Vitabella

Thanks, Jules - that helps. I should stop trying to justify the low offer and either counter (a lot!) or keep looking.

Thanks, I think I'll try to go in Monday to counter the offer - I've never negotiated before so it's probably time to start!

I've heard of new grads making $65,000-80,000 starting with benefits in my area (50's for FQHCs). If I were to continue as an RN full-time at my current job then I would make $5,000 more per yr than I would as an NP with this position. A part of me worries that I won't find any other job opportunities since I'm a new grad and I also wonder if it would be worth it to just work here for a year to get experience. Also financially, I would be able to live comfortably since cost of living is so low here.

I live in the Southwest and received a job offer the same week that I graduated with my DNP. While I am thankful for this, I was not so excited to hear that the starting salary is

Hi! Kudos to you for knowing exactly what you want to do in high school! :) I just graduated with my DNP as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I worked as an RN for 1 year before applying to grad school to pursue a DNP and I worked part-time throughout the program. I had classmates who went straight from their BSN to DNP without having any experience as an RN. Depending upon your GPA, the school's requirements, and your interview, it is possible to continue your education straight into a DNP. Whether that is recommended or not really depends upon how certain you are that the DNP degree is what you want and how well you did in nursing school (nursing school is a lot of work!). It is definitely possible to work part-time while going to school full-time although the faculty may tell you otherwise. Most of my classmates worked at least part-time while in school. I can't yet speak on the differences between being a NP vs RN from experience, but I received a job offer the same week that I graduated (so at least where I live, finding a job isn't a problem!). Best of luck to you! :)

No way (I wish!) - for an NP program, it's more like you're paying to have clinical experience.

Mine is 3 years and the other graduate programs in the Southwest are also 3 years for a DNP. (But this is only for a BSN to DNP degree.) It completely depends on the program you're going in to - MSN to DNP or BSN to MSN??

That would be a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner or PNP, there are some schools that offer focused study in this area. As far as the job opportunities available i.e. children's clinic, that depends from state to state.

Some of the books won't have older editions, but for the most part I was able to use older editions (the only problem you might encounter is when the instructors specify a specific page # since those may be off - you just have to compare the content to make sure you're on the right page)

Congrats to those who will start this fall! I graduated from Mercer in 2010 and absolutely loved my experiences there. Wonderful & caring professors, great classmates. Word of advice (which may seem like a given): always, always keep up with the material and when you study make sure to understand the entire picture of why you give a certain medication or how a disease functions and affects different systems in the body (don't just memorize - understand how things work) - this will be vital in not only surviving the next few years until graduation, but also when you're an RN at the bedside!

Arizona State University FNP (BSN-DNP) Full time until clinicals start next year, then part time or PRN (med/surg/oncology) Full time school First thought "what?! they let me in?!" with a mix of excited and nervous. Becoming a FNP just got a lot more real

I haven't had the chance to meet everyone in my cohort as I'm taking an optional summer course prior to starting this fall, but the experience ranges from 33 years as an RN to a classmate with no experience (straight out of her BSN program). Probably over half the class had at least 1-5 years experience. I'm the same as you with just about a year of experience at the bedside and was worried I'd be the most inexperienced! Congrats on starting the program! :)

Arizona State University's BSN-DNP program for FNP, it feels kind of surreal getting accepted. But also, the price of tuition is surreal -_- hehe.

I will start a DNP FNP program this fall and also graduated with a BSN in 2010. I've been working in med/surg/oncology. I would assume that working in any area of nursing would work for FNP since that's also a very general field of nursing practice. If you have no preference, I'd say go for med/surg. My experience there has been so diverse with pt ages ranging from 17 to 98 yrs with an array of conditions and diseases.

I'm also applying for NP programs fall 2012, specifically to ASU (Arizona State) and NMSU (New Mexico State) both BSN-DNP programs. I haven't been a RN for too long, but figured that it wouldn't hurt to try and apply right now!