Thoughts on Accelerated BSN + MSN

In my own experience (not at Emory) with an ABSN + MSN program I was able to work part-time/per diem as RN during the MSN portion and this was VERY useful to me (even if it did mean insane hours some of the time)- I feel like it helped my education and didactic learning to be working in a relevant environment in addition to clinical experience. This experience has also really helped to develop confidence in my assessment and nursing judgement and allowed for networking - which is how I got ALL of my post-NP-graduation interviews. My current employer does not hire new graduate NPs who do not have relevant prior experience and I am the only new grad NP (of 3) hired in the last year who did not previously work for this organization in RN capacity -- the fact that I worked with 2 of 3 populations this organization serves via community partner agency as an RN was a huge selling point to gaining an interview and in getting hired (and the fact that we charted using the same really weird EHR system didn't hurt my application).

Having some familiarity with the interfacing systems and the unique needs of these populations has definitely made the transition to NP easier, and there is still a steep learning curve!

I did an ABSN then went straight into the MSN NP program. Had no trouble at all getting an NP job. Now, you have to decide what kind of NP you want to be. If you are going into primary/outpatient care, not having RN experience is fine. But if you want to be an acute care NP, you must have some RN experience. Good luck.

I agree with the above posters and will add to my previous post - that researching job postings for your areas of interest and the geographic area(s) you want to work in can be a great guide to determining the amount and kinds of experience prospective employers are looking for. If all job postings in your area/specialty want 5+ years relevant nursing experience this is going to make RN experience that ties to your specialty more important than if there are lots of job postings that are "new grads welcome, relevant experience preferred but not necessary".