Your path to NP

1. I went to a BSN program right out of high school to become an RN. My hourly rate when I became an NP dropped because I worked the weekend/night/per-diem program as an RN, so you can't really compare, since those rates aren't typical of what a regular full-time RN who works days would make. I've been an NP for two years now and my hourly rate has increased by $8/hour over those two years since I landed my first job as an NP. I am making much more now than I ever did as an RN.

2. Honestly, I went into nursing because I wanted a degree which could land me a decent-paying job right out of college. Not the typical answer, I know.

3. I worked as an RN for 8 years before going back to school to become a FNP. I decided to become an NP because I was always highly encouraged by other individuals who told me I would fit the role well. I also very much enjoyed being the one to try and put the pieces of the puzzle together to come up with possible diagnoses for my patients while I worked in the ER (I would just do this in my head, not actually tell others what I thought unless I was asked).

4. My program was an on-campus program (no online courses at all). I actually worked the weekend program at my hospital when I started out, then dropped down to per-diem, then wound up not working at all in my last year of school. Having two little children and trying to complete all the assignments and clinical hours was enough - I needed a little time for myself/family in the end.

I do not regret my decision to become an NP one bit.

1 - if it was your first career, if not what was your first career and did you take a pay cut.

no, second, or third, career depending on one's point of view. i think of it as my third. i was an attorney first. left that after about 15 months, went to nursing school, did that for 20 years before returning to school.

2 - what brought you into nursing and/or advanced practice nursing.

don't know, just serendipity.

3 - did you work as an rn before becoming an np, if so how long?

yes, 25 years; 18 in critical care, 2 in flight, the rest in ed and education.

4 - did you go to school online, while you were working, or did you take more time off for school.

i went to a hybrid program. i worked the same schedule i always have (which is one shift a week) until the final semester, which is our fulltime residency. thereafter i didn't work at all.

1 - if it was your first career, if not what was your first career and did you take a pay cut.

this is my second career; in my previous life i was a pharmaceutical chemist and i actually started working as a nurse making 10 bucks more an hour...and not to sound bad but receiving my pharmaceutical chemistry degree was much harder than my nursing degree (msn).

2 - what brought you into nursing and/or advanced practice nursing.

i was on track for medical school but decided to go forward with receiving my np degree (i have 1 year left thank god:) if i would have know how much animosity existed among nurses i would have gone to medical school. i enjoy being a nurse much more than i would being a doctor, but i underestimated the lack of support that exists between nurses. i am not sure why being an np with little to no rn experience is such a horrible thing to some of the seasoned nurses but it truly is. i get comments all the time at my current job, dissuading me from continuing on with my education...i just smile and nod. nursing has come a long way in the past 15 years and continues to make evolutionary strides because of people that are obtaining advanced degrees and i think those that have come from a different generation of nursing are uncomfortable with the changes. i say do it, go back to school and be a part of the change!!

3 - did you work as an rn before becoming an np, if so how long?

i am still working as an rn in labor and delivery; i will have had 2 years experience when i graduate from fnp school

4 - did you go to school online, while you were working, or did you take more time off for school.

i am going to school online with 2 seminar weekends each semester; i went to working per diem during my fnp portion of school

1 - if it was your first career, if not what was your first career and did you take a pay cut.

not my first career. i've done a little bit of everything: homemaking, homeschooling, medical assisting, practice management, waitressing, etc.

i've been a certified medical assistant for ~ 18 years and that was a great career to come in and out of, depending on times when i was needed at home full-time. the pay is not great, however. i will (hopefully) triple my income in the next few years.

2 - what brought you into nursing and/or advanced practice nursing.

when i was a child, i wanted to be a nurse or teacher (so traditional!). got off track educationally and ended up as a medical assistant in my 20s. when working as a cma i realized that lots of nurses are (to put it nicely) not supportive of each other and i decided i really did not want to be a nurse. i avoided that career path strenuously. when i was ready to go back to school, i looked only into pa programs for that very reason. i used to always say, "i love nurses...my mother's a nurse, nurses helped me through childbirth, a np probably saved my life when i was in high school. but i don't want to be one!"

in applying to pa programs i realized i would have to move away from home for a long period of time. a colleague mentioned the np bridge program she attended and suggested i check it out. i did and found i would only have to live apart from my husband for one year. that did it for me! applied, accepted, succeeded.

frankly, i still don't want to be a "nurse" in the commonly-held thought of that word: i don't want to work bedside in the hospital. i don't want to work 12-hour shifts. i don't want to be in that atmosphere where highly-educated professionals spend a great deal of time and energy tearing each other down. (i saw it in every clinical rotation i had through the rn program, as well in past work situations.)

3 - did you work as an rn before becoming an np, if so how long?

no, i did not. i did work for many years in the outpatient setting, which is where i desire to work as an np as well. i've always known i wanted to do primary care. i feel my experience as a cma is very applicable to my future work.

4 - did you go to school online, while you were working, or did you take more time off for school.

my rn program was all on-site and i had clinical rotations as some really great teaching hospitals in a metropolitan area. during the np part of my program i was able to live at home and do a combo of online lectures, live (block format/intensive) lectures & clinical preparation, and i arranged my own clinical rotations in my home town. i worked only part-time, one semester, teaching at a local community college.

Thank you so much everyone. Really really appreciate the time you all took to write down your experience. I hate to hear of nurses (or anyone) fighting.. I hope i don't experience this, I tend to look away from this stuff and fine the supportive crowd no matter where I am, so if this is possible this is what I will do.. I am really good at bringing people together so hopefully I can use some of these skills in this setting. I am going into this field because I love working with women and caring for women (also men and babies, but my favorite group is women!)