What Is The Difference Between MSN And NP.

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Dec 4, 2005

Hello Everyone,
I Have Been In Healthcare For 10 Years. The Past 5 Years I Have Been A Lpn. I Am Currently Working On My Rn Degree. After I Get My Rn Degree. I Would Like To Abtain A Nurse Practioner Degree In Acute Care. What Is The Best Route ? And Is There A Difference Between The Title Msn And Np? Do I Need To Get My Msn Before I Get My Np?

The MSN qualifies you to take the certification exam that makes you eligible to practice as an NP. It is similar to the RN program qualifies you to take the NCLEX-RN, which makes you eligible to practice as an RN.

Trauma Columnist · Dec 4, 2005

I want to add that the NP is a type of MSN concentration. For instance, I have an MSN with a concentration in management and leadership. Since I want to pursue an advanced practice nurse certification, I'm doing a post-master's clinical nurse specialist.

elkpark · Dec 4, 2005

An MSN is a degree -- Master of Science in Nursing. You can get an MSN in many different specializations, or "majors," and one of those is preparation as a nurse practitioner, which is an advanced practice role. All current nurse practitioners went through a Master's program (and got an MSN degree) which educated/trained them as nurse practitioners, and then they were eligible to sit the national certification exam.

One can also get MSNs that prepare you to be a CNS, nurse midwife, or nurse anesthetist, as well as MSNs in nursing education, administration, informatics, and quite a few other specializations.

So, in order to become a nurse practitioner, you will need to go on to graduate school and get (at least) a Master's degree with a nurse practitioner specialization. There are also some programs now that offer a clinical doctorate that prepares you to be a nurse practitioner; you may have seen some of the recent threads here about that. California is the only US state that still has a few "certificate" nurse practitioner programs, which are not MSN programs. However, graduates of those programs can only work as NPs in California; they are not eligible for national certification, and their credentials are not recognized by other states.

Gennaver, MSN · Dec 12, 2005

The MSN qualifies you to take the certification exam that makes you eligible to practice as an NP. It is similar to the RN program qualifies you to take the NCLEX-RN, which makes you eligible to practice as an RN.

Hi,

I am in a Masters program and want to clarify that merely obtainint the MSN will not qualify you to sit for the Clinical Nurse Specialist Nor the Nurse Practitioner exams, at all. They are not the same thing.

It would be like thinking just because you completed your RN program that you could automatically get your ACLS certification.

Usually programs do combine their NP alongside their MSN but, do not assume this.

In my program, (which is a masters entry and is a general MSN) we complete all the core courses for the RN and the MSN. If I want to pursue the NP or CNS I will not need to repeat the core courses but, will definately have another 5-6 full time quarters of -specialty- area aside from the clinicals it requires.

So, clearly and MSN is not the same thing as an NP.

Good luck and congratulations on your decision to further your education.

Gen

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Dec 13, 2005

Pardon me, but I never said that an MSN and an NP WERE the same thing. I said that the MSN qualified you to take the exam to be certified as an NP - which it does if you graduate with an MSN with an NP track. The OP had asked if you had to do a separate NP program AFTER getting your MSN. If you go through an NP track - you don't. I would think that anyone who wanted to be a nurse practitioner would opt to enroll in an NP track.

nursemaa · Dec 13, 2005

Usually there are core courses that all MSN students take, then additional courses in the selected track- NP, CNS, CRNA, administration, education etc. All receive the Master's degree at the end, then take an exam if required for their specialization.