Just got done rounding on my pts and charting charting charting, and I got to wondering....
Does anyone think it likely that there will ever be a way to become board certified as a Hospitalist NP? Just like how you can now graduate as an FNP and then work in an ER for a set amount of time and become eligible to take the ER specialty exam?
For those of us who are designated as "primary care" by our degree title (such as my AGNP) but who practice in a more acute care environment, I just think it might be a good option to create something like that so as to better comply with the dang national consensus stuff.
Let me be clear, I am in no way practicing in an ICU or step down environment. Mostly I see inpatient rehabilitation pts, or I help round on the hospitalist consults on the general med-surg floors. And also, I never ever WANT to practice in any environment more acute than this. No ICU, thank you. Because, well, my education certainly never prepared me for it, and also my background as a nurse was only in emergency medicine. So I don't feel qualified and would definitely need an ACNP degree for that, of course. However, I do feel well-qualified and trained to provide the level of care I do now, partially due to my nursing background and partially because the entirety of my NP clinicals was done with a physician who practiced old-school style and saw her pts both as inpatient and outpt. So I got to experience both worlds. I loved it so much, and was such a dork (and had no life) that I actually did about twice as many clinical hours as was required by my program. And while the majority of the "book learning" for my program was geared towards outpt settings, it did include the acute care management of the top hospital admitted diagnoses, such as CHF, COPD, PNA, PE, CVA, Hypertensive Crisis/Urgency, Cellulitis, etc. Not as much as the ACNP program did, I'm sure, but enough to claim basic competence with many of the major admission diagnoses.
So, now I sit, and ponder, how could I make myself more in line with the national consensus junk? Besides going back for an ACNP post-masters, which would be both time consuming, financially consuming, and overkill for my career goals. I mean, its not like I would then gain the ability to work where I'm already working. It would just confirm it. I don't want the intensive care training or skills training that an ACNP has. I just want to be able to continue to practice basic hospitalist medicine and not have someone pointing at me in the future and saying, "Hey weirdo, you're not qualified for this anymore." LOL! Or maybe I just worry too much? Anyway, what do you guys think? Oh, I'm in Mississippi by the way. Our BON is lax as far as practice setting for NPs, but in 10 years, who knows. And what if I were to move to another state with stricter practice setting rules? Then I'd cry I guess, because hospital medicine is my true love. Ok, I'm rambling now. Sorry. Opinions/Advice? Good, Bad, Meh?.....
