How to become a nurse practitioner

DeynnaSt

Hi everyone,

I wonder what/how long it takes to become a nurse practitioner?

Can I go for a masters degree (2 years) in nursing after the bachelors (4 years) and become a nurse practitioner? I don't mind spending six years in university and get to where I see myself in future. Or it isn't so simple as it sounds?

Also, any advice on which nursing field is the most financially rewarding? I've heard people saying that anyone who goes into nursing shouldn't go there for money, im not looking for millions, but I'd like to financially secure my future as a practitioner in the field I find myself to be most interested in.

Also, I'm planning to move to Australia after masters degree, would they let an Irish qualified practitioner to work as one, or would I have to start from the bottom?

I'm not sure how everything works, just looking for some helpful advice.


Thanks

GalwayGrrrrrl

If you are talking about the role of advanced nurse practitioner, it is the job that is given the title, not the person. Hard to explain but let’s say there is a need for an advanced nurse practitioner in cancer care in cork. If you then moved to Dublin, that title doesn’t go with you, unless the Dublin site have also applied for approval for an advanced nurse practitioner. Any AnP I have met have been aged 40+ so it’s not something you walk straight into. There is a slighter lower role called clinical nurse specialist, which I’ve seen nurses in their 30s do so you would do that for a while first.

GalwayGrrrrrl

If you want more money you should do medicine and become a doctor as the salary for even very highly qualified nurses is not great.

DeynnaSt

xfactorfan23 wrote: »

If you want more money you should do medicine and become a doctor as the salary for even very highly qualified nurses is not great.

Wow, that was sad to hear.

I though it's a title that you could get after masters degree.

https://nursing-midwifery.tcd.ie/postgraduate/taught-masters/nursing-anp/index.php What benefits would this degree give me?
Yes, sadly here in Ireland nurses are underpaid and under appreciated. But I think it's a different situation in Australia, at least that's where my friends are planning to move after graduation.

GalwayGrrrrrl

That course allows you to be a nurse prescriber. You can prescribe drugs within your own specialist area, from a list approved by your hospital.

Tom Mann Centuria

Putting the cart before the horse.

Qualify as a nurse, see what field appeals, do training/courses relevant to that, apply for jobs. Otherwise you'll be applying for jobs as nurse practitioner against nurses with all the qualifications you have, and experience to go with it, which you won't have.

Incidentally I thought children's nursing was the area you were interested in.

DeynnaSt

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Putting the cart before the horse.

Qualify as a nurse, see what field appeals, do training/courses relevant to that, apply for jobs. Otherwise you'll be applying for jobs as nurse practitioner against nurses with all the qualifications you have, and experience to go with it, which you won't have.

Incidentally I thought children's nursing was the area you were interested in.

You are right, I'm just very anxious with all the decisions that have to be made soon. Plus I'm repeating my Leaving after university, so I need to go and do something asap and not to waste time.

Yes, children's nursing sounds very appealing, I love kids, probably because I'm a child myself. But I would also like to see other people's perspectives.

It just looks that nursing is something that I would enjoy doing, but I want to support myself and my family too, so I'd like to know what fields would be the most beneficial.

Tom Mann Centuria

I think you need to see if you can stick nursing at all tbh. It's not fun at the moment, at all. This is not trying to put you off, I'm being honest, hospitals are not coping well, which has lead to a pretty demoralising work environment. Even if you're only working in it for duration of your degree. Hopefully it will get better though.

If you do choose nursing I honestly would recommend doing a few placements to see what appeals. You'll get experience in a lot of different areas and hopefully give you a much better idea what you might want to specialise in. Of course you want to find something that pays well, but it's also a job you'll have to do for however many years so it needs to be something you actually like.

DeynnaSt

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

I think you need to see if you can stick nursing at all tbh. It's not fun at the moment, at all. This is not trying to put you off, I'm being honest, hospitals are not coping well, which has lead to a pretty demoralising work environment. Even if you're only working in it for duration of your degree. Hopefully it will get better though.

If you do choose nursing I honestly would recommend doing a few placements to see what appeals. You'll get experience in a lot of different areas and hopefully give you a much better idea what you might want to specialise in. Of course you want to find something that pays well, but it's also a job you'll have to do for however many years so it needs to be something you actually like.

You are very right, I'm reading multiple articles about the working environment in Irish hospitals, and I'm left with a traumatised feeling. Yet, I'm researching about Australia and it seems like things are far better there, I've actually been moving countries as a kid a lot, so travelling somewhere else only makes things more exciting for me.

Let this be my personal confession: I don't really like anything, I've been studying law and arts in university last year, and I disliked my course so much I had to talk to a university councillor about how much I disliked it while crying in her office. Now that I'm repeating Leaving cert, I've been focusing on higher maths for the majority of my time, hoping to do engineering (yet completely unsure if I really want to do it), but I was dropped to an ordinary level because I kept failing exams. I'm 21 soon, and I seriously need to move on, my parents can't afford to keep me with them forever, so I need to make a decision.

I thought of nursing as my last solution, because the job is in demand, and I could go anywhere with it, I work in a customers service during weekend so I'm used to busy hours, sweating, running around the shop serving customers and doing what my managers are telling me to (please don't laugh at me for this comparison: nursing/customer service).

Tom Mann Centuria

Well a nursing degree will give you the pressure of exams and essays whilst having placements 3 or 4 days a week that can be 12 hour shifts, as well as assessments by ward staff on your performance as a student.

I'm not entirely convinced doing a nursing degree will be good for you OP, but I wish you well.

DeynnaSt

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Well a nursing degree will give you the pressure of exams and essays whilst having placements 3 or 4 days a week that can be 12 hour shifts, as well as assessments by ward staff on your performance as a student.

I'm not entirely convinced doing a nursing degree will be good for you OP, but I wish you well.

As most degrees really, if you want to make something out of yourself. The pressure doesn't stress me at all, it's more of what is waiting for me after I'm done.
Anyway, thanks for your help, I wish you well too.