Will they require a DNP in the future to be a Nurse Practitioner?

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I am a current community college student and I will be earning my BSN here in a few years. Eventually in the future probably around when i'm 30 I would like to become a Nurse Practitioner. This would be around 2028. I heard that in the future everywhere will require that you earn a DNP in order to become a Nurse Practitioner. Is this true? What are the current practicing NP's with MSNs going to do?

Specializes in Psychiatry.
Take a look at the website of the "Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs." It's on the main page.

Those are recommendations, they have been saying the same thing since 2007.

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The MSN programs are already disappearing, so I would jump now.

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The MSN programs are already disappearing, so I would jump now.

I doubt they will disappear in the near future. There's plenty of masters programs around. I really doubt DNP will be required anytime soon.

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Depends on the definition of "soon". I am late 50's, so it won't affect me

The MSN program I went to went out about 5 years ago

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.
Those are recommendations, they have been saying the same thing since 2007.

It is not a recommendation. Browse the Standards for Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Programs.

Quote:

"The COA will not consider any new master's degree programs for accreditation beyond 2015. All accredited programs must offer a doctoral degree for entry into practice by January 1, 2022. On January 1, 2022 and thereafter, all students matriculating into an accredited program must be enrolled in a doctoral program."

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It is not a recommendation. Browse the Standards for Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Programs.

Quote:

"The COA will not consider any new master's degree programs for accreditation beyond 2015. All accredited programs must offer a doctoral degree for entry into practice by January 1, 2022. On January 1, 2022 and thereafter, all students matriculating into an accredited program must be enrolled in a doctoral program."

Well then it seems like if you are wanting to be an NP it will be best to get started at a school now.

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Well then it seems like if you are wanting to be an NP it will be best to get started at a school now.

What was stated there only applies to CRNA schools. While np accreditation has indicated goals of 2015 in the past, we have clearly blown through ghost goals and there's nothing concrete or even outlined that firmly. Probably won't happen until aanp or ancc draw the line.

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What was stated there only applies to CRNA schools. While np accreditation has indicated goals of 2015 in the past, we have clearly blown through ghost goals and there's nothing concrete or even outlined that firmly. Probably won't happen until aanp or ancc draw the line.

That's the thing though isn't it. CRNAs can and will do this because they have one accrediting body and one certifying body. NPs have no real oversight at all. The entire NP educational process needs an overhaul.

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Hard to picture how DNP level will make any sense when some MSN people still make 80 or 90k.

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Hard to picture how DNP level will make any sense when some MSN people still make 80 or 90k.

Look at PTs, OTs, speech language pathologists, etc. Their salaries are far lower than NPs and they are "doctorates" now. It's ridiculous but that's health care degree creep in America. Even physicians shouldn't be doctorate level. Liberal arts degrees are driving up the cost of education. Why can't a physician have a Bachelor's of Medicine like most other countries? Why does everyone in America need a doctorate? We don't get paid more for it.

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Specializes in Urgent Care NP, Emergency Nursing, Camp Nursing.
What was stated there only applies to CRNA schools. While np accreditation has indicated goals of 2015 in the past, we have clearly blown through ghost goals and there's nothing concrete or even outlined that firmly. Probably won't happen until aanp or ancc draw the line.

That's the thing though isn't it. CRNAs can and will do this because they have one accrediting body and one certifying body. NPs have no real oversight at all. The entire NP educational process needs an overhaul.

It needs one only if they're serious about making the DNP required...which I'm not convinced should happen, and I'm a graduate of such a program. First, ANCC et al. need to work on making the DNP an entry degree, rather than shoehorning entry students into a degree designed for those who already are in advanced practice, while at the same time removing the non-advanced practice DNP programs.

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Nursing Education needs a complete overhaul. My BSN was largely an exercise in busy-work that did not make me a better nurse at all. My DNP was like two courses of study. The first part was the clinical part. Simply excellent!!! 1200 hours of clinical experiences with classroom work and exams that were on point. The second part is the theory, CAPSTONE .... all dreck. If we are going to be taken seriously in new roles we shouldn't be taking so much time writing stuff nobody cares about and doing presentations. We could be doing more applicable things that would help us in practice and make us more valuable contributors to the healthcare team right off the bat

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