Hello, I am weighing the options of going into nursing. However, I would want to become a Nurse Practitioner as soon as possible. I already have a non-nursing related bachelor/master degree in education so this would be a career change. I currently work full-time for local government. Would I need to complete my RN first and then on to earn the Nurse Practitioner license? Does anyone have any idea if there are programs that a designed for this or do most Nurse practitioners need work experience as an RN before moving on? And if so, do most Nurse Practitioner positions require experience? How many hours do most NP's work?