Pre-Nursing Student looking for advice on becomeing ACNP or CCNP

[carlton.jeffery]

I have been a CNA since june of 1995, EMT Basic from April 1996 - October 2008, EMT Intermediate October 2008 - Present, and was Medical Specialist in U.S. Army from November 1999 - November 2003. I currently work as CNA in LTCF in Texas and working on prerequisits for ASN program at local jr college. Some people tell me I need to just give up and stay a RN and not worry about being NP, but I want to be able to work more independant than a RN.

[LiLoRN]

I personally think choosing to further your education is always a win. Good luck with nursing school. Get some experience as a RN and then decide whether or not you want to continue on. Don't listen to naysayers, do what you want to do!

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

You have a lot of options as far as which routes to take. I don't know if you have a Bachelor's degree or not but the ASN as you mentioned is certainly one route though you should realize that there are only a few ASN to MS/MSN programs around. You may have to get a BSN first then MS/MSN later to get a wider access to a larger number of NP programs. There is the option to start out in a BSN program either in a traditional track or as an accelerated track if you have a Bachelor's in another field. The last option if you do have a Bachelor's degree in another field is to apply to direct entry MSN programs which tend to be more competitive to get into though you may have an edge since you are an EMT.

Also realize that ACNP is a certification program for NP's trained in acute and critical care. There are NP programs that have a heavy critical care focus but the grads will still have to take the general ACNP certification exam because there is currently no specific NP certification in critical care. Some settings refer to their ICU NP's as CCNP (and that's the case where I work) but that is not an official board-approved title yet.