Sabotai

Some hospitals do not hire FNPs for ICU internists. Duke is a primary example of one that does not. I am getting both my ACNP and FNP because I intend to work as a ICU NP, but because you work 6-7 24 hour shifts a month I intend to work elsewhere in an ED or at another clinic.

The limitation to the NP profession being based in the hands on care of nursing, not being a phlebotomist, pt aide, ma, etc... These are things that I find give you pretty much no experience in patient care. If you do go into a PA program that doesn't require experience then you could literally have 0 patient interaction. If you are an RN becoming an NP you will have 600-1000 clinical hours from your BSN alone. I honestly feel like there should be work related requirements before NP school, but this whole thread was intended to look at the necessary regulatory changes needed for NPs. I do assume there are PA's out there that have a GREAT deal of experience, but from its inception PA's are to work under the supervision of an MD or DO. At this point in time, unless their title is changed and the role is revised that is what they are. NP's need to continue to work to establish their full autonomy in all states, which we have in many already, and do our best to establish the NP as the primary care provider in healthcare. The points I made in my earlier posts all lead to that goal with the added residency model instead of preceptors and the regulation of the curriculum.

Also I do think PA's are just that physicians assistans. NP's are designed to be providers, stand alone providers, that bridge the gap that is missing in primary care. I don't understand why a PA that has 2000 clinical hours in school, compares to my 9000+ working for only 4 years and my 1200 in just my masters. . That is 10,200(That number doesn't include my hours when getting my BSN) of patient interaction, learning what is done to take care of them, listening to medications being given, administering meds, and helping them do EVERYTHING they need to do. I have no problem with PA's, but to me those two roles are in no way interchangeable.

My program just for my fnp is 1200 clinical hours. Which is a decent amount. My 4 years of practicing as a nurse in the hospital is about 9000 hours. If I got paid 45k a year for two years after my fnp to learn, and garner the respect the profession should have. I would do it in a heartbeat. We need to change the standards. We will lose Nps in number but gain pay respect and quality by far. We would be much more qualified to completely take over primary care and change how healthcare is handled.

A change has to be made to the Nurse Practitioner profession. There are huge issues with the current curriculum, and one of the biggest issues is the lack of regulation in the curriculum. How can my current university make me take 60+ credit hours where another school is only 39 credit hours for literally the same degree? These are two top tier universities that would normally compete with each other academically. It makes no sense. I believe there should be a paid NP residency after NP school, just as it is for MD's. This could be a shorter focused residency based in primary care depending on your specialty. I think it being 1-2 years would be sufficient and give the on the job day-to-day training of a General Practitioner. This in and of itself would increase the respect of the profession. It should increase the overall pay to NPs and move NPs towards taking over the Primary care roll. National Regulation of curriculum (adding advanced a & p would be smart) Freedom to practice independently in all states (no supervision) A residency after graduation for all np's (1-2 years) These changes would take NP's to the next level of respect, pay, and autonomy.

I am 6'3 250 so bigger guys are in nursing. It helps greatly to have size and strength to deal with difficult situations. I get great respect as a man even while in school doing clinicals. As for scrubs they do have big and tall ones so you would be good to go. I would think your law degree would help greatly. My wife has a bs in business/computer science and a BSN. She is getting her np currently and is accepted to go on to her dnp and all her hospital talks about is her going into upper administration as soon as she is done.

Why do I see so many posts about NPs on these forums saying they don't expect to make 100k and some even saying that they are fine with 65k etc... Previous to going into nursing I owned a construction company for seven years I made well over 100k a year doing that on average. I am going into nursing due to the changes in the construction industry and the fact I always wanted to be in medicine. If I go on to become an NP I would expect to be treated well, and paid well for the eight years It will take me to get all the way through my DNP. I will and have always applied myself in school to get all A's and will do the same in the masters and doctorate programs. I will be able to act as a primary care, and should be paid as that. There are some states and practices where NPs are paid equal to General practitioner MDs. If MDs want to make more they should be surgeons, and not try to take it away from capable NPs.

I am a male RN, graduating from a RN program in a month. I intend to go right into a rn to bsn program this fall. My wife is currently getting her NP and then working towards her DNP at a top 10 school nationally. I mention that because I hope to go to the same school for whichever patch I choose. The reason I am curious about some opinions on this is because I want to go after my masters. I want to achieve all I can and I want to do a job that I am well paid for. I see all these posts talking about an over saturation of CRNAS and about NPs being underpaid. I personally do not know about the pay for NPs and my wife is not finished yet to see what offers will be. honestly want to succeed in whatever I do and right now I am not leaning one way or another. I like both career choices for what they are, and have actually spent time with both(a perk of being married to an OR nurse in a hospital). I just don't want to pay 10s of thousands of dollars for a school name and a degree and be disappointed with the salary at all. I would not want to be an NP or a CRNA and make 40 dollars an hour and be in debt up to my eyeballs. I sometimes feel the safest bet is be an RN and work in an OR in my area and work up the ladder making 40 dollars an hour that way. I think the biggest worry is the DEBT to WORTH issue for me... Which career is most worth the time and money and not going to be over crowded or underpaid for the effort I know I put into everything.