Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Different Programs for Nurse Practitioners

Finishing a nursing education is possible through the huge selection of nurse practitioner programs. With the wide variety of nursing practitioner programs that are offered, one must put a lot of factors into account. Your choice of the NP program can be a determinant of your academic and professional success.

You have to make an informed decision as these can make or break your future. How are you going to judge these programs? How do you select the best program out of the variety of choices?

The nursing practice has been in the service of providing aid and health care for more than forty years. In the mid-1960s, the country experienced a shortage of doctors, hence the birth of the NP profession. NPs offer primary care while some provide acute care and are eligible to meet most of the patient’s healthcare needs.

Nurse practitioners aid in the enhancement of both general and comprehensive health care to patient service. Nurses who have acquired certification through appropriate education and clinical training are called as nurse practitioners. Entering graduate school and earning a master's degree is a move that a lot of nurse practitioners are doing nowadays.

The first thing that you should know is that you have to have a bachelors of science in nursing (BSN) degree in order to get into nurse practitioner schools. Normally, a BSN degree can be acquired after a two-year nursing program in a university or college. When searching for a school that offers a nursing program, make sure that you get into a BSN course since certifications and associate's degree will not be accepted in nurse practitioners school.

To get a good NP education, you should choose among those that cover the essentials in patient care and service in order to get a solid learning foundation course. You can also opt for a better method by taking a master's degree in nursing. There are a number of direct-entry MSN programs offered across the country.

There is also a wide range of selection for nurse practitioner programs. Aside from attending a traditional school, some NP programs can also be completed for a longer time period through flexible education degree programs. Some institutions also offer online NP courses in order to cater students who want a degree but are also want to work full-time or need to stay at home.

Online programs that are offered through distance-learning formats are a widely preferred option by a lot of students today. In order to get into a legitimate online school, check first if it has an AANP or ANCC accreditation. Checking the school's or the online institution's credibility is also possible by verifying it with the US Department of Education.

You can then apply for a license in your state once you have acquired your degree. There are different policies that every state follows when it comes to giving a license. It is therefore essential that you inquire first what the requirements are in order to be eligible to apply for a license.

In order to make an informed decision on what NP program you should get into, you have to know your options through proper research. Coverage of the most important topics in health care should be present in the program of your choice. Some of the most important topics should concern women's health, geriatric nursing, family nursing, acute and chronic care and health and patient safety.



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