There are many reasons why people should not become nurse practitioners. I will outline a short article stating why YOU should NOT pursue a nurse practitioner degree, EVEN if you already have a bachelor's degree.
You may not be able to work in your favorite specialty.
Currently, work in the ER as an RN? Do you love it? Good, well your first job out of school may not be in the ER as you have lingered during your nursing career. Love the ER? Well, recruiters love experienced NP's in the ER, so you may be out of luck for a few years.
You may take a big pay cut.
WHAT, A PAY CUT???? I MAKE 45 DOLLARS AN HOUR AS A LOCAL TRAVEL NURSE AND MY STARTING NP PAY IS LIKE ONLY 38 AN HOUR, DUHBULL YEW TEE EFF. Yeah, that's right, your first job might land you in a local community health center making less money with a masters degree, than with an associates degree.
You have to learn an entirely new trade.
The term "advanced practice nurse" is really misleading. We don't practice in any way as an RN does. Our role more so mimics physicians. "Man I have been an ICU nurse for 12 years and an ER nurse in a level trauma center at 16 different Mayo clinic locations, I GOT DIS BRUH." No, you don't get dis. What you have is a new steep stepping-stone into a new trade. You are on the other side of the brick wall now writing the orders for your old self to follow. Welcome to "advanced practice nursing."
Another 30-70k in loans and other fees.
Running short on change due to having to support a family, bills, expensive hobbies, or for some other reason? Well, the solution sure isn't to take out another student loan. Becoming a nurse practitioner costs A LOT OF MONEY. Yeah, it isn't medical school, but we also don't make what physicians make either. Count your coin prior to becoming an APRN.
Time
Looking for a 1 day a week online nurse practitioner program that requires no travel graduates in 5 months, 10 clinical hours, and a 2.1 GPA to get into? Looking at some of the online programs that exist, I wouldn't doubt there are at least a few of these. I am sure there are some great online programs out there, but trying to take the easiest shortcut probably won't pay off in a competitive market such as todays. A good program will require a decent time commitment. Should getting a master's degree not at least be as much work as your associates? Some seem not to think so, they seem to believe that once you have your RN you should instantly be crowned Dr. Nurse with the wave of a magic wand and the writing of a few 'nursing policy' papers.
Labels and role confusion
Get ready for this one... Labels. The patient walks in the room. "WHAT A NURSE, I WANT TO SEE A DOCTOR, WHAT IS THIS NURSE DOING HERE." All that extra school and you still get called a nurse. Where did the word practitioner go? Oh, that's not in a good amount of people's vocabulary. Nurse is a nurse is a nurse is a nurse nurse nurse. Don't think that big white coat with the MSN FNP flashing around is going to make people bow down to Dr. Nurse. You will need to present yourself well to avoid this dilemma.
Poor support from licensing agencies
This is a big one. Look around online and I see adds all over the place stating garbage such as: "EASTERN FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY OF PHEONIX GOVERNERS UNIVERSITY is now taking applications for their CNA-to-DNP program. Please apply online, no GRE, college education, high school diploma, or GED required." Wow. Good job ANCC, AANP, or whoever credentials these places, you sure do make sure that only the highest, and I mean HIGHEST standards of education are upheld in the prestigious field of nursing. I am sure the AMA would rather get kicked in the balls multiple times before they would allow the credentialing of a fully online medical program from a fully for-profit university with teachers posting online quizzes and tests from their garage. And people are lobbying for less nurse practitioner restrictions? I know there are great nurse practitioners and programs out there but PLEASE, let's be real.... Until some limitation is put on the quality of these bed-bug ridden basement nurse practitioner programs, we will never have the support for unregulated practice.
Now I am not saying that become a nurse practitioner is terrible, but these are some things to consider. I am sure this is going to be rather controversial, so I have put on my jock strap and am ready for low blows to the land down under.
Thanks for reading, if you made it past the 3rd paragraph without cursing me under your breath, we may be able to be friends.
