Nursing and Pre-med?

mom2boys
Sun, 13 May 2007 17:55:24 +0000

Worthatry- good luck with school. The nice thing about a BSN is that you usually have a year or two to get in most of your prereqs before starting the intense nursing curriculum. That will buy you some time as you figure out what you want to do. If you decide to go pre-med or do something else, you will have the opportunity to do so.
NP is a definite career opportunity. It does require a Masters degree and sometime in the next 10 yrs, there is talk about making a doctorate as the basic level of educ for NP practice. Those with a Masters will be “grandfathered” in and will not have to go back to school for that extra degree. There are all kinds of NP specialities- adult, pediatric, womens health, acute/critical care, psych. In addition, you can get your Masters and become a nurse anethestist, midwife, or nurse educator. With a BSN degree you can opt to get an MBA, law degree, masters/doctorate in any specialty like public heath, etc… Believe me, the options are numerous.
To answer some of your specific questions - work hours are better than an MD’s. You may work in a practice that takes call, but I know few of us that do. Having to do weekend hospital rounds or running a saturday morning clinic is not unheard of but that will depend upon what kind of job you get. NP’s work in hospitals, offices, clinics, schools, etc… Malpractice insurance is a must (NP’s can be sued for malpractice), but most employers will pay this for you. NP insurance premiums are way less than an MD’s. Feel free to PM me if you have some specific questions about nursing, school, or being an NP.