NP Population Boom

I think it is interesting and note-worthy that all the NP's who have commented saying that schools should require a minimum of 5 years in nursing school all had previous nuring experience prior to becoming an NP. Perhaps this is just a personal bias rather than based on any real experience/interaction with new grad NPs who did the BSN straight into the MSN/NP.

Also I would like to comment that yes compassion is not learned from a book. However, it does not mean you need to have been a nurse for years to develop compassion. How do you think compassionate people exist in other fields outside of healthcare?

Higher Education is a big industry that is also falling on hard times with the economy within the last five years.  As a preceptor at a small community hospital, I see universities accepting "everyone" into their programs without too much thought on who would be the best person for the profession.  It is a numbers game in mny instances.  If you have the cash...You are accepted.  Flooding the profession with people just to keep professors busy or colleges in business is not a good practice.  I agree with at least a five years experience in the area of interest.

I also believe that schools should require at least five years of nursing experience before allowing enrollment into grad school, whether NP or CNS.  I am a fairly recent grad and when I was going on job interviews, the big thing I had going was the fact that I had several years of nursing experience.  Several physicians told me outright that they would never hire a new NP who didn't have a solid background in staff nursing.  I feel that it also helps when you understand the hospital systems...takes less time to get things done.

The numbers you quote are staggering. I've been an ARNP/CNM since 1980, and a good one too. I've delivered over 2500 babies with no serious problems or litigation. The HMO I worked for, for 22 years closed the dept,8 years ago,now any one who wants midwifery care goes to other CNM's and the company pays more to them, brilliant administrators! I have found that employers would rather hire new grads for less $ than experienced practitioners, it all boils down to $. I couldn't find a job after theHMO closed it's doors in my Pacific NW city, and couldn't relocate due to family being settled. Out of despiration I took a hospital general RN job. I couldn't believe how sloppy the care was and how these young things thought that they new everything. The hospital also plotted to rid them selves of the older more experienced RN's, to cut costs, they could hire two new grads for the price of an older EXPERIENCED one. Even the union knew it but the admin. were deceptive and brutal. I left after a near nervous breakdown. CNM jobs were given to friends of those hired without posting them. I fell out of the loop. I moved to FL, to help care for my aging father, no luck here either. The market is saturatd with new ARNP grads eager to work for any amt ,to pay off loans.  Who is going to be left in the hospital to give GOOD BEDSIDE NURSING CARE to us baby boomers.  I've been a patient in a hospital recently. I was apauled by the lousy nursing care, and their lack of concern.

I hope I die in my bed, healthy enough to not need nursing care.

I agree there is a glut of NP's and PA's, who are not going to be able to get jobs or push the experienced ones out, because they will work cheaper.  It should be mandatory to have 5 years of hospital nursing prior to acceptance into grad school. You need to learn about nursing, caring, disease process by experience,and learn COMPASSION , THAT DOES NOT COME OUT OF A BOOK, BUT BY HOLDING SOMEONE'S HAND AS THEY ARE DYING, AND CARING FOR THE FAMILY.

I disagree. I am someone who went through an accelerated program that went from BSN straight into the NP route. I did not have any experience as an RN and I frankly did not need it. In fact, the people in my class who were RNs going back to school to become NPs did the worst in my class and quite a few did not pass the classes needed to advance in the program.

It almost seems that "glutting" the Nursing profession with an excess of nurses - advanced practice or otherwise is a current practice for whatever reason. The economy in the United States dictates job growth or job recession. Each employer has the power to either hire or not hire employees - from the bedside to the academic setting. Economic trends will continue to set hiring quotas. I firmly believe that the need for nurses at all levels will present itself by 2025.I also firmly believe that if unseasoned nurses are graduating from B.S.N. programs and applying directly for N.P. degrees without adequate experience then they need to stay in the workforce to gain experience before considering the N.P. path. Advanced Practice programs need to consider this fact and restructure curricula for nurses with necessary clinical experience.

Fortunately President Obama (as well as the late Senator Ted Kennedy) both had a dream of national healthcare coverage of high quality for everyone. In Kansas, even though I am a healing professional myself as well as an MSN-FNP student, these practitioners here leave a lot to be desired. They are neglectful and sloppy. I want to become the type of practitioner who can provide the answers and the services patients need to reach wellness and maintain optimal health. I pray that I as well as others will have great choices for jobs now and in the future for NPs.

When I enrolled in NP school 10 years ago, you had to have 5 years of nursing experience before you could apply. I think this is a good rule to reinstate. I realize that schools need students, but we shouldn't sacrifice quality to get quantity. In the end, everyone loses.

One way that I see to circumvent this, as well as potentially increasing quality of care, is to require a longer minimum time of experience as a registered nurse prior to acceptance to a graduate program. Say..... 5 years or so. This will insure that we have enough bedside nurses AND a higher quality of nurse practitioner later on.

I graduated PA school 17 years ago. There were less than 50 programs at that time. We had 20 in  our class. Now there are cover 100 programs with some admitting 90 students per class. It was easy to find a job back then.In Advance publication there were advertisements for jobs in the last pages. A single state may have pages of openings. Now there are many states on a single page. You have to network to find a job. We recently hired a new PA. A new graduate interviewed for the job. He told our staff that he could take less that what was being offered just so he could a job!  I have seen this too many times. New grads with high student loans that will take anything just to get to work. It doesn't take long for practice administrators to see how their profits will go up by replacing the old PAs with new. Same for NPs, I know of 2 that work in the hospital as RNs because they can make more money than working at a clinic as a NP. Sometimes more isn't better.

So now that the basic tenets of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are moving forward, who

Renee: Love your thinking. I think NPs and PAs are very much the same in this regard. Our programs are now expanding more and there will be tons of PAs. Many are young, very bright women with the full academic training they need but only volunteer work as their "prior training". Many are not but to me still a problem. The thing that made PAs great was that usual prior training as an RN, EMT/Paramedic/ATC/Pharmacist, etc. You worked for years and then entered the PA program. Less ad less now.

Also both professions have to figure out how to get their clinicians back into primary care.

The Family practice PAs just posted an excellent position paper on this on Clinician1 and I can tell you the dirty little secret in the NP world is that , like their PA colleagues, fewer and fewer FNPs go into family practice and more go into the higher paying specialties. Also see my Clinician 1 blog on "What The ACA Means To The NP and PA Professions" on Clinician 1.

Thanks for writing, it's great.

Dave

NP salary and work is lucrative and many nurses are attracted to it. With an increase in more trained NPs in the field, the profession will become more competitive - this will drive higher quality from the NPs in the job market - it can only be good -

Similarly, NP educational programs are beginning to become more competitive and this will be reflected in the graduates.

From my point of view - training nurses at the pre-license level - I counsel them to get plenty of experience in the entry level into nursing before pursuing NP degree - this experience is valuable education for advanced practice. While large numbers to aspire to gain advanced degrees, many nurses are happy at the bedside.

I foresee that the bulk of primary care will be provided by NPs in the future with physicians managing the specialty areas - we will continue to need more and more NPs with changes in healthcare policy.