Many of us think of becoming a medical doctor as a long tedious process, involving a rigorous four-year pre-med program followed four sleepless years in some graduate medical school. And while becoming a doctor is a well-respected, glamorous pursuit, pursuing a career as a Family Nurse Practitioner (NFP) may actually be the more satisfying, practical route. Believe it or not, according to the survey taken by U.S. news and world report, FNP ranks first on the list of best healthcare jobs and second for jobs overall. This comes as no surprise for several reasons: there’s currently increasing demand for primary care in rural and remote areas, as well as demand for preventative care overall. Therefore nurse practitioners have lots of freedom when it comes where they might set up their own autonomous practice.
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Reach A Doctor’s Salary In Half The Time
One of the best things about becoming a family nurse practitioner is also the minimal amount of schooling as compared to getting a doctorate degree. First one must become a registered nurse (RN) by completing nursing school- a four-year undergrad program- and then passing the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). There are actually accelerated alternatives to nursing school, too, like the 3-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or the 2-year Associates in Nursing programs. Then after you pass the NCLEX and complete the necessary clinical hours, you may finally enter into a Master of Science in Nursing program or MSM (I know, we’ve got a lot acronyms ending in ‘in nursing’) to get your FNP qualification. Of course, there are just a few further qualifications to accomplish before graduates can open their very own practice, like passing the final American Association of Nurse Practitioner’s exam and obtaining your state license. And don’t forget, an MSM-FNP degree also demands its share of clinical hours.
Accelerate Things Even More By Taking Your Master’s Online
Yet all this schooling I have just mentioned may only take just four years! On the other hand, all there may be well over 1,000 combined practice hours you’ll have to have completed before you can take the final AANP exam, but these can easily be taken over the summer in daylong shifts. One other thing you can do to open your life to the practical side of things would be to take your nursing MSN FNP schooling online. This is becoming a quite a popular enhancement to the accelerated path of FNP training. Most online nursing schools still offer financial aid, accept transfer credits, and are of course taught by medically up-to-date doctoral graduates who are also practicing nurses. But that doesn’t mean you should settle for the first online nursing program you set your eyes on. Be sure to screen each one for legitimacy, as the world of scams knows no borders.
Be Sure To Apply To An Accredited School
Especially when it comes to the medical field, you want to make sure the online program you choose to actually comply with the standards of the day.
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is an agency of accreditation recognized by and separate from the U.S. Secretary of Education, which is a national institution responsible for accrediting colleges and universities, both online and otherwise. The CCNE, being concerned with improving public, ensures that an accredited nursing program is one with integrity and concern for quality of health and safe practices. In this way you can trust that your MSN certificate will be properly recognized by medical practices across the country.
What To Expect
If you haven’t already guessed it, the best 100% online nursing master’s programs are carefully designed to balance and correlate your online education and your quiet study-time with your hands-on clinical experience. This is especially friendly to those who are already practicing RNs. If you’re curious, all the responsibilities of an RN are mentioned at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm. While FNPs are not physicians, the differ from RNs in that they are qualified to do much of the same work as a physician, like diagnosing and prescribing to patients, or even running tests on them that aren’t within RN protocol. Therefore much of what is taught in a FNP is similar to that of a four-year medical school-although perhaps condensed- taking with an much more applied approach.
Differences Between Advanced Practice Nursing And Medicine
While the line between the responsibilities of an FNP and a doctor are somewhat blurred, there are still a few differences. For example, an FNP spends much more time with the patient, administering tests, and overseeing their treatment. But a doctor may work just a bit more behind the scenes, perhaps analyzing test data and making adjustments to the overall treatment plan. Also, there are some states where FNPs may only prescribe medicine to a patient with a doctor’s approval. Lastly, FNPs still manage to make more than 100k per year for half the time spent in school than a M.D. But a physician may still make twice that amount in the same year.