Job Outlook for Acute Care NPs

[GAnurse22]

Hi everyone :)

Today at work we were discussing job outlooks for NPs. A coworker said she heard that lately less and less trauma centers are willing to hire NPs, regardless or whether the APRN holds a masters or doctorate degree. I just wanted to check in with you all concerning the validity of this statement. I am interested in pursuing my AGACNP and would like to practice in an ICU setting - possibly in a trauma center. Have you all ever heard of AGACNPs having difficulty finding employment in certain types of facilities? Is this field becoming overly populated causing increased competition? Are less and less hospitals hiring Acute Care NPs? I would love to hear everyone's thoughts! Thanks in advance!

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

I graduate with my AGACNP next year. Every inpatient hospital job posting I've seen has stated a AGACNP certification as a requirement. I rarely see hospitals asking for FNPs in my area in most of the big local hospitals. If you want to do ICU then that's the way to go. I am doing my next clinical rotation in an ICU and only AGACNP students are allowed to do that rotation. My school place FNP students mainly in outpatient practices.

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

My area is putting FNPs in acute settings but I suspect that will change in the next few years and be more like RockNurse's area.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I was in an FNP program (for DNP) in 2014 and placement was ONLY in outpt.

[babyNP., APRN]

I can't speak to facilities not hiring NPs period, but I do know that the Consensus Model is pushing those with primary care certifications (like PNP-AC and FNP) to work only in out-patient and vice-versa for acute care. The idea behind it is that your job should match your education. What a novel idea

Some states already have this in place and the BON requires you to have the designation in which you are working- some folks had to go back to school to get a post-masters in order to keep working.

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

There are jobs out there but the more specific you are with your preference, the smaller the available positions will be. For instance, if you say you want to work as an ICU NP in a Trauma Center, that's narrowing down the pool of facilities that use NP's to a smaller group. I work as an ICU NP in a tertiary academic center that is not a Level I Trauma Center. Couple of other area ICU's in smaller hospitals in my area also hire ICU NP's including a VA facility. They are also not Trauma Centers. The one Trauma Center in the city does not hire NP's in the ICU but hires NP's in the Adult Trauma service. My point is, the job may not be the perfect set-up but there are jobs out there.

[OllieW, DNP, PhD, NP]

if you are willing to relocate you can find exactly what you look for....there are tons of jobs out there but some areas of the country are saturated with NPs.