How to Become a Nurse Practitioner
Ranked as one of the top five jobs in America by CNN-Money.com, nurse practitioners (NP) are registered nurses (RN) with advanced training emphasizing patient teaching and prevention medicine. Although it can take two to four years of additional training, NPs enjoy a great range of skills and responsibility in the field, as well as some of the highest job prospects and salary potentials across all nursing subfields over the next decade.
This article will detail information on the training and licensing process necessary to become a successful nurse practitioner.
Education/Training – PhD vs. DNP – Licensing & Certification – Article Resources
Education/Training
Anyone interested in becoming a nurse practitioner must first complete the necessary training to become a registered nurse. RN training can come from either a two-year associate degree in nursing or a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program, punctuated by passing the NCLEX-RN exam. Next, students go on to graduate school and attain either a master’s, post-master’s certificate or doctoral degree. Whereas master’s degree programs and post-master’s certification will emphasize practical application, doctoral degree programs will also underscore research -- usually requiring the completion of a research dissertation or project in order to be conferred the degree. In order to practice, NPs are then licensed by the state and certified nationally in a specialty.
Looking to standardize the level of training for all advance practice nurses (including NPs), the American Association of Colleges of Nursing along with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing have called for all institutions training APNs to raise the entry-level degree to the doctoral level by 2015. They further recommend that the new Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) requirement apply only to those not yet licensed and practicing, with current APNs being allowed to maintain their practice at their current level of education.
PhD vs. DNP
There are presently two terminal degrees available in nursing, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) degrees. As the DNP is designed primarily as a terminal clinical degree in order to train students to become advance practice nurses, the curriculum focuses on the application of clinical research and leadership. The PhD, on the other hand, is considered an advanced terminal academic degree, preparing its students for careers in research and teaching, and usually requiring the written defense of a dissertation or project for graduation. In the near future, DNP degree programs will be the required level of training in order to be licensed as an NP.
Licensing & Certification
In the United States, nurse practitioners are licensed by the state in which they work. These state boards of nursing set their own licensing criteria, although in general, it will include completion of an accredited nursing program and clinical experience. Due to this diversity in the licensure process, NPs typically are required to fulfill additional requirements such as certification in a specialty or subfield (such as family health or oncology) by a nationally recognized nursing organization. For more information on the certification process, consult one of these more common nursing specialty organizations:
- American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
- American Psychiatric Nursing Association
- Pediatric Nursing Certification Board
- National Certification Corporation for the Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing Specialties
- Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation