RegularNurse

Think of it this way... NP training is market driven. There is a strong market for NPs, and a large pool of nurses who wish to be NPs. Schools compete based on the flexibility and ease of their programs. As long as a school maintains accreditation, there is a huge incentive to compress and streamline training. As long as there is a large population of nurses who want to become NPs, schools do not have to invest in preceptor coordination etc. There is little incentive for accrediting bodies to crack down on schools, because the more schools that offer the training, the larger they are reimbursed in fees.

You are being paid market value for your work. Compensation isn't about being nice or fair. Employers want to pay the least amount possible in the form of raw wages and benefits for labor. As a staff nurse, you have little bargaining power. Do you actively generate revenue for the organization? Is nursing an exclusive field requiring tremendous knowledge to be minimally qualified for? At best, nursing limits billing losses from things like central line infections, falls etc. There are 3.5 million nurses, hardly an exclusive club to be in. Nursing has commoditized itself. You can go from BS in psych to an NP in 3 years or less now. These are just the realities of the free market. I'm sure many accountants don't feel great about people paying their taxes by taking a picture of their W2.

I see OP's point, but if you are working with the general public, be prepared to be disrespected.

Well Said.

Obviously this is happening. New nurses know that all you need is some experience and few years of grad school to get a comfortable 9-5 job with no nights, holidays, and weekends. Most pay even better than bedside care. Only in nursing is there a culture that decries people for wanted to improve themselves professionally. Accept the reality that there will be a huge decrease in the number of experienced bedside nurses. Young people don't want to deal with the nonsense of being a shift worker.

This is your time in the trenches. Bedside nursing is about getting work done. Its not about musing on the pathophysiology, or the right drug regimen. Bedside nurses need to be smart and hard working. Aides and RNs do the medical labor, they physically take care of sick people. Nursing school is designed to make you minimally qualified for entry level employment. Whatever goals you have in nursing beyond this level are aspirational. You need to learn how to follow orders before you give them.

It doesn't matter where you get your BSN. Graduate nursing school remains wide open. You will probably get accepted into every NP program you apply to. Best of Luck!

This post captures the problem perfectly. Nursing school behavior will only be policed by market forces. If employers refuse to hire inexperienced NP graduates, they will tighten up their admission standards. Regarding vernacular, why bother dropping the nurse title? NPs are overseen by the BON...

You don't have to do anything. Just tell your employer that you won't work unless they have additional staff present.

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A nurse practitioner is a clinical degree. Healthcare administrators typically have advanced degrees in business or healthcare administration, in addition to years of clinical experience. If you are not already a nurse, you will need to do a BSN then get your MSN, and pass the NP boards. Then you may need to have experience as a nurse prior to getting administrative responsibilities. If you stay in your current specialty. You could work up the SW ladder. Otherwise, the typical career path in healthcare administration is having a BSN and working as a staff nurse, then working as a charge nurse, then getting a grad degree (MSN, MBA, MHA) and becoming a nurse manager. From nurse manager things open depending on the position you are seeking. There are DONs and VPs. At large academic institutions, its not uncommon for senior nursing leadership to have DNP degrees. Depending on what state you live in, an NP may be able to manage a clinic or multiple clinics. This is also an option. I don't know much about policy advocacy. It sounds like public health, which sometimes requires doctoral level training to implement large scale projects. For example, many research grants etc. require a PhD for primary investigator. You have options, options are a good thing. Best of luck!

I'm not looking up the specific rules in your state, but in my state, refusing to take a drug test does not constitute guilt. Your employer has the right to fire you over it, but your employer is not a police department, or the BON. You never HAVE to do anything. Nurses do not lose their license or have to attend AA/NA over simply refusing a drug test. People on allnurses are trying to scare you. Just move on with your career. When you apply for a new job, just say that you wanted a different opportunity. It is against the law in most states for previous employers to give the reason you no longer work there.

Try to only work nightshift or dayshift; work multiple shifts in a row; accept that the first shift will be brutal

Opportunities for in-house nurse informaticists are lacking. A hospital doesn't need many informatics nurses to run. There are a lot of opportunities to work for consulting and on-boarding firms as EHR systems are implemented. However, these jobs typically require travel etc. I would only recommend nursing informatics for people who want to work with data or want to code/build EHR systems. The nursing workforce is polarizing. There are a lot of young and old nurses. If you are early in your career, the days of simply training people in a new EHR are gonna end, if only because young people intuitively know how to use systems. I can't speak for the florida market.

You have a goal and stick with it! Do not become a nurse. Every nurse I know who has ever wanted to become a doctor was miserable in the nursing role. Just keep on trucking. Honestly, consider paramedic school as a way to make cash on your journey.