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It is my understanding that the Texas BON is intentionally vague in their delineation of scope of practice as it relates to ACNP versus FNP. Many hospitals are now setting hard boundaries, but that is up to the institution. One could argue that an RN with 3 years of inpatient ortho experience is well under way to care for ortho patients in an acute care clinic setting as an FNP. As long as you are properly trained to perform the tasks to which you are delegated, you should be operating within your personal scope of practice.

Greetings AllNurses, I am currently finishing my core courses in TWU's ACNP program and will begin clinicals next semester. I am currently working in the surgical ICU at our local county Level 1 Trauma facility. All of my experience as been with surgical patients. Ultimately, I would like to find a position working with a group of surgeons where I could do some first assisting along with the requisite follow up care. I know that I will need to become certified as an RNFA and am more than happy to put in the time and money for that. I know there are many of you out there that are performing this kind of work. Would anybody be willing to accept me as an unofficial mentee and perhaps an official preceptor in the next couple of semesters?

Greetings Nolagrace, First: I am biased. I attended TWU's Houston campus for my bachelors in nursing. Originally, I was planning on branching out to UT for my master's but after I left TWU began offering an Acute Care tract. Knowing the faculty, I decided to continue with TWU for my NP education. TWU has a reputation in the medical center for being one of the top schools, on par with UT Houston. Anybody who argues one is better than the other really is just expressing personal preference. I have worked with UT graduates and they are equally well prepared upon graduation from their BSN program. Second: Just because they do not have an official hard limit on the number of applicants they accept does not mean that there is no limit. I applied with one of my RN colleagues and I got in while she did not, so clearly there is a selection criteria even if they do not advertise it. I am currently finishing the last of my core curriculum (assessment and role) and will begin my clinical courses next semester. So far, I feel as well prepared as I can be. If you have any other questions I'll be happy to help where I can.

Becoming an RN is very difficult and immensely rewarding. It takes focus and hard work but it leads you to a career that is full of choices. If you are patient enough to work for what you want, go for the RN program. Even if you have to start with an associates degree at your local community college - it will be a start. Scrub tech's make decent money and get to do some pretty cool things, but they top out at a much lower ceiling as far as salary and potential.

1) There is a higher ratio of males:females in the advanced practice setting than there are males:females overall. Really, though, it doesn’t matter to most people. 2) Check some local university websites for what courses they require. Many universities have different requirements for entry into their nursing programs. You can pursue either an Associates degree program (typically 2 years) or a Bachelorette program (typically 4 years). For most bachelors programs you will have two years of prerequisites and then two years of clinical courses. 3) Many programs require you to have one to two years of RN experience before entering their NP programs. There are also programs which do not require this. Personally, I was at the bedside for about 3 years before going back to school. The experience was very valuable. 4) NP programs usually take between 2 to 4 years to complete, depending on if you attend full time or part time. 5) Working while going to nursing school is very doable. You have to be focused and very organized. I always did better in school when I worked – it made me manage my time better. Go meet with an admissions counselor for the school that you are interested in attending. Many 4 year programs require you to complete two years’ worth of prerequisites before applying for the nursing portion of the program. Also, as others have mentioned – ask around at local hospitals and see if you can shadow a nurse. Also, check to see if your high school offers a Health Science class.

Nursing school does its best to hone your critical thinking skills. Much critical thinking is also learned on-the-job and comes from experience. How much time you spend studying depends entirely on your habits and how long it takes you to become familiar with new information. Personally, I managed to work full time during most of my nursing program (junior and senior years). The amount of time I devoted to work decreased as I progressed clinically to where, by the time I was in my last semester, I was only working about 24 hours a week. Nursing school is VERY time intensive. You are expected to have no other professional obligations that might interfere. You should expect to treat nursing school as your day job. I cannot speak from experience regarding 2 year (ADN) programs, but from what I've heard, they are even more condensed.

Greetings all, I got my CNA a few months ago and I've been working at a hospital in north Texas. I love my job, but I was accepted into the Spring '09 class at TWU's Houston campus. I need to work at least part time to help pay for school (not to mention that working as a tech has already helped me gain a better understanding of nursing as a profession). Are there any nursing students out there that have had good luck with any particular company in Houston? I'm looking for jobs right now but there are very few part time job postings for techs at the med center and I don't think working full time is in my best interest - at least to begin with. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Greetings all TWU applicants! I am one of the fortunate few who were accepted for Spring of '09. Dallas was my first choice but I did accept Houston as a back up. I didn't get into the Dallas campus so I'll be moving to Houston the 10th of January. Due to my location and work schedule I was unable to make the registration session on the 4th of December. I called ahead and spoke with the Director of Undergraduate Admissions and she sounded disappointed, but didn't kick me out of the program or anything. Was anybody else unable to attend? I've already registered for classes on my own and I already hold a BLS certification for my current job. Were books and uniforms the only other topics covered? Can anybody tell me the company that the TNSA uses to order scrubs? Anybody planning on working in a hospital while going to school, and, if so - any tips on finding a position that's class compatible?