Becoming an NP with little to no nursing experience??

Nursing Students NP Students

Published

Hello to all!!! I have worked as a parmamedic for 20 years, have a B.A. in Economics, and I wanted to advance my career in healthcare. I was originally looking to pursue the PA route, but for certain practical reasons (including my union not helping to pay for it) I have been looking at other options, nursing/NP.

I was very excited to learn of a school near me that has a combined BSN/NP program for people with non-nursing bachelor degrees. I was about to start looking deeper into this program when a good friend of mine who is a member of an interview committee at a nearby hospital told me that I shouldn't do the program because I would have trouble getting a job.

The reason stated was because I wouldn't have been seen as having "paid my dues" as a nurse first.

Is this true?

I could understand why someone might feel that way about someone who went through this type of program never having worked in healthcare before. However, I like to think that to a certain degree I've paid my dues (I know it isn't nursing, but from a time in healthcare perspective).

My friend did say that I might be considered an exception to that rule. The program is at a VERY well known school and I was told by my friend even then it wouldn't matter. I was wondering what people here thought regarding this topic.

Thank you for any guidance you can provide.

Specializes in allergy and asthma, urgent care.
I know that there are many who say that you have to be a nurse first. I totally disagree. I went through an immersion program. There are 35 Family NPs that graduated from our program. Not one of us has been turned away from a well paying job due to lack of nursing experience. The job that you will do does in fact differ from being a registered nurse on the floor. I do not mean this in a bad way at all. You are being paid to evaluate and DIAGNOSE a particular problem. What is important is that you understand nursing philosophy and principles which you will get in your education.

I'm right there with ya!! I graduated from a Master's Entry program with no RN experience. All of my class found jobs very quickly and we're doing just fine as NPs. I think RN experience is definitely valuable, particularly in an acute care setting, but not imperative.

Hi,

from reading the postings here and it looks like the RN experienceto be hired as an NP is not essential.

I have worked as and RN for 7 years in acute care, then took about 7 yrs. off to raise family. Now, I am back in the hospital setting (critical care). I have one more year left to graduate as an Adult NP. I was under impression that the more critical care experience you get the better it is to be hired as an NP, hence my working in critical care setting. My work situation is VERY stressful to say the least: I am learning the hard way that critical care is not my cup of tea.

Messages on this board make me question whether all that I am going through right now (combining a stressful job and demanding school curriculum) is worth doing to have better hiring prospects as an NP..... Fortunately, we are financially very stable and I do have opportunity to finish my NP program without having to work. Anyone has any opinions as to whether critical care experience will make a difference?

(FYI: I am planning to work in primary care as an NP)

Thank you!

GrnRN

Specializes in Consultation Liaison Psychiatry.

If you are hoping to work as an NP in a critical care setting(and apparently you are NOT), the critical care experience is not going to make you more marketable as an NP. If you don't have to work while in school, be kind to yourself and focus on school. Maybe there's an opportunity to spend some additional hours in your clinical placement. More experience in the field in which you hope to work can only add to your skill and comfort in practice.

If you find that you want to do some work in a less stressful setting you might try community health. The hours are flexible, you get to use physical assessment skills, do a lot of health teaching, etc. You also get a feeling for what people face at home when trying to make lifestyle changes. It can help you to ask important questions of patients when you see them in the office.

Good luck with your studies. It will be worth all the work when you graduate.

Hi everyone,

I posted a comment on a post and didn't get any comments on why advanced practice nurses (NPs in particular) need to have years of RN experience to be hire-able or gain the respect of fellow medical professionals. I'm a new grad and still looking for my first RN job. In the future, I do plan to become a NP, but my goals right now are to start working and pay off my student loans. I also think that it would benefit me to pursue my master's degree while employed so that I can benefit from the tuition reimbursement most hospitals offer. However, if i find nothing after months of searching, then I may apply for grad school.

Anyway, I do know some people who graduated with their BSN who went directly to master's programs to get their NP. A lot of nurses seem to look down on this and I don't understand why. Why is that PAs don't get the same criticism as NPs who have little or no RN experience. While I have been looking for jobs, I have seen job postings that state, "PA New Grad or NP with X years of RN experience." I don't get it. It suggests that NP programs are not as strong as PA programs. To me it's like saying a doctor shouldn't be a doctor unless he/she has been a PA first. Same goes for pharmacists... do they need to be a pharmacy tech first to be a good pharmacist? A lot of people go into nursing without a medical background and become successful nurses.

