Breakdown of the Educational Requirements of an Advanced Practice Nurse
The educational path of an advance practice registered nurse (APRN) requires a great deal of time, education, training, experience, and dedication. The first step in becoming an APRN is obtaining either a two-year Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN), which takes an average of two to four years of combined didactic courses and clinical hours to complete, depending on the initial educational path chosen. Those who start with an ADN will need to obtain a BSN prior to applying for an APRN program, as this is a prerequisite. Once this is completed, the nurse will need to become registered. To do this, the nurse is required to …show more content…
The educational requirements of an MSN degree include an additional two to three years of education. This typically includes approximately five hundred didactic hours and a minimum of five hundred clinical hours (Hamric et al., 2014). APRN’s that earn their DNP are required to complete approximately seven hundred and forty didactic hours and approximately one thousand clinical hours. Curriculum focuses heavily on advanced health and physical assessment, advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology that enable the APRN to effectively assess, manage, and evaluate patients on an independent level in clinical practice (Hamric et al., 2014). Graduate level educational preparation expands the APRN’s clinical knowledge that enables them to anticipate their patient’s response to health, illness, and nursing interventions with a holistic patient-centered approach that improves patient outcomes (Hamric et al., 2014). Once the nurse has earned their graduate degree, either an MSN or DNP, they are eligible to take the Nurse Practitioner certification examination. All APRN’s are required to complete a minimum of seventy-five continuing education hours every five years to maintain their license (Buppert,
The educational path of an advance practice registered nurse (APRN) requires a great deal of time, education, training, experience, and dedication. The first step in becoming an APRN is obtaining either a two-year Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN), which takes an average of two to four years of combined didactic courses and clinical hours to complete, depending on the initial educational path chosen. Those who start with an ADN will need to obtain a BSN prior to applying for an APRN program, as this is a prerequisite. Once this is completed, the nurse will need to become registered. To do this, the nurse is required to …show more content…
The educational requirements of an MSN degree include an additional two to three years of education. This typically includes approximately five hundred didactic hours and a minimum of five hundred clinical hours (Hamric et al., 2014). APRN’s that earn their DNP are required to complete approximately seven hundred and forty didactic hours and approximately one thousand clinical hours. Curriculum focuses heavily on advanced health and physical assessment, advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology that enable the APRN to effectively assess, manage, and evaluate patients on an independent level in clinical practice (Hamric et al., 2014). Graduate level educational preparation expands the APRN’s clinical knowledge that enables them to anticipate their patient’s response to health, illness, and nursing interventions with a holistic patient-centered approach that improves patient outcomes (Hamric et al., 2014). Once the nurse has earned their graduate degree, either an MSN or DNP, they are eligible to take the Nurse Practitioner certification examination. All APRN’s are required to complete a minimum of seventy-five continuing education hours every five years to maintain their license (Buppert,