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?

Most NP's want to be in medicine or hollistic care.:nono: Don't forget as long as my license reads (professional nurse) ANd we all take the same state board exam, where is the real difference, all advanced degrees teach

are leadership skills and community nursing and that you learn w/ experience anyway. That is why most nurses can't go through the culture shock that is neccessary to become a real nurse. They don't have the dicipline that it requires to be altruistic.

Can you reword this in a manner that is clear...or at least explain it?

Specializes in ECMO.
Can you reword this in a manner that is clear...or at least explain it?

i guess she means that a RN with enough experience is just as good/equal to a Nurse Practitioner............:lol2:

Specializes in oncology, surgical stepdown, ACLS & OCN.
Can you reword this in a manner that is clear...or at least explain it?

What I am saying is that you shouln't be able to skip the process of becoming an RN and getting work experience in order to get your NP.

The RN who works at the bedside gets the best experience and learns to

physically assess so that she/he can recognize the disease process and surgical complications, then be able to know what is normal and abnormal. I work in a teaching hospital where the PA's and interns aren't sure about what is going on with a patient because of inexperience, they ask the RN's in ICU or the step down unit for there opinion and they are smart in doing so.

What I 'm saying is: The 2-4 years of education + 2 years of bedside experience that the RN gets is needed to become a NP, remember the N in NP stands for nurse. I hope I explained myself so that you can understand.

Also, you might not know this but, the PA has at least 2 years of internshipin a hospital

before they can practice.

Specializes in oncology, surgical stepdown, ACLS & OCN.
I think prior nursing experience is more important in advanced practice specialities such as adult critical care, CRNA, NICU - neonatal resuscitation/transport specialty, midwifery. Nursing experience in these areas provides a foundation of assessment, skills, and intervention to build an advanced practice upon.

FNP, adult NP, psych -- I don't see how med/surg nursing experience, even ambulatory care experience, gives you a skill set that transfers well to advanced practice. Unless you have ER experience -- there might be analogies between what people come into the ER and clinic for, and in the ER you're working with the providers who are making diagnoses and prescribing treatment, so you would learn quite a bit. APRNs are assessing pts on a more extensive level than in plain ol' nursing, and they are making diagnosis and treatment plans. Nurses need to be able to assess whether these are right for the patient, but are not originating the treatment. Quite a different set of skills.

I have no doubt that DE students can and do successfully become APRNs, but the ones I listen to have horrific anxiety levels because of their lack of experience. I avoid saying, well, you could have gone to nursing school like myself and many others did, worked a bit, then applied to grad school ... so don't complain to me. I paid my dues. I suspect a few years after graduation we are all at the same level of competence and confidence.

Perhaps studies should be done, rather than generically looking at advanced practice, looking at specialties instead, whether or not one has prior nursing experience, then what kind, in what kind of setting, how many years, how these things impact confidence and skill level after graduation compared to DE graduates.

I know my experience is valuable and I won't allow anybody to belittle or downgrade me or disrespect me for being who I am. As a nurse I would be very uncomfortable working with a young new DE graduate giving me orders. Esp if this graduate felt like s/he was better than me because she didn't waste her time being a nurse before going to school.

YOu put this very well and I agree, I have 17 years as a nurse and feel the same as you do, I have worked very hard and no matter how much education any nurse has, we all sit for the same test at the end before we practice. My license states: PROFESSIONAL NURSE.

Specializes in oncology, surgical stepdown, ACLS & OCN.
First, there is no way that they are going to relegate a RN with an ADN TO A tech status.Your Professor is mis- informed if she told you that, Probably just to make those who have a BSN feel better about themselves. A RN is a RN. Most programs that are 2 year programs, just happen to require more clinical time. I am not against a BSN, I have a BSN. What I am against is this information they give nurses who pursue BSN. When I started nursing, the ADN nurses could run rings around me because they had more clinical time.

Thank you for spelling that out about ADN nurses, I am an ADN and also had a year of LPN school 2 years prior to that, so I have had a lot of clinical. I started a BSN program and got very depressed with it: history of nrsg was good, but leadership, management skills are something you can learn from

experience. Needless to say, I left the program I work on a surgical step down and the accuity of patients is high, I like bedside nursing. I don't think a BSN is for me I would rather take more A&P and chemistry Classes.

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

please, this is not a topic debating the adn/bsn.

let's, once again, stay on topic: np with no desire for rn

thank you.

Ok, scooter now I understand you.

Wow. What a heated debate! First, I say to each his own...

I think that as a general rule, you will be more successful as an NP by having experience to build on. That foundation of nursing experience will be where you launch from to continue your learning experience.

That doesn't mean that those braniacs out there couldn't go straight into an advanced program and get straight A's.

Who would you want to take care of you? A nurse with tons of experience or a new medical intern that has perfect grades but never seen a patient before? That demonstrates experience vs. knowledge.

I think the best option is a combination of knowledge with experience. That will make a more rounded person.

What I 'm saying is:

Also, you might not know this but, the PA has at least 2 years of internshipin a hospital

before they can practice.

scooter this may be true for the PA program you know of, this is not true for any of the PA programs I know. In fact, up until 2 years ago a program in North Dakota was a total of 12 months in length, started in September and graduated in August of the following year. Most PA programs are a total of 2 years in length and can start practice after they graduate. You may be thinking of a PA residency where the PA graduate seeks in depth experience in a specific area.

I was told today by a Health Professions recruiter that California is no longer going to reimburse PAs for Medical patients. PAs are going to be dropped altogether. Does anyone know if this is true? There could be serious implications for PAs wanting to live and work here...like no job!

Specializes in oncology, surgical stepdown, ACLS & OCN.
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.

I tell all my friends not to get sick, because most of the nurses coming out of school today are either looking for a doctor to marry or think they are going to make a lot of money, meaning these nurses don't really care about the patient. I went to visit a friend the other day in a hospital after her surgery

and she is a nurse w/ a master's degree, she was appalled, her call light went unanswered, no one to help her get washed and she was on the bedpan for more than an hour. This kind of practice is horrible and I'm not looking forward to getting old, it doesn't help when administrator's insist on nurses

taking care of 10- 15 patients. Fortunately I work on in a specialty hospital

and usually have no more than 3-4 patients on night shift. Beleive me these nurses, the one that you are talking about who are overweight and still smoke, her patients probably have less complications and a lower risk of dying after surgery, than a newer nurse taking care of the same pt. I wouldn't want a NP taking care of me especially if she wasn't an RN first.

She certainly wouldn't know what to do or what to assess for.

Lets give some credit to the clinical nurse who usually knows what wrong with the pt. before the doctor, after all the RN at the bedside has a lot more time to see what is going on and knows what tests a pt. needs.

For your information I'm not overweight, do not smoke, and have practiced nursing in a hospital for about 14 years. If I went back for more education it would be, to become a CRNA, they make a lot more mony and get more respect than NP's or PA's . Why not just go to med school?

I hope if you need a nurse, that you will get one that enjoys bedside care

and has the knowledge to take care of you. Like I said, it is scary out there!

After reading all this for months, I think I have made my decision .

I am enrolled in graduate school for an MS in nursing and loving it. I am going to be living in Fla. for the winters and NY for the beginning of fall, late spring and summer. I have a NY RN license with BSN-no experience except as a school nurse teacher many years ago and a refresher course two years ago.

I am thinking of taking another refresher course at a college that does their clinicals at the hospital where I want to work. Then I would like to take one of their residency programs and then work there when I am in NY. When I am in Fla., I could work on my online MS program.

Would any hospital allow something like this? I just got married, and my husband wants to spend winters in Fla.

What do you think?

Krisssy

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