As a registered nurse with a master’s degree in nursing, you are now ready to take your career to the next level. You want to do more and be more for the patients you deal with on a daily basis. In fact, you see things which could be done differently if you were the doctor in charge.
While most doctors listen to your assessment, there will always be those holdouts who want to do things their way, even if they don’t know the patient as well as you do. Why not take your MSN to DNP online from Regis College so that you can be a nurse practitioner? It makes good sense and since you are ready to take your nursing career to the next level, it’s time you thought seriously about doing it.
Can You Really Earn that Doctoral Degree While Working Full-Time?
One of the greatest concerns you may face is in wondering just how you will be able to work towards that nurse practitioner doctorate degree while working full-time. You put in 35+ hours every week and that leaves little time to go anywhere or do anything since your schedule is not static.
It changes week by week dependent upon the patient population at the hospital you work in, so how are you supposed to register for classes? The perfect answer is staring you in the face! Online doctoral nursing programs are accredited and will carry just as much respect as a degree you earned on campus.
What Can You Do with a DNP Degree?
You know that you can always work at your same hospital as a DNP, perhaps not in the same department you are in now, but there is always general surgery, the ER room, and any number of specialties where DNPs are filling a void where the lack of doctors is most serious. That, is actually the first thing you can do with a DNP. You can work independently with patients, doing many of the same things doctors do, right through to prescribing medications but with one difference.
Once an MD has completed residency, they are on their own. You will be working under the auspices of a doctor. Most doctors simply complete the necessary checks, leaving you on your own but there may be that occasional doctor who will do a closer scrutiny of your ‘practice.’
Some DNPs Run Their Own Clinics
Bear in mind that you will almost always need a doctor on staff, even if seldom seen, to work in most states as a DNP. However, you will be the one patients come to for regular visits and you will be the head of your clinic. Each state has its own requirements, but most of the time, that doctor’s name on your door is nothing more than a figurehead simply because its required in your state.
There is no doubt about the fact that healthcare is in crisis in the United States as well as abroad. If you are ready to take the next step and take your nursing career to the next level, getting that DNP online is probably what you need to do.
