What should I do? Need advice

Trauma Columnist · May 5, 2016

From your post, you sound like maybe you didn't think this decision (to become an FNP) thru thoroughly?

Was there a particular clinical setting that you enjoyed during school? What type of floor do you work on now? Do you like it? Why or why not?

Have you considered teaching or some type of education? Maybe use your MSN in something other than being an APN?

synaptic · May 5, 2016

You seem to have been offered quite a few jobs, yet your pickiness has deemed them unworthy. Why not take the insurance job? Sounds like your best bet if you do not enjoy stress.

PG2018 · May 5, 2016

Psych outpatient is pretty low stress. I'm aware of FNPs working in that capacity.

Maybe the insurance gig will transition you to a corporate job unrelated to healthcare.

When you view a degree as entirely to increase payroll it can be a waste when payroll doesn't rise. Take solace in having a master's degree. It sounds nice at parties and degrees look good on stationary.

SadNP · May 5, 2016

I am a former FNP that works in the pharmaceutical industry. There are plenty of jobs available if you are willing to spend 2-4 overnights a week travelling within your territory. The jobs available range from clinical educator to sales to medical science liaison, and you work pretty autonomously. Check it out.

lucky927 · May 5, 2016

I worked in med/surg and a geriatric floor the past five years. I hated it at first and had a hard time but I've been much better more recently. I'm ready for a change. I've applied for education jobs but never heard anything. I really want to consider this insurance company job but being hard on myself because it's not a nurse practitioner job.

lucky927 · May 5, 2016

Do you still maintain your family np certification working in the pharmaceutical field or are you unable to? Is that considered a nurse practitioner position?

PG2018 · May 5, 2016

I worked in med/surg and a geriatric floor the past five years. I hated it at first and had a hard time but I've been much better more recently. I'm ready for a change. I've applied for education jobs but never heard anything. I really want to consider this insurance company job but being hard on myself because it's not a nurse practitioner job.

What do you envision yourself doing?

PG2018 · May 5, 2016

I am a former FNP that works in the pharmaceutical industry. There are plenty of jobs available if you are willing to spend 2-4 overnights a week travelling within your territory. The jobs available range from clinical educator to sales to medical science liaison, and you work pretty autonomously. Check it out.

My emotional intelligence is inherently low which makes it very hard for me to sell anything, but I'd love a traveling corporate gig. I have truly the best outpatient psych gig in America, and I love it. It's not my first career. High income, negligible oversight, autonomy in all domains. I live in a corporate community and see these really burned out guys who come from work while I'm walking my dog in the evenings. Their garage door goes up, the car goes in, the door goes back down and you never see them again. They're really stressed, but I like talking to them on the weekends when I see them between highballs and tom collins.

jax777 · May 6, 2016

I graduated from a FNP at the end of the summer and passed the certification exam in December. I currently work as a bedside nurse and have been actively looking for jobs. I could have had the opportunity to work at a retail clinic or a nursing home. I have been very picky and just can't see myself doing most positions. I was recently offered a job at an insurance company doing mostly desk work. It seems like the perfect job for me because I was never really into bedside nursing. I enjoy caring for patients and talking to them but I hate the high stress of the job. I am unsure why I thought going to school for FNP would be the way out of this stress. I cannot see myself working with kids or in a primary care office. I want to take this job but then basically getting my NP was a waste and I should have gotten my masters in another field. Please let me know if anyone has any advice.

More money isn't worth the unhappiness of disliking your career. Try the insurance job; you can always go back to bedside nursing if it doesn't work out. In addition, there are many nurse occupational administration jobs in which you never deal with patients, but still remain in nursing field. Good luck on whatever you decide.

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · May 6, 2016

My emotional intelligence is inherently low which makes it very hard for me to sell anything, but I'd love a traveling corporate gig. I have truly the best outpatient psych gig in America, and I love it. It's not my first career. High income, negligible oversight, autonomy in all domains. I live in a corporate community and see these really burned out guys who come from work while I'm walking my dog in the evenings. Their garage door goes up, the car goes in, the door goes back down and you never see them again. They're really stressed, but I like talking to them on the weekends when I see them between highballs and tom collins.

Is this your schtick or are you telling the truth? How do you function as a psych NP with no emotional intelligence? Not judging, just really curious.

PG2018 · May 6, 2016

Is this your schtick or are you telling the truth? How do you function as a psych NP with no emotional intelligence? Not judging, just really curious.

I don't do therapeutic. I treat symptoms medicinally.. I have 12 therapists that handle their emotions.