Please share your insight because if master's programs are producing unhire-able NPs or NPs who don't deserve the respect of other health professionals simply because they haven't done their time as an RN, then maybe we should just do away with these programs. :uhoh3:

Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

IMO advance practice nurses are experts in their field. How can you be an expert with no experience whatsoever?

IMO advance practice nurses are experts in their field. How can you be an expert with no experience whatsoever?

Do you feel the same way about PAs? Do you ask your pharmacist if they were a tech before they fill your prescription? Does experience necessarily equate to expertise?

Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.
Do you feel the same way about PAs? Do you ask your pharmacist if they were a tech before they fill your prescription? Does experience necessarily equate to expertise?

I don't see pharmacists in the same way, that they specifically need prior experience as techs. They do have many hours of hands on clinicals in a pharmacy (I know this since I've looked into a PharmD program).

As for PA's, the only one I know employed in my hospital did have prior experience. Like they should have, but this is just my opinion, take it as you will.

ETA: and my FNP did work on the floor as an RN (I asked) and thats why I still go to her.

Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.

PAs have hrs and hrs of practical clinical experience. Although nursing schools give you the basics to begin your career, you don't really understand how to put it all together until you've worked for a couple of yrs as an RN. Experience is the BEST teacher and there are just some things you can't learn from a book. When you get your first nursing job, you'll understand. Trust me on this one. Be patient. One step at a time...

PAs have hrs and hrs of practical clinical experience. Although nursing schools give you the basics to begin your career, you don't really understand how to put it all together until you've worked for a couple of yrs as an RN. Experience is the BEST teacher and there are just some things you can't learn from a book. When you get your first nursing job, you'll understand. Trust me on this one. Be patient. One step at a time...

I definitely agree with experience being the best teacher. However, a PA new grad or NP new grad have about the same amount of clinical hours during school. Why is a PA perfectly hire-able after grad school and an NP with no RN experience is not? I guess that's what I am confused about because in addition to the grad school clinical hours, an NP also had to have BSN clinical hours...unless he/she did the fast-track MSN program... I don't understand the double standard and where it stems from.

I actually spoke to college recruiters for a NP program in NYC that is nationally ranked and they answered all my questions about clinical hours, clinical experience, hire-ability. They stated that all their NP graduates practically get swept up before they even graduate. Of course, they could be lying since it's their job to recruit for the schools.

Specializes in SICU.

A lot of nurses seem to look down on this and I don't understand why. Why is that PAs don't get the same criticism as NPs who have little or no RN experience. While I have been looking for jobs, I have seen job postings that state, "PA New Grad or NP with X years of RN experience." I don't get it. It suggests that NP programs are not as strong as PA programs. To me it's like saying a doctor shouldn't be a doctor unless he/she has been a PA first. Same goes for pharmacists... do they need to be a pharmacy tech first to be a good pharmacist? A lot of people go into nursing without a medical background and become successful nurses.

Please share your insight because if master's programs are producing unhire-able NPs or NPs who don't deserve the respect of other health professionals simply because they haven't done their time as an RN, then maybe we should just do away with these programs. :uhoh3:

Doctors graduate from school, but then have several years of residency in order to see how the theory translates to practice. The idea that patients are individual and do not all respond the same way to the same drug/therapy, etc.

Most PA schools require some health care work history prior to starting school and then have an increased number of clinical hours. When they graduate they work under a doctors license and can not practice independently.

In clinical hours the NP program is not as strong by a multitude of several times compared with PA programs. When NP programs started they were designed for working nurses to advance. Nurses were expected to have several years of clinical experience and so needed less clinical hours. This work history was seen as the equivalent of the doctors residency (years of seeing theory in practice.)

NP's have less clinical hours in school and can practice independently. The relatively new programs of allowing people with no medical/health care to graduate as NP's was done (in my belief) to 1. increase the number of NP's quickly and 2. to make universities money. Universities do not care if after graduating you can get a job, even the old brick and mortar schools like to make money and this gets students in.

Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.

UKStudent, AMEN, sister!!!!:D

Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.

Jobless, don't believe this line of bull... :heartbeat

+ Add a Comment