This Year’s Most Loved Articles for Wannabe NPs
Are you thinking about becoming a nurse practitioner? The decision to advance your career or make a career change is a big one. It means investing time and likely tens of thousands of dollars into your education. As you consider making the move, researching your decision in advance will help prevent mistakes many soon-to-be nurse practitioners make. So, to help you get the knowledge you need as you think about becoming a nurse practitioner, here are our top blog posts from 2016 for wannabe NPs.
1. How to Narrow Down Your Nurse Practitioner School Options
Based on our own experiences and our conversations with NP students, at ThriveAP, we’ve identified three key things to look at in nurse practitioner school selection. They are as follows:
- Passing rate on the national nurse practitioner certification exam
- Helpfulness of the school in matching students with clinical sites
- Number of students finding jobs within a few months of graduation
Why do we look at these characteristics so closely? Continue Reading…
2. Education Options for Second Career Nurse Practitioners
Non-nurses launching second careers as nurse practitioners have a few options when it comes to their education. Navigating these paths can be confusing. You may already hold a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field and wish to avoid retaking previous courses. You may have budgetary constraints to consider in making your professional transition. With several different nursing degrees on the academic market, which is right for you? Continue Reading…
3. How Do Employers View Online Nurse Practitioner Education?
I attended a traditional bricks and mortar university for my nurse practitioner program. Although my degree was not technically an online product, a few of my courses were offered virtually. To avoid traffic, feeding the parking meter, and the time associated with my morning commute to campus, I took full advantage of such classes. I watched pharmacology lectures online, taking notes between bites of breakfast cereal. The convenience of online education was not lost on me. But, are online degrees looked upon favorably by prospective employers post-graduation? Continue Reading…
4. Timeline for Applying to Nurse Practitioner School
When I was applying for nurse practitioner school I remember thinking I had plenty of time for writing essays, taking the GRE, and getting my letters of recommendation, but before I knew it applications were due. While I firmly believe I perform better under pressure, I wish I had allotted more time to figuring out a plan to minimize my own stress. I can tell you from experience that there’s plenty of time for that in grad school! Based on my own hurried application experience, here’s a more manageable NP school application timeline to follow. Continue Reading…
5. Are Nurse Practitioner Programs as Competitive as They Seem?
I receive a lot of questions about nurse practitioner program applications. From deciding how many applications to submit to drafting a personal statement, the NP program application process can be quite overwhelming. Another concern among many applicants is that nurse practitioner programs seem to be quite competitive. While many universities are home to selective nurse practitioner programs, they may not be quite as difficult to get into as it appears looking at their stats. Continue Reading…
6. 5 ‘Extras’ That Make a Standout Nurse Practitioner Program
As someone who’s survived a nurse practitioner program and has several years of career experience to look back on, I’ve identified a few less common NP school offerings that serve students well in their future careers, not to mention, make for a more enjoyable graduate school experience. Continue Reading…
7. How Likely are Nurse Practitioners to Receive NHSC Loan Repayment?
For some students, becoming a nurse practitioner requires taking on tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. While advancing your career is ultimately worth the investment, paying back such a large sum of money can seem impossible. Fortunately, there are several options for healthcare providers looking for assistance repaying student loans. The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is one of the better known programs offering up to $50,000 in loan repayment to nurse practitioners for a two-year service commitment. Continue Reading…
8. Pros and Cons of Accelerated Nurse Practitioner Programs
In case you missed the more detailed background about how I ended up in an accelerated NP program, you can read more about it here. As an accelerated, or ‘bridge’ nurse practitioner, student, my experience in school was much different than that of my colleagues who attended traditional nurse practitioner programs. I did not have a background in healthcare, and was not a nurse when I entered the program. This unique experience has its own set of ups and downs, highs and lows. Here are the pros and cons of accelerated nurse practitioner programs based on my experience. Continue Reading…
What do you want to know before you enroll in nurse practitioner school?