Starting an MSN program in 2015... Will it be worth anything?

mzaur · Feb 10, 2014

Have you searched the forum at all? This topic has been discussed ad nauseam

jmarie91 · Feb 10, 2014

Just scanned through and saw nothing. Do you mind referencing me in the right direction with a link?

mzaur · Feb 10, 2014

Sure

MereSanity · Feb 11, 2014

I have searched this topic before and I have the same concerns. I've been reading about this topic for years. What I find most often is that most people really don't know (though they say they do). I did gather enough info though to switch my major from NP to MSN Informatics. I don't want a doctorate. I would be interested to know what those with manners have to say on the subject....the ad nauseam past posts really don't help...half say nothing will change and the other half are still left wondering if they should invest time and money into a degree that may not end up being what they wanted. In any event I gathered enough info to comfortably change my major. Good luck!

TammyG · Feb 11, 2014

From what I can gather, neither the AANP or AACN have said they will require a DNP to sit for the exam in 2015, and the general thinking is that, when and if these organizations do change to that requirement, they will give a few years' notice and probably grandfather in current students. It seems that many nursing school administrators and professors, as well as NPs in the community, are misinformed.

The link offered above by mzaur by the way is mainly 20 pages of 2 people arguing about the role of the DNP.

SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS · Feb 12, 2014

To answer the question: there is no mandatory DNP in the foreseeable future. However, enough people believed that it would be mandated in 2015 that many graduate nursing schools went strictly DNP and got rid of the MSN entirely except for possibly CNL (not advanced practice) programs, such that in some parts of my state there are no MSN advanced practice programs and people even travel 90-100 miles or more to attend class.

That's it in a nutshell. It has actually been discussed ad nauseum, but the myth persists, partially because influential nursing groups pushed the DNP so hard.

mzaur · Feb 12, 2014

The link offered above by mzaur by the way is mainly 20 pages of 2 people arguing about the role of the DNP.

Why do you say that? This is the second thread in the results and the first few replies answer the question succinctly. https://allnurses.com/nurse-practitioners-np/2015-dnp-requirement-805505.html

DidiRN · Feb 21, 2014

Closed for Staff Review

DidiRN · Feb 21, 2014

Several posts have been removed for being off topic/against TOS. Thread reopened. Please be respectful and stay on topic :)

elkpark · Feb 21, 2014

To answer the question: there is no mandatory DNP in the foreseeable future. However, enough people believed that it would be mandated in 2015 that many graduate nursing schools went strictly DNP and got rid of the MSN entirely except for possibly CNL (not advanced practice) programs, such that in some parts of my state there are no MSN advanced practice programs and people even travel 90-100 miles or more to attend class.
That's it in a nutshell. It has actually been discussed ad nauseum, but the myth persists, partially because influential nursing groups pushed the DNP so hard.

(Maybe I'm just more cynical than you are, but I don't think it had anything to do with "believing" that the DNP would be mandated -- IMO, it's just a matter of the DNP programs being more lucrative for schools than MSN programs.)