Re-entering the workforce as an NP vs getting a PhD

[pnpvirginia]

I am considering re-entering the workforce to utilize my MSN (primary care PNP) after working part-time as an RN while I raised my kids. In the past 10 years, we've moved 4 times due to my spouse's job, making state licensure difficult, especially with regard to prescriptive authority. So I only have 3 years of PNP experience. For 6 years I worked as an RN in pediatric emergency rooms and trauma centers, just to maintain my skills and for extra income. I have not worked in a year since our last move. I have maintained my certification as a PNP and my licensure as an RN, I believe I can get my APN license fairly easily, but again I'm faced with difficulty getting prescriptive authority. I would need to take a few grad level pharmacology classes and somehow obtain 1000 hours of supervised work under a board certified pediatrician.

I have been considering getting my PhD - I have always had an eye on teaching, did well in both undergrad and grad, and have had a few adjunct faculty gigs. Most importantly, I feel like I want to make a greater impact on children's health. I feel I can offer more in terms of research and teaching than clinical practice. If I am going back to school, I would rather get on a non-clinical as opposed to clinical track. However, I am not sure how attractive of a candidate I would be for a PhD program, as I have not practiced as an NP in some time. And I graduated in 2000, 3 out of 4 of professors I would have asked for references are deceased. I have made some inquiries into my local SIG groups as a start, but is there anything else I should be doing to enhance my candidacy?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Can you network with your state's APN group? Perhaps look into a job as a PNP?

[PG2018]

Maybe if you work as a PNP you'll get the 1000 hours. Are you sure that number is right? Also, I wasn't aware nurse PhD programs were hard to get into. Maybe you should look into a MPH, DrPH