thinking of MPH and acute care NP

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Hey everyone, I just graduated nursing school with my BSN and i'm thinking of using these next two-three years off from school to explore and focus on what my next step is for graduate studies/career. I love public health. I feel that healthcare needs to have a more upstream/midstream/preventative approach as opposed to the main focus of injury treatment and chronic illness care.

I also want to be a nurse practitioner in the future. I originally wanted to go to medical school. But a change of heart lead me to nursing school and boy was it the best decision of my life. I love the holistic approach nursing has and the intimate relationship we build with our patients and i feel that medical schools are just starting to catch up to the holism that's so ingrained in our profession. I definitely still see myself as a future provider as an advanced practice nurse.

Now, my question is what can i do with a combined NP/MPH? What kind of job opportunities can arise using both of these titles? I'm thinking of getting my NP first(in whatever area i see myself a best fit in) and then getting my MPH. Also, what do you guys think about with being a (family vs. Acute care) NP with the MPH? Which route do you guys think is ideal?

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Hi Survive,

I'm a nurse in an NP program who's also interested (okay, passionate about!) preventive care. My background pre-nursing was in med/public health research. I found my sweet spot in community health centers affiliated with large teaching hospitals. There are a lot of these in Boston! I provide patient care but also participate in studies assessing new interventions (I work in peds, so for example, we have a study going on child-obesity prevention and on home visiting with pregnant/new moms to improve health outcomes and parenting skills). I couldn't be happier, because the direct care is so satisfying but relatively small impact, while participating in research can have a large positive impact. There are nurses who work only in research also. Good luck!

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