RN interested in becoming NP - advice, please!

[CanyonWren]

Hello! I am a relatively new RN - graduated May 2010. My nursing degree is an ADN, I also have a BA. Last August I started a job at a small rural hospital - and though I'm budgeted full-time I'm in the float pool and get called off all the time. (Like today, for example.) Imperfect though it is, I'm thankful to have a job, and I know getting acute care experience is really beneficial. But also I am feeling frustrated because I can tell long-term the hospital environment isn't a fit for me. I have a feeling that I might find a much more rewarding career fit as an NP. I'm more book-smart than running-around-the-hospital-doing-9000-things-at-once smart; I love working with patients, but would like to feel less rushed in the care I give. I'd also be interested in bringing more of a holistic approach to my nursing practice, have some more autonomy, and maybe even get into some research or publishing. (?) I am trying to be patient, but am in my early 30's and feeling antsy to find a career path that I love. Especially as I don't yet have kids, it would be nice to get started with grad school sooner than later.

While taking my prerequisites and while in nursing school, I worked as a CNA and a Nurse Extern mostly in acute care environments. In my ADN program, I also feel like I was exposed mainly to just hospital nursing. I'd like some advice on how I can start checking out the other settings I'm interested in -- I'm not sure if I'd want to be a Family Nurse Practitioner, or specialize in Psych, Women's Health, or work in Community Health.

Also I would love some advice on researching NP programs. When I do random "NP Program" internet searches I don't get too far. What kind of criteria should I keep in mind when looking at schools? I am interested from hearing from NP's, how did you research and choose what programs you were interested in? What, if anything, do you wish you'd done differently in that process? Also, how did you choose your specialty?

Thank you!! I welcome the advice of those who have already walked the path I'm standing here staring at.

[Annaiya, NP]

I'm only in my second semester of NP school, but I can answer some of your questions. I too am in my 30's and I applied to grad school 5 months after finishing my BSN. Since I already had a BSN, I can't give you any advice regarding getting your BSN first or doing a RN to MSN bridge program. There are only 22 schools in the country that offer my specialty so I was able to look at each school to see which one I liked best. Relocating was not an option for me, so the school had to either be local or have a fully online program. The next two things I looked at were the curriculum and cost. Some of the schools looked great, but they were much too expensive. I finally settled on a school with a good national reputation, reasonable cost, and classes that seemed to provide the important information without redundancy or "fluff."

When I graduated nursing school, I knew I wanted to be an NP but I wasn't sure what I wanted to specialize in. It was after working with some NPs in the ICU that I knew that was what I wanted to do. Are there any NPs at your work that you could talk to? We work with a lot of clinic NPs who over see their patient's care when they get admitted. Another good thing to do is read NP job postings and see how the job is described, what the duties are and what specialty they are looking for. If relocating after school isn't an option, maybe see what specialty the clinics in your area want to hire. For example, you wouldn't want to go into women's health only to find out the only OB clinic in your area won't hire NPs. Another option would be trying to find PRN work at a clinic that uses NPs, since that would give you some great learning opportunities and connections. While you're trying to figure out a specialty you could always start working on your BSN, so at least you can feel like you're getting closer to your eventual goal. Good luck!