3rd yr undergrad student for non-nursing, want to become a NNP, confused & worried HELP

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Hello everyone, apologies in advance for a long post. I am very worried and new to nursing. I am in my Junior year at Stony Brook University and on track to finish my BS in Psychology by the Spring of 2017. I recently decided to pursue nursing this year. I eventually want to become a neonatal nurse practitioner.

I am overwhelmed by the different possible routes. I'm not sure which method is the fastest and smartest way to becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner. Stony Brook has a 2 yr baccalaureate program in nursing taken during the final two years of undergrad but I'm already in my Junior year and I still haven't taken pre-requisite Anatomy 1&2 with lab and Microbiology with lab. They also offer an accelerated 1 yr program for non-nursing BS.

I'm stuck in between a few different options:

1. Get BSN (preferably accelerated), take NCLEX, get neonatal nurse certification, finally enter NNP program & certification

3. Go for MDE (Direct Entry BSN/MSN) with specialization in neonatal, take NCLEX after BSN portion, take NNP certification after MSN portion

I think both of these options would take around 6 years from beginning to acquiring the NNP certification. I've noticed that a lot of BSN/MSN programs don't have neonatal as an option for specialty so I am worried that even though securing a BSN/MSN acceptance would be the most assuring (since I won't have to apply to both BSN and MSN seperately), I don't have many options. With taking BSN and MSN seperately at least I could apply to specifically NNP programs. Should I apply to both types and see which ones I get into?

I need help determining which path is the smartest or if there is any other paths to becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner.

Also any suggestions for good BSN, BSN/MSN programs? I bombed my first semester getting a 2.6 and I've raised it to a 2.9 at the end of sophomore year. Now that I have a goal career I plan to raise it to a 3.3 by graduation (hopefully). I know it's not a competitive GPA but I really want to become a NNP. I've been a leader in a volunteer music therapy based club for 1.5 years and I have been working at a daycare center for 2 years now. I plan to volunteer at the hospital and join the pre-nursing society to do further community service for the rest of my years at Stony Brook. Do you think I am fine in terms of getting into a good nursing school?

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Specializes in NICU.

A lot of your answers can be answered by doing a search, but I will tell you that I know of no graduate program that will allow you to have no NICU RN experience and complete your master's degree in neonatology. Furthermore, I can't imagine an employer hiring someone as a NNP without any RN NICU experience...

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Specializes in NICU.

There is no way I would trust an NNP that has never stepped foot in a NICU, excluding clinicals.

1. You need to get your BSN (You may not get in to a program right away based on your GPA)

2. Work as a NICU nurse for a few years (if you want to be certified, you need 24 months specialty experience as a U.S. or Canadian RN comprised of a minimum of 2000 hours). It can be difficult to get into NICU. You may need to spend a year or two in another specialty.

3. Apply to a NNP program

It will probably take longer than your 6 yr timeline.

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That is a good point. I will avoid BSN/MSN programs that don't allow extra time for gaining experience in between. I think for most neonatology specialty BSN/MSN programs it's required that students to work for 1-2 years after the BSN portion and becoming certified before going onto the graduate portion and clinicals in the specialty. They also give students the option to take the graduate portion part time while working full time as an RN.

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Specializes in NICU.

Why not abandon your psych degree track and just go straight into nursing? that will save you 2 years on your timeline.

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Why not abandon your psych degree track and just go straight into nursing? that will save you 2 years on your timeline.

Stony Brook doesn't have a nursing major only pre-nursing track so I need to have another major. I wouldn't wait until graduation to apply to BSN but I have to fulfill microbio/lab and anatomy1&2/lab by the start of the BSN program. I do plan on taking those pre-requisites anyway and applying to nursing programs as soon as possible which would be next year.

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