_iamkel

That's great!! Congrats! One step closer to your dream!

Awesome input, thanks!

I work between 16-24 hours a week. If I have tests or a busy schedule one week I will take off that entire week to prepare for what is going on. I find that extremely doable in regards to being able to afford my bills. My bills include: Car payment, insurance, rent (which isn't much- just $200 a month to my parents), gas, cell phone and any extra expenses such as copays, food, hanging out, groceries, ect. I take out loans for my tuition. But, I get a really great scholarship for my academic performance plus some grants. I pay for books, scrubs and clinical supplies out of pocket (this is most expensive when you first begin nursing school because you have to fork out all of this money up front, it gets better.) Look online for scholarships that you can apply for. People and companies are giving money to nursing students left and right! You just have to be motivated to search for them and do the work to apply for them. My advice to you is to work while you are in school. If others can do it, so can you! Don't underestimate yourself. 😉

When I do my clinical rotations I try to find PAs and NPs around the hospital to pick their brain. Most of the NPs said that they wanted to be in that profession because they are more involved with the patient whereas PAs are more involved with curing an illness, like you said. Idk- this is just what I gathered from those in the field! Maybe the comment about most people prefer NPs over PAs would be for that exact reason. NPs are more involved with the patient. Any thoughts about that? I think the reason I would want to be a NP over a PA would be because I am in fact going to nursing school because I want to be a nurse. With other threads that I am on and the constant research I have been doing I really think NNP is the way for me to go. Still weighing out the pros and cons. Thanks for everyone input, everything helps! 😄

This absolutely helps! Thank you so much for all of the information. This is really helping me decide what I want to do and how I want to do it. It's awesome talking to someone who has done exactly what you want to do!

The institution said I could begin working towards the program asap post passing the NCLEX...

How would you recommend that I go about furthering my education to be a NNP? My plan was to graduate nursing school in May 2016 and begin the 18 core credit masters program, right away, while working as a nurse (hopefully in NICU level 3). And then transition into the 18 credit NNP program when it applies. Or I could work as a nurse for 2 years and then begin all of my graduate education after that (NOT ideal). I just want to get my education out of the way in a timely manner. I don't want to rush through school but, I'm 24 years old. I just don't want to still be in school when I'm 30 (NO offense to anyone going back to school in their 30's- I'm totally for it!). I have plans for a family and I'm definitely the type of person that needs to plan. 😊

Forgot to mention, I am currently a junior in nursing school!

This is a great post. Thanks for showing me this thread. Maybe someone can help me to understand something: I was told that for me to go through the NNP program I would need 2 years experience as a nurse in a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit. I couldn't imagine being a NNP without having that experience. I would need to get through 18 credits of "core classes" and then another 18 credits once I am in the NNP program. Upon graduating I will have a total of 36 credits and they told me I can get this done in 2 years. My question is, how will I get this done in 2 years if I need to have 2 years experience as well? Let me know if I need to be more clear with my question!

I'm leaning towards NP mainly because a lot of people say they prefer NPs over PAs. Thanks for the advice and support. I appreciate it.

Seriously! All I wanted was some advice on my future, not my grammar! Haha. Oh well, some people just worry about the little things. Not me! :]

No problem! I appreciate you catching my mistake. I was just looking for advice on the main topic of conversation, not my grammar. That's all. Totally appreciate your correction though! I'll be more aware. :]

Thanks so much!

One of the schools I was speaking with told me that I will need to have 2 years of experience in a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit before I would be able to move into the NNP program. My plan would be to work to get that experience and begin to take the core credits. Sounds like a logical way to do it to me.

Thanks so much for all of the great information. I have been in touch with a few different schools of my choice and they also basically told me that I still have time to decide what I wanted to do.