Advertisement:
What does it take to become a Nurse Practitioner?
socalrocks asked:
I am a 21 year old male college student studying political science and I am interested in doing medical work in developing countries…what is involved in becoming a Nurse Practitioner? How long does it take?
Top of Job Board Content
I am a 21 year old male college student studying political science and I am interested in doing medical work in developing countries…what is involved in becoming a Nurse Practitioner? How long does it take?
Top of Job Board Content
First you would need to become an RN through either a BSN or ADN (Bachelor’s in the Science of Nursing or Associates in the Science of Nursing). From BSN, you would need to get your MSN (Master’s in the Science of Nursing) specializing in either pediatric, geriatric, certified family or another form of a Nurse Practitioner. After BSN it takes about 2 years, but not all schools offer MSN programs. From ADN, you would need to get your BSN or go through a bridge program to bypass the Bachelor’s degree and go right to Master’s. Luckily, some schools which offer nursing will give a break to people who already have a Bachelor’s in something else and give a shortened route, maybe 2 years, of core nursing courses. I am going looking to become a nurse practitioner too and have researched it.
1A Nurse Practioner is a Registered Nurse that has a specialized Master’s Degree. You normally start out in a 2-year Associate of Science in Nursing Degree, get your state license as a Registered Nurse, complete a Bachelor’s Program and then a Master’s Program. However, most master’s program require that you have some experience as an R.N. (typically around 1-2 years) A NP is roughly the same equivalent as a Physican’s Assistant. They have the ability to prescribe medicine, make diagnosis’, ect.
The Occupational Outlook Guide provides a good description
The best site ever for anyone in the nursing field, a nursing student, or anyone at all is It’s a forum that has MANY MANY MANY different ’sections’ on different areas of nursing.. I would definitely check it out.. They have a search or you could go to the Nurse Practitioner section.. They also have a really great ‘pre-nursing student’ forum
For nursing schools try
Also, for more information on Nurse Practitioners visit these sites
(this is only one page within the site, it’s the ‘how to become a NP page’ but it would be beneficial to look through the rest of the site)
(Nursing student resources)
I’m a nursing student so if you have any questions regarding classes and such, please feel free to ask away!
2