Hi Avery,

I like your question because it is one I asked myself a lot before deciding to go back to school. I think everyone should do an honest cost-benefit analysis for the options in their situation. This topic is not limited to advanced practice either as nurses starting out have many options. For example, my sister once found a job as a licensed nursing assistant which paid only $3/hr less than my Bachelor’s degree with 5-6 years experience, granted our scope of practice was quite different.

I found an interesting comparison on Michigan State University’s website between their MSN & DNP programs. Both curriculums take the same core classes and 4 classes in diagnosis & management with the DNP track adding a 5th class in diagnosis and management and 3 classes for the DNP project. The written description of the DNP track included the statement “The program develops practitioners who design, implement and evaluate high quality and cost-effective health care services for diverse populations including the disadvantaged and underserved.” If I am reading between the lines correctly, that means the MSN track does not include all aspects of design, implementation, and evaluation. This leads me to believe that MSN-prepared APRNs may be restricted in their role to implementing the evidence-based practices which the DNP’s design and evaluate, based on the research of Ph.D. prepared nurses. If this is right MSN prepared APRNs may have difficulty when seeking positions that require program development and evaluation.
As for the pay…