llg, my first job out of nursing school was a miserable experience. The nurses were nothing short of psychotic, the type that "eat their young", made orientation difficult by not being there to teach (sometimes you couldn't even find them), were more interested in chatting up the doctors... you know the type. I've recently met a number of agency nurses who've worked their 3 months there and call them the "nursing mafia".
At least I know it wasn't me.
Anyway, after 6 months of that I decided that nursing wasn't for me. I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life in sheer misery. I've had several careers before nursing (I was 34 when graduating) and never came across anything that compared to this experience.
So, I spent about a month breaking down my future. Not knowing what I wanted to do I looked at general MSN programs, read up on the different specialties, and eventually decided that NP was my best fit since education, CNS, and the like didn't appear to be the right type of jobs for me. Then I reviewed the various NP fields. The only NPs I knew were FNP, had heard that it was the broadest scope for mid-levels, and could find a job pretty much anywhere with it. That's when I started looking at schools.
In any case, now that I've been a nurse for 3 years, have completed my first big semester of clinicals in a family practice office, I realize that FNP in a doctor's office would be the death of me. I want to specialize, have found that peds terrify me, don't know how I'll face OB patients (I'm dealing with long-term fertility issues and have a hard time looking at pg women), and want to be certain that my scope of practice will encompass the type of jobs I'm looking at.
Granted, a Pulmonologist I spoke with thought that a FNP in the office would be able to provide primary care in addition to respiratory care leading to more billing and income. That might help with my future. Maybe this really is where I'm supposed to be. What I found funny the other day was an ACNP told me that her degree was the best because she could do anything... but to myself I thought nuh-uh... only FNPs can do "anything".
Yes, I like playing the role of NP. The whole process is mentally stimulating and I look forward to my future. At least I didn't go wrong with the basics. It's just that ACNP seems like a better fit since primary care isn't something I enjoy. Still, how could I have ever experienced it before starting school. Maybe shadowing various NPs would have helped.
Sorry for the crazy long post. I wanted to be sure to give you the type of insight that I've been reflecting upon the last couple of months so you could give some good examples to your students.
P.S. I really, really, really like my current job and coworkers, but definitely don't want to do it for the next 40 years.
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