Which Route Do I take after my ASN??

[dmberry425]

I will be graduating in December of 2019 with my ASN. I am 25 years old and I have my bachelors in Communication from the University of North Florida and long story short I had a change of heart and I am so thrilled to become a nurse. My long term goal is becoming a family nurse practitioner. I would like to accomplish this in the quickest way possible. Ill be graduating at the age 26 and if I could have a job by the time I am 30 I would have accomplished my goal. I have been doing a lot of research about bridge programs that allow you to go straight from your ASN to MSN ( so I could technically include your BSN course but since it is all together it would be cheaper and quicker). I am reaching out to anyone that may have done or is thinking about doing the same thing. Like I said, I have my bachelors in another subject than nursing but I choose the ASN program over the accelerated BSN because of price and the quality of this program that I am in. please please give me all the advice you can I am trying to plan my route because I am so excited and want to have a goal. Thank you in advance!

[PrereqTaker89]

Out of curiosity, why must you be a DNP by specifically 30?

[dmberry425]

It's not a must just a goal.

[Matthew RN, MSN]

Different ways to go:

1) ASN to BSN to Master's Nurse Practitioner or DNP.

2) ASN to MSN to Post-Master's Nurse Practitioner or DNP program.

I suggest NOT doing an ASN to MSN program. Usually in these programs there is no halfway point where you can bow out with a lesser degree when life happens. The program is all or nothing. Also, in many cases Masters Nurse Practitioner programs are disappearing and turning into DNP programs (totally different subject but worth your time to research why). You will more than likely be looking at a DNP program. Many DNP programs and Masters nurse practitioner programs are BSN to NP, for these programs there is not a big benefit for having a Master's degree, you might be able to skip 1 or 2 classes but otherwise the MSN student is taking the same classes as the BSN student. So if you weren't planning on using your Master's degree for something else it is not really worth getting.

A third choice you might also want to look at is Physician Assistant Programs, as many of these have only a requirement for a Bachelor's degree. Rather than getting another nursing degree that you don't plan on using such as your BSN or MSN and then starting a Nurse Practitioner program you could just immediately start the PA program. In most states a PA is a mid-level with a similar scope of practice to an NP and a similar average salary.

[dmberry425]

Thank you so much for your response! I don't want to go the PA route I would really like to be a Nurse Practioner. So maybe the DNP is the best option. I was just curious about my options and if anyone has been through the same thing.