, because a lil something called a MANDATORY RESIDENCY. something RN's, ANP's, PA's and everyone else dont have.

I feel that maybe I did not make my point clear, I recognize that nurses do not have a mandatory residency like doctors do. But the clinical training component is built into thier undergraduate nursing degree in the first place, unlike the varying undergraduate degrees that will allow you to apply to and be accepted into a medical school program, without having to take a job first somewhere to prove yourself. For me the issue is whether or not a nurse should have to work as an RN before going on to advanced study as a NP, or CRNA. And again, during both of those advanced nursing education programs a nurse will receive extensive clinical training in the program. I am not saying this is the same as a residency, my sister is a doctor in residency so I certainly am aware of the differences both through work and personal experience. But the clinicals are mandatory and this is on the job supervised training from experienced practitioners in the field. So again why should the entrance requirements for an RN to enter advanced practice education be so different than for an aspiring doctor to enter into medical school? By the way I know of one very highly ranked NP program in my area that no longer requires this, it is a hotly debated subject around my school (which still requires experience).

I am in NP school right now. I worked as an RN first and loved it, but grew tired of not having any autonomy. It is my understanding that most schools require at least 2 years of ER or critical care experience before you apply. I may be wrong though. Another tidbit, several nursing organizations are pushing for the NP degree to be a Doctorate. It would be a Doctorate of clinical practice. They are pushing for this by the year 2015. Won' t the MDs be happy!

:rolleyes:

HA HA HA HA!!! They're already peeved about PT's being Dr. and pharmacists being Dr. I LOVE IT!!! 2015 - that's not too far away....awesome!

You know, doctors sound like a VERY insecure bunch.....not all of them, mind you, but MAN, do they WHINE....

i WANT TO BE A PSYCHIATRIC/DETOX/REHAB NURSE. No one will hire me without med surg experience. I don't want to work med surg, so I am going for my MHPNP masters. Opinions? Krisssy RN MA MHPNP 2 be

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