Nurses vs. Nurse Practitioners: Key Differences in Roles, Responsibilities, and Education
New to healthcare? One of the first things you will notice as you peruse nursing positions is that there are dozens of potential jobs to choose from. While most people imagine floor nurses when they think of the profession this is the literal tip of the iceberg.
Nurse practitioners have become increasingly more visible as many states make new laws to give them more autonomy. While becoming an NP can be very rewarding for the right person, it is also a difficult career path.
Is it right for you? In this article, we take a look at the differences between being an RN and an NP.
How Do You Become a Nurse?
To become a nurse, you will begin by enrolling in an accredited college program. This usually means starting as a freshman and going through the traditional four-year route. There are exceptions for people who are going back to college, having already achieved a bachelor’s. In this case, you may be eligible for:
- An accellorated program: Certification programs that allow you to get your nursing license in as little as eighteen months.
- Certification only. In certification-only programs, you skip gen-eds, working exclusively on classes that will get you your nursing endorsement. Similar to the accelerated path, but you can complete the degree in a timeline that suits you.
In all cases, you will need to have a bachelor’s degree. Once you have completed the program, you still aren’t quite out of the woods. To begin working as a nurse, you have to take the NCLEX. The NCLEX is a standardized test that you can only take after you have graduated.
It’s a difficult exam that evaluates your understanding of four years of instruction. While most people pass on their first try, it deserves your full respect. Those who fail the NCLEX are forced to wait almost two months before they take it again. That’s a long time to go without a paycheck.
Working as a Nurse
Once you’ve jumped through all of the hoops you will have the opportunity to actually begin working as a nurse. While there are dozens of different jobs to choose from, most require additional certifications.
Your base qualification as a newly licensed nurse will allow you to work on hospital floors or doctor’s offices. There, you will administer patient care the way you were taught in school.
If you are interested in increasing your range of responsibilities, you may consider working towards additional certifications. Often, you will be able to begin your new role before you have even completed the certification requirements—some of which can take a year or more to complete. However, in most cases, you will find it difficult to branch out before having logged at least some time working in a hospital.
Don’t fret. That hospital experience is a great way to figure out what you are passionate about and zero in on the certification that is right for you.
Nurse Practitioners
To become a nurse practitioner, you will need to complete all of the educational requirements we described above. From there, you will need to enroll in a graduate school program that will certify you as an NP. These programs generally take 2-3 years to complete.
If you are already working as a nurse, your employer may help you with tuition. Otherwise, there are many grants and scholarship opportunities available.
Nurse practitioner education programs are more specialized. You could, for instance, focus on generalized care. This will allow you to work as a Family Nurse Practitioner—quite like a general practitioner in terms of responsibilities.
You can also focus on psychiatric care, neonatal care, etc. There are so many different options that it really helps to log a couple of years in the hospital setting so you can identify your passions.
Benefits
Why go through all of the trouble of becoming a nurse practitioner? We will examine the differences of responsibilities in the next heading. There are two primary motivations that extend beyond the basic core responsibilities of the roles:
- More money- Nurse practitioners earn significantly more than RNs, commanding six-figure salaries on average.
- Better schedules- Sometimes. While this is not guaranteed, many nurse practitioners are able to free themselves from the punishing twelve-hour night/weekend/holiday shift schedule that standard RNs are subjected to.
While the patient side of healthcare work does not have the traditional promotion pipeline common to corporate America, nurse practitioners experience similar results.
Note: Depending on where you live, you may even be able to open your own practice as a nurse practitioner. Not only will this give you more freedom, but it will also give you the opportunity to run what equates to a small business.
Responsibilities
Depending on where you live, you may also experience a lot more autonomy as a nurse practitioner. In some states, NPs can diagnose patients, develop treatment plans, and write prescriptions.
This high level of freedom has been helpful in alleviating healthcare shortages. NPs can do most of the same things as general practitioners while achieving their certification in a fraction of the time. This puts less pressure on local healthcare systems and gives patients more options in the process.
If you are interested in becoming an NP as a way of enjoying more responsibility, research local regulations beforehand. While the general trend is to provide NPs with more freedom, this practice has not been universally adopted.
In states that lack liberal regulations for NPs, you would need to be supervised by an MD, which kind of defeats the purpose.
To summarize: Nurse practitioners and RNs are both awesome. NPs have more freedom but get it by going to grad school. RNs can also increase their compensation and their responsibilities through continuing education opportunities. There are endless certification options allowing NPs to enjoy a wide range of career options. Ultimately, both jobs provide lots of career flexibility. It’s all about figuring out what job appeals the most to you.
