PICCRN79

Sounds like you want to be a CNS. If you want to teach and affect change, it's a good way to go...

17 months

Although I absolutely agree with you, that is something that I am looking at when I go from being a RN with 12 years of experience ~52.00/hr to an APRN with 0 years of experience ~47.00/hr. With years of experience of course the APRN will outpace the RN, but going from bedside nursing to advanced practice, for the first couple years, I will experience a pay cut.

Not sure what its worth, but remember, you can work in leadership with a FNP, but you can't be a FNP with a MSN in leadership. I have chosen to get my CNS because I want to work in education and or leadership, but with my CNS, there are so many additional opportunities. I used the rule of thumb that as a CNS (APRN) I can be an educator or leader, but with a MSN in leadership and education I will not be a APRN or a CNS.

I agree that this topic can be very subjective. Clearly making 140+ is necessary just to survive in a place like SF or NYC. Keep in mind, that these NPs making 140+ in these places are not paying 800.00 a month for their home. I am going to school currently to get my CNS, in the state I live in, APRNs all make comparable salaries, except CRNAs of course. Mosr APRNs I know love what they do and are not rolling in dough. This is not a profession you go into for the paycheck as much as for the desire. $$ is certainly more reasonable than nurse educators make, but the newer grad NPs in my facility make less than a RN with 6 years of service (union scale), and NPs who work at the heart clinic at my facility report making much less than we do as RNs.

Agree here. I went to a "no name" local community college and got my ADN. Did a work sponsored RN-BSN (i.e. my BSN costed me a total of $0.00), and am starting my MSN in May. You can do it, make it happen for yourself, just be smart about it. Working to pay student loan debt is a difficult job!!

Thank you WestCoastSunRN for the excellent and complete response. I will be starting my CNS in May and could not be more excited!! My specialty is in Vascular Access and I have been a bedside vascular access RN for a little over 8 years now. My focus and interests have really moved toward education and being a leader in change using EBP. This is where I know I excel and where I can contribute the most to nursing.

I applied to the CNS track. My BSN GPA is 3.68, my earlier college however was much lower. Only a couple more weeks....

There is so much value in the CNS role. Not everyone want to be a provider. Many if not all of the policies and procedures that you follow as a NP were written by a CNS who is an expert in that field.

There is so much value in the CNS role. Not everyone want to be a provider. Many if not all of the policies and procedures that you follow as a NP were written by a CNS who is an expert in that field.

I am very excited to start my CNS education in 2019!!

Great responses to this from these seasoned nurses. As I read through your posts, perhaps you should really consider the CNS as I am. The CNS is just so versatile. You can be a CNS and work as an educator, but educators are not CNS's. Having been a nurse now for 15 years, I am certain of what I am looking for. CNS's can get prescriptive authority in many states. This is a head-scratcher for me, as I have no plans of doing any patient care related work and the CNS's in the facility I work in are used in a performance improvement manner, not in direct patient care.

Wow. Reading your post I almost felt as though you had gotten into my brain and put all of my thoughts on paper. Like you, I am currently in a BSN program. Unlike you, I know with certainty that I do not want to be an NP. I have been a nurse for many years. I have not worked floor nursing, but in vascular access within the hospital. Once I complete my BSN, I am going to pursue opportunities as a clinical device educator. I also want to go right on and get my masters. I know that I want to be involved with education, performance improvement and support learning for nurses. Like you, I also like to solve problems. For these reasons, my top two choices are the CNS and nurse education. As you mentioned, sadly the CNS seems to be a role that is being forgotten. CNS's have so much value to the hospital. There are CNS's in my hospital and I am planning to move to Hawaii and I do see some CNS jobs there as well. Unlike you, I cannot see myself teaching at a university. I do not want to teach nursing and it seems like MSN prepared nurse educators will be taking pay cuts from working in the hospital. I think I am fairly set on the CNS, but it is a little nerve wracking to be taking on education and debt on an APRN that seems to be being phased out.... Good luck! I look forward to hearing what you decide.

I too have applied for Summer 2019. I am going the AGCNS route, but all the APRN classes are the same. Hoping to connect with other student CNS's if there are any out there. What is your planned focus?

I have been very certain that I want to go to CNS school. I want to leave direct patient care and work more in EBP, education, performance improvement, quality, etc. I have been doing a bit of research and looking at jobs, and there just does not seem to be a lot of CNS jobs out there, especially working in an actual CNS role. There are about 8 or 10 at the 350 bed hospital I work at which seems like a lot compared to other places.... Okay, so what about the NP route? As I stated, I have been a procedure based RN for almost my entire career. Having said this, the only type of NP position that strikes my interest would be in an IR position. Having researched that, there does not tend to be too many of those jobs either. In the state I live in and in the 2 or 3 other states I may some day decide to move to all use CNS's and allow prescriptive authority for them, and all have NP's working in their IR's.... Just not a lot of jobs..... I could likely get a job that I am interested without a masters. Of course, like many, MSN is always preferred. I am ready to apply to graduate school...... What do you think?