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What are the best schools for Nurse Practioners?
After my 4 year degree, I'd like to know if I should continue at SIUE or get experience somewhere else. #doctor #nursing #nurse #healthcare #hospital-and-health-care
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Nick Collins, MS, RN, CNS
Critical Care & Cardiogenomic Clinical Nurse Specialist | UCSF Faculty
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Nick’s Answer
I would suggest that the "name" of where you go than the caliber of clinical rotations. I'm extremely biased in that I feel that the "best" schools are the ones where you get quality rotations, you don't have to find your own preceptors and ephisize a practical, clinical experience over an online substitute. I'm a big believer in online education however when it comes to healthcare education nothing replaces clinical experience.
Certainly rankings can play a part but shouldn't be your sole factor in your decision.
One of the barriers NPs run into when compared to PAs is that they get significantly less clinical time. The argument for this is that NPs are RNs first and they have the clinical know-how and expertise that they are able to translate to an advanced Practice role. However, if your planning to only work as an RN for 1-2 years, I'd suggest going the PA route. Since you'll get more clinical hours and the lack of experience is acceptable and looked more favorable when compared to a NP.
Certainly rankings can play a part but shouldn't be your sole factor in your decision.
One of the barriers NPs run into when compared to PAs is that they get significantly less clinical time. The argument for this is that NPs are RNs first and they have the clinical know-how and expertise that they are able to translate to an advanced Practice role. However, if your planning to only work as an RN for 1-2 years, I'd suggest going the PA route. Since you'll get more clinical hours and the lack of experience is acceptable and looked more favorable when compared to a NP.
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Rehana’s Answer
You should get experience and build your resume. Find a specialty whether it's outpatient or inpatient setting in general Med, cardiology, oncology, ortho, etc and show that you have some clinical experience since a fresh new grad with no nursing experience is hard to train considering employers want someone to hit the ground running or require minimal training. This will allow you to know what specialty you want to focus in on as an NP and build your clinical a based on the path you want to take clinically.
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Rehana’s Answer
I apologize, I think the comment above was to another question. To answer about NP school, check out this link: https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/nursing/rankings
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Jayna’s Answer
I believe it is important to ask around at the facility that you are currently at and see where the NPs there went to school. I went to Texas Woman's University and I would highly recommend this school. I believe that in person programs provide more assistance than online programs do. The school was part of the GNE grant and helped us to find preceptors. Regardless of where you decide to go, it is important to look into the passing rates because at the end of the day you will still have to pass boards once you graduate.