Questions from prospective NP

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Hello all!

So recently I have pretty much decided that I would like to be a Nurse Practitioner. I hope to be in the field of family medicine and/or psychiatry (would like to study both but havent decided what to work in) in the future. I am still in High School and am not too familiar with the Nursing field yet so please bare with me. I have a few questions regarding the education and experience needed to become an NP:

1) How much math is required for becoming an RN/BSN/MSN/PhD? I understand you won't need all that much more than basic arithmetic in the field but what math is required for you education?

2) What is this I am hearing about new requirements for NPs to have a PhD AND RN experience? I mean it doesn't make much sense to me that in a time with primary care professionals in such high demand that they would make it even harder for people to become NPs

3) Is there a demand for Psych NPs at all? I looked and those jobs seem harder to find then gold dust

Thanks everyone! Your answers are really appreciated!

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1) Math in nursing is primarily medication calculations, which requires you to understand dimensional analysis. It's not particularly hard, just mostly division, multiplication, and unit conversions.

2) Nurse anesthetists are required to obtain a DNP, nurse practitioners and other advanced practice registered nurses are required to hold a masters degree in their specialty. The DNP will not be required for APRNs in the foreseeable future. A PhD is not and will never be required for advanced practice nursing, the PhD is primarily geared towards research.

3) Demand is always area specific, in my state of Texas there is an enormous demand, with typical starting salaries for new PMHNP grads around $100,000 and up. In general psych NPs earn more than FNPs. I recommend Indeed.com if you're interested in perusing Psych NP jobs in your area.

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I agree with the previous poster.

As for which math classes you need: something basic + a stats course (for my BSN). Some MSN programs want a graduate-level stats class as well. It's not too big of a deal.

Re: the DNP--you'll see a lot of talk about NPs being required to have a doctorate, but that's been talked about since the 1980s. You can definitely practice as an NP with "just" an MSN.

Good luck with everything!

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Thanks for the reply guys and for clearing up all of this. I think I will now be a bit more confident about pursuing a career in nursing.

But on the note of of PhDs and DNS is there any real advantage to obtaining those degrees in terms of getting jobs and how well you do those jobs? Is it worth obtaining one of the two? And if so which one is better to obtain, a PhD or DNS?

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If you're interested in advanced practiced nursing the DNP is the "clinical" degree. The PhD is for individuals interested in research and pursuing the highest levels of academia professionally. The DNP also qualifies you for collegiate educational opportunities.

To be fair, I have a poor opinion of the DNP in it's current incarnation. I don't want to go on an inflammatory rant since you didn't ask, let me know if your curious about why I feel the way I do about the DNP.

To answer your questions, arguably, holding a DNP would make you more competitive as a new grad job applicant compared to a new grad holding an MSN. Keep in mind this slight edge will cost you an extra 1-2 years of full time education and that tuition for DNP programs is very expensive.

If your goal is to practice clinically as an APRN, no, it is not at all worth it to obtain a DNP. A PhD is appropriate for the above explained professional goals and will be of no value to an APRN whose only goal is clinical practice.

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Specifically about math: a BSN will require College Algebra... And college algebra is usually a prerequisite for the chemistry that will be a prerequisite for the Microbiology that you will need... Etc. In my state, my personal opinion is that College Algebra is no more difficult that Algebra 2 in high school. You will also need a college level statistics class as a prerequisite for the MSN, but while its classified as a "Math" class, it's less like math and more like logic.

Regarding primary practice NPs: I'm in agreement that bedside nursing experience is pretty far removed from the skills needed for primary practice. The problem is that within nursing itself, there is a big push for NPs to get some bedside experience before they are viewed as "ready" for advanced practice. I work full time as a bedside RN, and I'm currently in an FNP program. Clinical placements for students with no bedside experience is extremely difficult to find in my area... Perhaps other areas are not the same- I don't know. Depending on what year in high school you are, you are 5-ish years away from looking at NP options. Who knows what the landscape will look like then.... Since there is (and is projected to be even larger) a large primary care practitioner deficit in the U.S.

I think you're smart to be mapping out your career goals now, even if they change. Best of luck to you!

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Specifically about math: a BSN will require College Algebra... And college algebra is usually a prerequisite for the chemistry that will be a prerequisite for the Microbiology that you will need... Etc. In my state, my personal opinion is that College Algebra is no more difficult that Algebra 2 in high school. You will also need a college level statistics class as a prerequisite for the MSN, but while its classified as a "Math" class, it's less like math and more like logic.

Regarding primary practice NPs: I'm in agreement that bedside nursing experience is pretty far removed from the skills needed for primary practice. The problem is that within nursing itself, there is a big push for NPs to get some bedside experience before they are viewed as "ready" for advanced practice. I work full time as a bedside RN, and I'm currently in an FNP program. Clinical placements for students with no bedside experience is extremely difficult to find in my area... Perhaps other areas are not the same- I don't know. Depending on what year in high school you are, you are 5-ish years away from looking at NP options. Who knows what the landscape will look like then.... Since there is (and is projected to be even larger) a large primary care practitioner deficit in the U.S.

I think you're smart to be mapping out your career goals now, even if they change. Best of luck to you!

Thanks!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
If you're interested in advanced practiced nursing the DNP is the "clinical" degree. The PhD is for individuals interested in research and pursuing the highest levels of academia professionally. The DNP also qualifies you for collegiate educational opportunities.

To be fair, I have a poor opinion of the DNP in it's current incarnation. I don't want to go on an inflammatory rant since you didn't ask, let me know if your curious about why I feel the way I do about the DNP.

To answer your questions, arguably, holding a DNP would make you more competitive as a new grad job applicant compared to a new grad holding an MSN. Keep in mind this slight edge will cost you an extra 1-2 years of full time education and that tuition for DNP programs is very expensive.

If your goal is to practice clinically as an APRN, no, it is not at all worth it to obtain a DNP. A PhD is appropriate for the above explained professional goals and will be of no value to an APRN whose only goal is clinical practice.

If I were to pursue a Pysch NP career, would a DNS help out considering that the jobs are more scarce or even then would it still not be worth it?

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What state are you in that psych jobs are scarce? I find that hard to believe. But regardless, yes I view it as not worth it.

And on a nit picking point, just because others on this site can be snippy about simple things, DNS = Doctor of Nursing Science, which is an antiquated degree that was replaced by the DNP, Doctor of Nursing Practice

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