Nursing Student Acceptee Who Lost Her Path

[BeckyFutureNP]

i took the teas four years ago, in 2007, and achieved a 97.0%. my gpa, at the time, was a 4.0. i applied and got in to 3 rn programs with uf, ucf, and fsu. i decided against pursuing this trek. i took a physics class for the heck of it and fell in love. i have, since then, been pursuing a degree in particle physics at erau. through laborious semesters, i almost have my b.s. but i am unhappy with this and want to, now, become a np. at first, i had wanted to go cna, lpn, rn, np, pa, md- but was obviously deterred with particle physics. it's a fun hobby, but it's too direct. i have a huge heart, just the colloquial phrase- not the heart problem lol, and i need to be in the medical field. what should i do to go about becoming an np? i know that they are rn's who continue with a scope directed toward theory and diagnostics....... what do i do? do i have to retake the teas? or can i just reapply?

i am a wee bit out of the loop here.

thanks in advance! :)

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Becky,

Welcome to the site. It sounds like you do have an intense interest in the medical field, but the CNA to MD path that you propose would be very, very long and it makes me wonder whether you've had much exposure to healthcare settings and providers.

If you're pretty sure that you want to become an NP, I think that most people here would advise you to become an RN and to start gaining work experience. Although there are direct-entry NP programs, work experience as an RN gives you the opportunity to hone assessment skills and to feel out which NP specialty you might want to pursue down the road.

Have you eliminated medical school as an option? Since you aren't pursuing nursing now, since you have an interest in clinical aspects of care, and since you undoubtedly would get many of the med school prereqs in your current degree program, that route could end up making a lot more sense for you.

If you're able to provide more specifics about what you loved about physics and what you don't like about it now, that might help people understand your interests better and ultimately get you better advice.

Good luck to you!

[llg, PhD, RN]

Great post, Eric.

Becky,

There is no need for you to start a health care career at the CNA level. If med school is something that you are still thinking about, I would talk to some med schools. You might find that you could go right from your BS in physics to med school -- or maybe only have to take a couple of courses to bridge over.

The NP route is not necessarily all that much shorter or better. To become a nurse, you would have several options:

1. The longest route of starting with an ADN then going back to school for additional degrees (BSN, MSN, DNP or PhD, etc.) You should plan on a DNP for being a Nurse Practitioner.

2. You could start with a BSN. Just take the final 2 years of any BSN program -- or go to a shorter program that is designed for people who already have bachelor's degrees in other disciplines. You could then work as a nurse while attending graduate school part time (with your employer helping with the tuition.)

3. You could start with an MSN. There are programs that take students with bachelor's degrees in other disciplines and introduce them to nursing at the graduate level. Many of those programs include a Nurse Practitioner track -- so that you graduate with the necessary coursework for the NP specialty. However, note that some of the people who graduate from those programs need to get some additional bedside experience as a nurse before they can get jobs as NP's. A lot of that depends on the particular program and the job market in the particular community.

So ... there are lots of choices. How tied to your local area are you? Do you have any ideas as to WHERE you want to live/go to school? If so, then you should start by checking out the various programs that are available in that area. Then you simply have to choose which path best suits your personal preferences, financial needs, etc.

If you are free to move anywhere to go to school ... that makes you choice more difficult because you will have to "sift through" more options.

If you explore this site ... you will find many threads in which people are discussing these issues as they go through the process of choosing an educational path for themselves. Their discussions may help you think your decision through.

Good luck to you!