So I got in... Now what about grad school?

[joe_mulligan88]

Since I finally got in to my desired BSN RN program here in MI at OU I am starting to look at graduate programs. Obviously the CRNA is a desirable profession but its limited to the US and thats not so desirable in my eyes. I have begun to look at a NP degree. I keep seeing different types pediatrics, adult, and family NP does anyone know which is more preferable? I work as a waiter for the mean time and recently I waited on the VP of a hospital near me and she gave me her card and told me to call her if I ever needed anything so I was thinking about hitting her up for an opportunity to shadow some people. But I was looking for some opinions first. And if anyone has any in-sight on why I should pursue a CRNA instead. Its a difficult decision. I am leaning towards pediatrics just because of my life experiences with the NICU and my nephew at UofM ann arbor.

Thanks,

Kevin

[metricalpound]

Hi, Kevin! Just out of curiosity - is there a reason why your username is Joe Mulligan?

Anyways - I'll give you advice one of my first nursing instructors gave me: "Don't think about an advanced degree in Nursing - worry about being a nurse first and then, after some nursing, think about an advanced degree."

At the time - I sorta got it. Almost half of my class, who were just starting their first day of nursing class, were talking about being a NP and it was sorta weird to me that they were in their first nursing class and they already wanted to just drive by the basics and get to the most advanced part.

That idea became more concrete to me this semester when I was doing my psych. clinical. Before this, I was sure I wanted to be some sort of nurse that was on floor with patients that had medical problems; but after stepping on a psych. unit, I'm fairly sure that I want to work in psych. If my mind can change so quickly in school - why couldn't it change after school?

The point is that you never know what your passion is going to be in Nursing when you are this early in your career - which is just learning to nurse. Even after graduating and after working for a few years, you may not find one thing that you love about a particular field of Nursing - you hear this a lot. My psych. instructor was on med/surg floor for 9 years before she went to psych. and once she got there, she knew she loved it - and a story like hers is not the abnormal but seems to be the norm from my experiences with nurses.

So my advice is don't worry about an advanced degree just yet - get your RN, try a field out, if you like it, then think about an advanced degree in that particular field. If you think working with babies sounds fun, after you graduate, get a job at a NICU; if you find that at the NICU, babies are not as fun as you think and you may like to be a CRNA, get a job working as a circulating nurse and see if you like the OR setting. And so on and so forth.

Anyways, good luck and I hope that you do well in school.

[tokyoROSE, BSN, RN]

The above post covers things pretty nicely. My advice is to get your feet wet in your BSN program first before thinking about grad school. No advanced practice nurse degree is more desirable than the other... it is all about what area you enjoy. And I swear, everyone in my class started out wanting to be a CRNA. Now? Haven't heard anyone say that. It is a tough job with a lot of responsibility.