Completing the Accelerated RN to FNP option with Herzing takes 24 months. If you choose this path you will not earn a BSN.

If you choose to earn your BSN first, you’ll need 12 months to go from RN to BSN, and another 20 months to go from BSN to FNP in our MSN-FNP program—for a total of at least 32 months. If you choose to eventually go from BSN to DNP-FNP, it would take about 44 months (12 + 32).

Increasingly yes, but it ultimately depends on the institution who issued the degree.

As the popularity of online degrees continues to rapidly trend upward, so has mainstream acceptance of online degree programs.

Attitudes toward online degrees were already becoming more positive before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the issue. According to a 2019 study from Northeastern University, 61 percent of HR leaders say online learning is “of equal or greater quality to more traditional methods.” More than half believe that in the future, most advanced degrees will be online.

Regarding nursing applicants who earned online degrees, there are a few important factors employers consider:

• The school and degree program’s accreditation. Herzing University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and programmatically accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).ⁱ
• If you have earned nursing licensure. Our programs are designed to help you pass any necessary exams and become licensed before getting your first job.
• The school’s reputation and history of producing excellent employees. Consider our many happy graduates and 50+ years producing more than 40,000 alumni.

For all these reasons employers know what it means when they see “Herzing University” on a resume!

i. Programmatic accreditation varies by program and by campus location. Find details about all Herzing University accreditations and approvals.

Sometimes hospitals form partnerships with schools like ours to provide employees with unique benefits should they choose to pursue an advanced nursing degree.

Employees of Herzing partners can potentially earn college credit for prior work or military experience, transfer existing credit, or earn a scholarship to make going back to school more affordable.

If you are currently an RN considering becoming a nurse practitioner, view our educational partnerships or check with your employer for potential possibilities.

Acute care and primary care are very different disciplines. As an acute care NP, you’ll be working in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Emergency Room (ER), urgent care or other outpatient environment, which demands a very different set of skills and knowledge than a primary care NP in clinics or other inpatient facilities.

Providing preventive care and taking a long-term approach to patient health is another discipline requiring unique training and certification.

The Herzing Post Master’s Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program is designed for MSN holders, including current AGACNPs, who are interested in pursuing a future job as a primary care AGNP.

The scope of practice for AGACNPs can vary by state, but there are several core competencies relevant to all employed AGACNPs.

According to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), key aspects of the acute care NP role include:

• Gathering patient histories
• Performing physical examinations and screenings
• Diagnosing and managing patients with acute, critical or complex illnesses/injuries
• Prescribing medications and advanced therapeutic intervention
• Ordering, performing and interpreting diagnostic studies
• Providing health promotion, education and counseling
• Collaborating with other medical professionals as a team

You can find a full description of the ACNP scope of practice in the “AACN Scope and Standards for Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Practice 2017,” available through the AACN website.

Nurse practitioner represents an advanced practice role in nursing—it’s not an easy job, and our goal is to prepare you best for success! We strive to keep coursework manageable, but provide you with the knowledge, skills, and valuable clinical experiences to succeed as a nurse practitioner.

Our goal is to help you balance the challenge of an NP curriculum with everything else in your life, including your work, family and friends. You can take courses at the right pace for you, so you can get the most out of going back to school and be ready to practice as a nurse practitioner.