1. Overabundance of programs- schools are opening up left and right handing out these degrees. Why? Many of the online schools charge 40-60k + dollars for these programs. Outrageous, but with the hopes of landing a 6 figure job. People are cramming themselves through the doors for them paying up front with government money.
2. Lowered standards- Many of these for profit programs lower their standards to acquire more students.Sort of like lowering the price to acquire a greater share of the market. A good business opens up to a greater amount of customers. Of course lowering the price is not an option when people are paying upwards of 100k for an NP degree. Why not make it easy? No GRE, 2.5 undergrad GPA, no experience, failed the LolCLEX 4 times, no time, No problem! Pay us the money and we will make it as easy as possible.
3. the current promise of close to 100k a year. This is what they try to project, our national average salary, which has been rising for several years. Do I think this will continue? No. Why? Supply and demand baby.
4. Its cool. Wow you have a masters, you must be HIGHLY EDUCATED. People will always want power and to flaunt themselves in front of others. A simple stepping stone to a masters without any difficult entry barriers??? FNP!
5. Weak A$$ accrediting- Everybody who pays for the FNP exam is putting more money into the ANCC and AANP people's pockets. WHY CHANGE IT?? More money for 'prep' materials too. I bet Margaret Fitzgerald is wetting herself with joy over the number of fnp applicants.
6. Not so difficult board exam- yeah it was harder than the NCLEX, but still not difficult enough for our line of work.
7. TONS OF RNS- Schools are also pumping out tons of RNs, who are quickly learning that being a nurse is not as glorifying as they had hoped. Easiest way to combat this problem. GET A MASTERS in the same field.
8. It will all soon end. Soon this degree will be like the MBA.. highly dependent on personal ability and which college one graduated from. Law has also recently fallen into this situation. We are close to follow. What will you do to stay afloat? I hope you plan on going the extra mile, otherwise you may be disappointed holding a masters and still working as an RN since you did not heed the warning.
The irony of two people me to "stop being self-righteous" and commenting on NP education and practice who have never worked a day as a nurse let alone completed APN education or functioned in a provider role makes me chuckle.
I spend 12 hours a week in the free clinic because I know how bad problem need care.
The irony of two people me to "stop being self-righteous" and commenting on NP education and practice who have never worked a day as a nurse let alone completed APN education or functioned in a provider role makes me chuckle.
I spend 12 hours a week in the free clinic because I know how bad problem need care.
You don't need to be a practicing APN to be part of a discussion regarding the obvious problems of NP education and getting poor people access to care via np's/ the possible causes of NP oversupply etc.
And by the way- huge thumbs up to you for spending 12 hours at a free clinic providing care to those who cannot afford it. I know most people would rather be watching tv or partying for those 12 extra hours/week, so I'm really impressed!
Even with over abundance of NPs in schools, not everyone will make it in the real world as a NP. Some good and bad APNs will come out of good or bad schools. Some will become teachers, administrators or providers. They will weed themselves out. I wouldn't be too worried over it. Experience is key here!
Futureeastcoast I don't know whether to be insulted or just laugh myself half-to-death. You know as much about living in Kansas as you know about being a nurse practitioner which is obviously not much. I do not live in a "rural" or a "poverty-stricken" area of the country. I live in a city with over a quarter of a million people with an abundance of fine arts, fine dining, big industry, and certainly no shortage of things to do. As an individual who is not even a nurse practitioner, and has been a registered nurse for just over a year, you have quite a large opinion of the profession. It will be interesting when and if you finish training and become licensed to see what kind of provider you may become. Individuals who believe that they know more than they do often make dangerous clinicians. For those of us out in the real world, especially those of us who according to you live in teepees and have to scavenge for food, thriving as a nurse practitioner has been easy.
ronchelednik- it is "should have", not "should of". And there's a difference between "their", "there" and "they're". You used the wrong "their" each time. Also bring this up to the google speech correction department.
Specializes in Certified Family Nurse Practitioner.
Its a little petty, and insulting to point out everyone's spelling and grammar errors...I wasn't aware that we were being monitored by the grammar/spelling police...
Very true. It's the fastest way to get away from the bedside. I think people realize this once they become a nurse.
When I finished nursing school, we had three students apply and get accepted with NO experience to np school.
I think the money will not change, but hiring will become more dependent on previous experience and success will be measured by ability to be autonomous right away and get results.
When I finished nursing school, we had three students apply and get accepted with NO experience to np school.
....hiring will become more dependent on previous experience and success will be measured by ability to be autonomous right away and get results.
Some NP programs don't require RN experience for matriculation. Some don't even require it for graduation. In the end everyone takes the same boards. There is no published evidence showing novice NPs that were previous experienced RNs are any more competent than novice NPs with no experience.
Hiring is based on networking, which may or may not be related to experience.
The ability to "be autonomous" and "get results" is important. But it's not correlated with an individual's prior RN experience, at least according to the extant literature.
From my professional experience precepting students, student-NP competence varies far more with the individual than it does with extent of prior RN experience. In fact my most challenging student had been a nurse for more than 30 years; his knowledge was quite good but he struggled immensely with the role.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Futureeastcoast I don't know whether to be insulted or just laugh myself half-to-death. You know as much about living in Kansas as you know about being a nurse practitioner which is obviously not much. I do not live in a "rural" or a "poverty-stricken" area of the country. I live in a city with over a quarter of a million people....
You are the one who initially said you live and work in rural Kansas. Just wanted to point that out.
BostonFNP, APRN
2 Articles; 5,584 Posts
The irony of two people me to "stop being self-righteous" and commenting on NP education and practice who have never worked a day as a nurse let alone completed APN education or functioned in a provider role makes me chuckle.
I spend 12 hours a week in the free clinic because I know how bad problem need care.