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?

Keep moving. I'm a team player but I'm also a PAID employee.

"Big enough for a 4FR but half the size than regular vein"... Not sure what that means as far as what is considered a regular vein.... How small of a vein are you talking about? My first question would be what the PICC to vein ratio is to ensure that you should even be accessing the vein for PICC placement. Remember, the smaller the vessel the more limited the flow when you slap a PICC into it. Also, it is prudent to look at the vein without the tourniquet.

I know this post is like 3 years old, but I am surprised to read so many people with bad experiences with Excelsior. I had a great experience. My CPNE was stressful most certainly, it was a difficult test. No test should be "designed" to pass or fail. I prepped and worked hard and passed. I graduated in 2009

Although I cannot speak to what exactly the criteria for a FNP to sit for the CNS exam, I can tell you as someone who has applied to grad school to get my CNS, the education at multiple schools is identical until clinicals. You may need CNS clinicals. I am interested to follow this post as well. Although I want to be a CNS, I also want to live in Hawaii in a few years when my kids are done with high school. If I have to become a NP to have gainful employment there, then I will be needing to switch gears as well.

Thank you for your insight. I am applying to the University of South Alabama for summer 2019 CNS. I know if I follow my desired career path, the rest will work itself out.

Hello ladies, obviously there are only a few of us who are planning to attend USA. I am planning to start the Clinical Nurse Specialist program in the summer semester of '19. Finishing up my BSN now. We will likely be in the same classes as looking at the plan of study, the classes are identical for APRN's. The only difference will be in the clinical course followed. Hope to see more people on here in the coming months! Good luck!! See you next summer!!

If you are basing your fear on others experience, you are shooting yourself in the foot. How good of a nurse are you? How confident in your ability are you? Of course it's nerve racking, it should be. It is a culmination of everything you have learned plus hands on patient care. It truly is where the rubber meets the road. Only you know your ability, only you know your desire to be an RN. I know becoming a RN completely changed my life. Both financially (big time) and job satisfaction (bigger time!). If you want it bad enough, bust your butt, study, find online study groups (they had them when I went to Excelsior 9 years ago), and when the guide tells you this is what you need to know, then know that that is what you need to know. You'll do great! When I started in 2008, I worked full time and had 4 kids ages 13,5,3,1. I was barely getting by financially on my 15.00/hr LPN wage. I wanted it and made it happen and you will too! Don't buy into anyone else, buy into you, invest in you and you will get where you are going!

I passed on my first go. I was an LPN with about 5 years of experience. That was back in 2009, cannot believe it has been that long!! Fast forward to today and I am about to start a masters program. A couple friends that I have kept in touch with from my cohort already are FNP's. I still remember prepping for it and having a complete breakdown from stress early in the day of the evening skills lab. It is a tough exam. There really is no other way to put you through the clinical equivalent of an RN program without a rigorous clinical weekend. If you are not prepared you will fail, if you are weak in important skills, you likely will fail. They gave us a fair chance to pass. Some of the students in my cohort did not pass, though most of us did. As an LPN, I had never worked with children and had never even heard of "short gut syndrome". One of my "clinical experiences" was an incredibly complex pediatric patient with short gut syndrome. Reflecting on that test I realize that although that patient was far out of my league at that time, the instructor was not testing my knowledge as much as my critical thinking skills. Although I took this almost 10 years ago, I am sure the ability to think on your feet and rationalize problems is still a big part of it. Prepare like they tell you to. At the time I worked in a LTC facility and I would go into the rooms of different residents and do assessments on them...every...single...shift...for about 3 months while waiting for my date... BE PREPARED, work hard, think like a nurse, think line an RN, you'll do great.

Hello all!! I am an almost BSN prepared RN looking go into a master's program. I really want to be a CNS and work with nurses and leaders as opposed to patients, but I also really want to make sure that I have a marketable career skill as well. There are CNS's in my hospital, though not many. I will not be staying in my current state of residence for too many years after grad school either. As much as I don't particularly want to do direct patient care any longer, I certainly don't want to go through the time, effort and financial commitment to come out on the other side as a very well educated bed side nurse. When I look at job opportunities, their just seem to be so many more for NP's. My thoughts are since the CNS and NP are both APRN and have the same educational basis, perhaps my best bet is to get my CNS and if I cannot get a great job as a CNS go back and take clinicals for my NP.... Or get an NP and look for work as a CNS? I realize they are different jobs...

I am very much with you on so much of what you have said!! I am getting my MSN, I am certain of that. I have been a nurse for 15 years and have been in the infusion or vascular access specialty. My version of "bedside nursing" differs from your own as my interactions are brief and are, for the most part, pleasant. That does not mean though that I am not tired of my version of bed side nursing. I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do. Maybe education, maybe leadership, maybe become a clinical or pharm rep. My strong pull is toward education (hospital or clinical device rep, being a professor does not interest me), however, I will not be getting my MSN Ed. To me, it seems so restrictive. As LilyRN99 said an NP can teach, but an MSN Ed cannot be an NP. As I mentioned I have no desire to see patients, in any aspect of my work frankly, so I have decided to pursue a CNS. I live in a state in which the lines between CNS and NP are a little blurry and can get prescriptive authority if I so desired (which I don't). The CNS has such a broad spectrum of possiblities, from education to leadership to infection prevention and the list goes on. With the CNS, you can be almost any type of nurse you want. I interviewed a number of MSN prepared nurses that I work with and truly value their opinions. I spoke with a CNS, MSN Ed, NP and MSN in leadership, I asked them questions about what they love and hate, what drives them everyday and if they were in my position and could do it again, what would they do? Their incite was helpful in my decision making. Good luck to you!