FNP vs. AC-AGNP

Trauma Columnist · Oct 6, 2015

Moved to student NP forum

allnurses Guide · Oct 6, 2015

Hello all,
I am trying to decide whether I should do ACNP or FNP. I am totally confused. It would be great to have some insight from anyone who is or going for ACNP or FNP.
Is anyone in the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) or Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program now? if yes, which school are you going to? how is the program so far? How much is it going to cost you? is the program all online? How did you decide if you wanted to do ACNP or FNP? What factors did you take into consideration when deciding to do ACNP or FNP? Is anyone done with their program for FNP or ACNP? if yes, How is the job hunt or if you already have a job, how is that going? How is the workload and how is it on the floor? what are the hours of work?
I am thinking of going to GCU for NP school. Anyone have any insight on how the FNP and ACNP programs are at GCU?
Thank you a bunch in advance.

The best way we can help you is to know what you want to do with your NP career. Where do you see yourself working in the APN role? Have you shadowed local providers? What makes you want to be an NP?

lhflanurseNP, APRN · Oct 7, 2015

Adult-Gerontology (acute or chronic/primary care) will allow you to work on patients over the age of 14/15. As a FNP, you can work on patients of all ages...again, you can choose acute or chronic/primary care. Acute will be more hospital or emergency type settings while chronic/primary care will be clinical settings.

Rjoshi19 · Oct 7, 2015

I see myself working in a hospital setting. However, I do want to work at urgent care centers as well. I want to be an NP so I can be a bigger part of pt's care. I don't just want to implement the orders. I want to be able to order labs, meds, tests on patient that I think may be pertinent for the pt's care. I have spoke to couple of the NP that work at the hospital that I work at. Just like the doctors, I want to have the knowledge and care for patient at that level.

allnurses Guide · Oct 7, 2015

I see myself working in a hospital setting. However, I do want to work at urgent care centers as well. I want to be an NP so I can be a bigger part of pt's care. I don't just want to implement the orders. I want to be able to order labs, meds, tests on patient that I think may be pertinent for the pt's care. I have spoke to couple of the NP that work at the hospital that I work at. Just like the doctors, I want to have the knowledge and care for patient at that level.

If all you want to do is work in secondary/tertiary care then ACNP path is a better fit for you as it will cover hospital work as well as urgent care, though some urgent cares used FNPs if they are open to children.

Good luck.

Rjoshi19 · Oct 7, 2015

Thank you so much for your insight!

Rjoshi19 · Oct 7, 2015

Thank you so much for your help and insight

MallysMama · Oct 8, 2015

Is anyone in the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) or Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program now? if yes, which school are you going to? how is the program so far? How much is it going to cost you? is the program all online? How did you decide if you wanted to do ACNP or FNP? What factors did you take into consideration when deciding to do ACNP or FNP? Is anyone done with their program for FNP or ACNP? if yes, How is the job hunt or if you already have a job, how is that going? How is the workload and how is it on the floor? what are the hours of work?
.

I am in the middle of an AGACNP MSN program. I attend school in-person (but it has a few of the "fluff" courses online). The program is expensive- it's around $30k per year (though I think that number factors in books and such, but I can't remember for sure). It's a 2 year full-time program.

I decided I wanted acute care because I want to care for patients in an inpatient/acute/critical care setting. Though my program also covers urgent care issues as well. We also do 6 week rotations through a variety of specialties (including outpatient specialty clinics). I also preferred this route because I prefer caring for adults. I have no desire to care for pediatrics.

Hope that gives you some idea. If you're only looking for inpatient- acute care is the route to take.

Rjoshi19 · Oct 8, 2015

Thank you so much for the insight. I guess ACNP can also work in the Urgent Care settings right?

I think I am leaning towards ACNP program compared to FNP program. I was a little nervous because I did not see many jobs openings for ACNP. However, I have been speaking to people and researching online, there will be a rise in the ACNP in the near future. The program I am looking at is at Grand Canyon University, and it is completely online, it's 34 months. The program costs around 30-40k.

Do you work full-time or part-time? What area do you work int? I am currently working on telemetry flood but will soon be transferring to ER for more acute care experience. I hope the experience will help with the program. How much time do you need to spend on studying? Are the exam taken online or in classroom? I guess my exams will be online due to the school being completely online.

Thank you again!!

MallysMama · Oct 8, 2015

Thank you so much for the insight. I guess ACNP can also work in the Urgent Care settings right?
Do you work full-time or part-time? What area do you work int? I am currently working on telemetry flood but will soon be transferring to ER for more acute care experience. I hope the experience will help with the program. How much time do you need to spend on studying? Are the exam taken online or in classroom? I guess my exams will be online due to the school being completely online.
Thank you again!!

Yes, AGACNPs can work in urgent care- you just can't see pediatrics.

I work per diem- usually only like 3x a month. I also have kids, so my time is divided in more ways than those who may be single and without children. I work in critical care (currently in a neuro ICU- because they happened to be hiring when I moved here for my program). It's funny you mention ER- a lot of ACNPs don't work in the ER. NPs often get stuck doing "fast track" patients- things that patients could have just seen their primary care provider for. If you don't already have a job lined up- I strongly recommend switching to ICU instead!

We are told we should be spending around 30 hours per week studying. Sometimes I get that time in, but often not. It really depends on the class load each quarter/semester. My exams are in the classroom since my program requires in-person attendance. My few online classes don't really have exams. I've had a couple quizzes in them (like on roles and ethics)...but the grades are mostly from forum participation and paper writing for the online classes.

Good luck with your next steps!

Rjoshi19 · Oct 8, 2015

Thank you so much for the insight. I'll look around for ICU position for experience if not then I'll do ER and then transfer to ICU as the position opens up in my hospital.