Too soon to become an NP?

allnurses Guide · Sep 2, 2016

Again 30 years, and I am happy with what I do. I am fascinated how much this gets under the skin of those who went on without experience. I will never know what kind of NP any of you are, I have an opinion, I also would be willing to bet that my opinion is correct.

30 years of doing what exactly? You didn't answer the question: how long you have been an NP?

You can have whatever opinion you want of me, it doesn't bother me in the slightest (and FYI, I did work as a bedside RN). Similarly, I have some opinions about people who think they are experts on topics they know very little about.

Anyone who did not have any experience and went on to get there NP or any higher degree without every working a day in the trenches with minions will NEVER understand how they feel or what they deal with. No matter what you say you will NEVER know what its like to be a medical professional on the ground levels. That experience makes you a better NP or manager for that matter.

People will never understand without having experienced it huh? See my point above. And how do you know that "ground level" (what an awful term to use for some vital members of the healthcare team) experience is so important in the provider role? From the historical pathway of physicians...wait...most of them have never worked a day outside the provider role.

I have never heard of an RN that came out of school and 6 months later everyone said, omg you should be an NP or a DR.

FWIW, I heard this said to me and a number of my classmates in the first semesters of pre-licensure nursing school. But really, it's a silly point that doesn't matter.

BTW studies, all studies can be manipulated for whomever the study is intended.

You must be a big proponent of EBP huh?

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 5, 2016

I've been an NP since 2012. I agree first few years as an RN is more than enough. I would, however, discourage a recent BSN grad to go right into a NP program without ever stepping a foot in a hospital. That's mainly the premise of my argument.

And that is exactly why I got the ADN first instead of going straight for the BSN. I wanted to be able to gain valuable experience as an RN while working on the BSN and then on the the NP. I started on a step-down unit and now I'm an ICU RN. I've learned SO much in my time on the floor. I've floated to many different units in the hospital. I've worked side by side with NPs, PAs and doctors and can see clearly how they function in the acute care setting.

I'll be doing a dual FNP/ACNP program. By the time my clinicals for FNP start, I'll have 2 years ICU experience and 3 years when the ACNP clinicals start. I personally feel that having this experience will be greatly beneficial when I become an NP. We have more NPs in the ICU than PAs. Most of the doctors say that they prefer the NPs because they have an ICU background before going to NP school. You can become a PA with your only experience being working in a lab or as a tech. The program I chose awards the masters and then you complete additional clinical hours during the DNP portion. By the time I'm done, I'll have a total of 1,620 clinical hours in NP school. I'll at least be able to start working as an NP when I get the masters and pass boards.

To me, nothing beats actually *doing* the work. Before I became a nurse, I seriously considered going the PA route. However, nursing had more hands-on experience to it. I used to work in a lab and I could have finished my BS in clinical laboratory science and gone on to PA school with the only medical experience of doing phlebotomy. I can't imagine being a good clinician without having that actual nursing experience under my belt.

Does this mean that there can't be good NPs without prior experience? Not necessarily. There are definitely exceptions, as BostonFNP points out. But to me, you can put a price tag on the value of actual experience.