Should NP training be standardized?

[orangepink]

I have a colleague who has 3-5 years NP experience in internal medicine then she switched over to a specialty clinic (I think neurology) where she worked for 7 years. She was then hired in a neurology clinic here in our state. She was fired in 3 months later because the neurologist was upset that given her extensive experience, from what I heard anyway "she doesn't know much."

IME, NPs are trained by their supervising physicians especially when it comes to specialties. As corny as it sounds, I feel like her firing was grossly unfair. Maybe in the 7 years that she worked in that out of state clinic, most of her patients were follow-ups where the treatment plan has been outlined and/or she was only given simple cases like headache etc.

Her situation makes me wonder should NP training be standardized especially with specialties? I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

[DTWriter]

Before standardization, it would be nice if NP schools were required to provide preceptors for their students.

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

I don't think it helps the cause when we bring up the fact that we know some physicians that are "terrible people." The truth is the bar is much higher for entry to medical school, the training much more rigorous. Yes, we all know a few bad ones but if they passed the boards they have a good knowledge base in their specialty. NPs would do well to have the same.

If you'll notice, I included 'terrible clinicians' in there as well.

The question that's worth pursuing is, is the increased rigor of medical school going to make a difference in patient outcomes? Evidence doesn't point in that direction. That's what I'm interested in. I've already said I'm a believer in more standardized education, but what, exactly, should the standards be?

[Skippingtowork]

Before standardization, it would be nice if NP schools were required to provide preceptors for their students.

I think you would have many followers here. It's time for NPs and NP students to unite. And good preceptors. They are out there. give them something for their time>

[Skippingtowork]

I don't know, I've seen some pretty awful physicians out there too, terrible clinicians and terrible people. It would be nice if (as MDs can) NPs could hold a board-certification in their subspecialty as well as the NP cert. More hoops to jump through, certainly, but I think people would do it for the prestige. I would love to see more standardized education in this country anyway, from kindergarten up to and including postgrad degrees.

There are many people in this country who are against standardized education. Why? I can't tell you that. I think specialized training in specialties would be a great thing. That specialty training could always come with a stipend. FNP first then specialty if you want it. 6 months to a year depending on specialty. Full-time with exams in a step-wise fashion. Or 1-year paid residencies for all. It's good for the profession and good for patient care and safety.

[NurseJ04]

In my view, if NPs want to be respected as equivalent to physicians, they should demand that their training be standardized as it is with physicians.

I've encountered some terrific NPs but an NP license is not nearly the guarantor of the training quality of the practitioner as it is with a physician.

This. Totally agree (as someone who is pursuing NP school).

[Ellen NP, MSN, NP]

many physicians have no understanding of NP education. We cannot just jump from specialty without training. An NP with 20 years experience may have no neuro expertise. Physicians often believe that we are trained like PAs as generalists. It's unfortunate that the physician and NP in this case did not discuss her actual experience and training needs prior to hiring.