Pursuing nurse practioner degree without RN experience

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Hi everyone, this is my first thread. I just passed my NCLEX in mid september and is wondering if it's a good idea to pursue nurse practitioner degree without RN experience? Also, how's the market out there for nurse practitioners?

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Hi everyone, this is my first thread. I just passed my NCLEX in mid september and is wondering if it's a good idea to pursue nurse practitioner degree without RN experience? Also, how's the market out there for nurse practitioners?

Absolutely not.

Book knowledge is all well and good (and further education is always good) but to work towards independent practice you need to have a foundation- and no books give you experience- just the "ideal" presentation of diagnoses. Get some exposure to real patients who have 5+ diagnoses and the meds to go with them....get comfy with their labs and diagnostics. Without experience, your value as an NP will be bleak.

Do you want a vet working on your dog who needs the book to perform procedures because he/she never did one before ? (loose example- but you get the idea :)).

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Thank you for the reply. I do want to get experience first but it's really hard to find a new grad job in this market... This is why I am considering to continue my education.

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I am all for continuing education, especially while you are motivated, but I say No. School doesn't prepare us for how to be RNs. It's learned on the job and I think the key to being a good good NP is a few years experience as a RN. They will let you in the program, but I do not think that anyone will hire you as a NP without RN experience when you are done. Then again, you could just plan on that and work as a RN for a few yrs. after finishing NP school then apply for a NP position. Trust me, it is quite the transition from student to the RN role. :)

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Specializes in Multi-disciplines.

I agree with the above. Most NP programs these days mandate that you have to have at least a year of experience for the specialty that you want to specialize in.

Nursing by the book and then nursing by the bedside are two completely different worlds if you ask me. :nurse:

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Thank you for the reply. I do want to get experience first but it's really hard to find a new grad job in this market... This is why I am considering to continue my education.

Yes. That's true. But who will hire a nurse practitioner with no experience? :eek:

Get ANY job (all skills are valuable). Even part time while taking classes. But don't be a practitioner who's never seen a patient as her "own" patient. :)

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Thank you all for the input :) I will focus more on finding a job then looking for grad school. One more question, wouldn't it be hard for people who went through the nursing immersion program (For career changers and graduates with degrees in non-nursing subjects who want to become Primary Care Nurse Practitioners) to find a job since they have no experience either? My friend is starting the nursing immersion program this winter and I feel that he will have a hard time getting a job once he gets out too.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

I encountered a "nursing immersion" APN who was a CPA with no clinical experience. He went directly into the MSN program and earned his RN on the way. Managed to get a job with a pulmonary practice. Could not articulate the difference between COPD, CHF, & pulmonary edema. Thought a 60-yr pack a day non-filtered cigarette smoker should have a goal of a CO2 of 35 (was a CO2 of nearly 100 at time of intubation). Caused much stress for the family due to this persons' lack of clinical knowledge/experience (basically if it didn't match the text book he didn't know what to do, worse he didn't know to ask for assistance) and the inability to effectively communicate.

My sister is an APN. She went the "traditional route" went out of HS into a BSN program, worked 4 yrs full time as an RN before entering the MSN/APN program while continuing to work in her specialty area. In her opinion, direct entry "nursing immersion" programs should be outlawed. She's also seen a negative results, but more significantly as her specialty is pediatrics.

(That's not to say that all "nursing immersion" MSN/APN students/graduates will lack in clinical skills, knowledge or ability to interact with patients/families. But in her experience (and mine) it is not a situation that seems beneficial to patients and the NP. My sister's group would never hire an APN who never had RN experience other than the MSN program.)

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i thought i would share with you a different perspective from a direct entry masters rn. i received my previous b.s degree in pharmacological chemistry in the hopes to either by a pa, pharmacist or md. i decided to go the route of np after much research and meeting some amazing np mentors. the first 16 months of my program i obtained my bsn/rn license, i am now working as a labor and delivery rn (6 months in) while obtaining my msn (will graduate next august). following my msn i will quite my position or kick back to per diem and obtain my np certification. i will then work as an np hopefully with an ob (have already received job offers from some of the docs i work with on the unit). so the question remains do you need rn experience to be an np? i think it helps as far as labs, diagnosis, communication with doctors, ect. but i don't think it is necessary. the doctors i have spoken to agree and i have to say the only resistance i meet is with seasoned rn's. i have to say based on my background i am very knowledgeable in diagnosis, labs, medication. ect but i need to refine my skills (iv starts). but let's my honest here np's that work in the clinic do not perform these types of tasks. i am not sure why there is so much resistance from other nurses, but you just have to learn to blow them off, seek out the help of knowledgeable rn's that can and will support your education goals and work really hard to pave the way for future np's. much of my support in the hospital comes from dnp's, nurse educators, managers, and the docs. pick the brains of these individuals and focus on the positive and try to tune of some of the negative chatter.

i hope this helps a bit :yeah:

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Did you want to become an advancd practice nurse anyway? Or is this contemplation simply to avoid having to deal with the rotten job market?

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Did you want to become an advancd practice nurse anyway? Or is this contemplation simply to avoid having to deal with the rotten job market?

Great, hard hitting question.

To huangsoRN,

I am hearing a lot of concern about the job market but not much about your passion and vision in nursing.

What do you want to do in nursing?

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i thought i would share with you a different perspective from a direct entry masters rn. i received my previous b.s degree in pharmacological chemistry in the hopes to either by a pa, pharmacist or md. i decided to go the route of np after much research and meeting some amazing np mentors. the first 16 months of my program i obtained my bsn/rn license, i am now working as a labor and delivery rn (6 months in) while obtaining my msn (will graduate next august). following my msn i will quite my position or kick back to per diem and obtain my np certification. i will then work as an np hopefully with an ob (have already received job offers from some of the docs i work with on the unit). so the question remains do you need rn experience to be an np? i think it helps as far as labs, diagnosis, communication with doctors, ect. but i don't think it is necessary. the doctors i have spoken to agree and i have to say the only resistance i meet is with seasoned rn's. i have to say based on my background i am very knowledgeable in diagnosis, labs, medication. ect but i need to refine my skills (iv starts). but let's my honest here np's that work in the clinic do not perform these types of tasks. i am not sure why there is so much resistance from other nurses, but you just have to learn to blow them off, seek out the help of knowledgeable rn's that can and will support your education goals and work really hard to pave the way for future np's. much of my support in the hospital comes from dnp's, nurse educators, managers, and the docs. pick the brains of these individuals and focus on the positive and try to tune of some of the negative chatter.

i hope this helps a bit :yeah:

you are working as a rn while in a np program. i think what the rest of the people envisioned when we read the op's post is a rn with no work experience whatsoever heading straight to a np program.

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