aklim3

You were actually taught to read X-rays??? Good for you. I wasn't. I will have to take a course on it myself someday. Till then, I have to rely on others to read it for me. IF your track is a research one, it would be useful. However, if you plan to be more clinical, it should be offered as an elective. Agreed. However, someday, I might be playing "Nursing Trivial Pursuit" and might need the nursing theory to compete.

That is why I asked, what will this added hurdle do for me? Ok, it is not as much work as a PhD but it is more than an MSN. Will this fluff make me a better clinician? Probably not.

In Other Words.

IOW, the DNP is going to have more fluff and no real clinical benefits?

Sorry, I must have missed that part. So you are saying with my BSN, I can go straight into the DNP? How much longer will it take then when compared to the current MSN program?

ok. convince me why i should pursue being an np then. if i have to go that far to be an np (bsn, msn and dnp), why don't i just go to the md route? more money, no collaboration, etc, etc. imo, it will kill the np program. otoh, what is the advantage of the dnp? will i practice better? how will it improve the way i do things? how am i, with a msn, deficient when compared to an md that the dnp will address? i am not against the dnp program. however, before i see it as necessary to practice, i would like some studies to prove the efficacy.

I guess you need to find out when you will graduate and see if you fall under the rule.

Why not cut out the fluff classes and add more clinicals in it? Some of my classes are wonderful if I were going further on in the research field. I'd gladly have dropped them and done more clinical classes. Let whoever wants take the business and political classes on the side or as electives or whatever. Increase the core clinical classes from say 3 to 5 clinical classes. We might be able to find room if we jettison the not so clinical classes from the core requirements and put them as electives. I spent a semester in UW MAdison doing Advanced Med Surg. I was writing a paper on the latest developments of lycopenes. Even the instructor couldn't give a justification for the long paper with respect to the class although I am thinking that is her research subject or one of them. With that sort of thing, I would be nervous about coming out to practice and feel not prepared. This is the sort of fluff I would like taken out. IF I were given a choice between that or another 2 clinical classes, I know what I would choose.

I am not as interested in the title of Doctor. Now if you tell me that I can be on par with an MD after all that work and practice independently and not have to have a supervising or collaborating physician if I get my DNP, that might be something to work for. However, if it is the same old, same old, why bother?

Maybe there should be a study to determine one way or the other. I would welcome that. IF I were inadequate, then I would not mind going thru a DNP program if that is what is called for. Just going thru it "just cos" is a difficult pill to swallow. The first 2 points can be answered by having a proper study comissioned to see if the program is lacking and what needs to be done to address it. Otherwise we might be doing things that are not necessary and not doing things that are. Before you jump, you had best look. Seems to me like we are jumping but not even bothering to look at what we are jumping into. IF you are an RN, how long would it take you to go thru the MSN program and then the DNP program, part time? More than 4 years I would think. Takes about 3-5 for the MSN program itself unless you work at 0.5 FTE status or less. I worked 1.0 and then 0.7 for the last year and a half and did it in 5 yrs. Add a DNP to that and you might be looking at another 5. One of my friends is doing a Phd and started the same time I did and is still doing it. All that considered, it might be at least 8 yrs from RN, BSN to RN DNP. If I were a RN and younger, it might make more sense financially to go to the MD route since I should have my loans paid off in the years to come especially if I hook up with some rural hospitals that pay off my loans if I work for them.

Not doing that intentionally that I know of. I know that. What I want to know and perhaps phrased badly is that a little while back, someone mentioned that there was a study that said the MSN prepared NPs provided similar levels of care to the MDs. What I want to know is how much better care will a DNP provide to justify the further coursework and $$ that will be spent? As I have asked before, why would you need it? To be better is the stock answer. Better how? If the results are the same as an MD which is the standard for comparison then why? Would they as DnPs have more privillages, money or what to justify the expense? If not, why would I want a DnP instead of an MD degree?

OK. How? Are MSN NPs giving lower standard of care compared to MDs? Non specialty of course. And with a DNP, what else will they get to do that an MSN doesn't?

but will it change those who go thru the dnp route? how much better will it make them? target date is 2015? ok. what about the difference between a 2014 msn np and a 2015 dnp np? will it change the way either practices in a positive sense? iow, will i be better off seeing the 2014 msn or the 2015 dnp? will there be much of a dnp crop then? can you explain why i would want the hassle of a dnp to be a "mini doctor" when i can do the same thing and go for the "full monty" with more money, more independence and more advancement?

Didn't read this post yet before I replied. Oh well. Rodney Atkins has a song about that Well you know those times When you feel like there's a sign there on your back Say's I don't mind if ya kick me Seems like everybody has Things go from bad to worse You'd think they can't get worse than that And then they do You step off the straight and narrow And you don't know where you are Use the needle of your compass To sew up your broken heart Ask directions from a genie In a bottle of Jim Beam And she lies to You That's when you learn the truth If you're going through hell Keep on going, Don't slow down If you're scared, don't show it You might get out Before the devil even knows you're there Well I been deep down in that darkness I been down to my last match Felt a hundered different demons Breathing fire in my back And I knew that if I stumbled I'd fall right into the trap that they were laying, Yeah But the good news Is there's angels everywhere out on the street Holding out a hand to pull you back upon your feet The one's that you been dragging for so long You're on your knees You might as well be praying Guess what I'm saying If you're going through hell Keep on going, Don't slow down If you're scared, don't show it You might get out Before the devil even knows you're there Yeah, If you're going through hell Keep on moving, Face that fire Walk right through it You might get out Before the devil even knows you're there If you're going through hell Keep on going, Don't slow down If you're scared, don't show it You might get out Before the devil even knows you're there Yeah, If you're going through hell Keep on moving, Face that fire Walk right through it You might get out Before the devil even knows you're there Yeah you might get out Before the devil even knows you're there Yeah.

Well, firstly, how honest can you be with yourself? You don't have to post the answers here but you need to ask yourself some hard questions. I got paid the same as I would in my nursing job with 10 yrs experience. Only difference is 8-5 hours and no every other weekend. Is that an issue with you? What are your plans? You will earn more as an MD but with specialization opportunities. You are young yet. If I was your age, I'd go MD but I was 38 when I started this route so the money won't be there before I retire after paying off all the loans and all that. There is talk of having to have a DnP but I don't think it will affect you. Check carefully and be careful because if it does, you will probably be better of as an MD. It is your life but if you are going to be doing the same thing for less money, are you willing to live with that? Of course, if you do think you might want to be a specialist like in Cardio, Neuro, etc, etc, you have to go the MD route. That is the one that will earn the big bucks. As I said before, you don't need to spill your guts here. However, you need to be honest with yourself. How much is the money worth to you?