Pediatric Nurse Practitioner advice

[PSnurse123]

Hi. I am debating on getting my PNP. Many people say go for FNP but I just want to deal with pediatrics.

I want to ask people who are Pediatric NPs, if it was worth specializing and what they are doing now and if they love their jobs?

I only want to do Primary Care. I do not want to work in a hospital.

I want to go with my passion because you never know what the job market will be like when you finish your program. Any advice from PNPs?

THANK YOU!

[rnsrgr8t]

I am a PNP. I was a nurse for 5 years and ONLY every worked in pediatrics. It was a no brainer for me to get my PNP (as opposed to the FNP) b/c the idea of working with adults (even if it was only for clinicals) gave me chest pain :). I work as part of a hospital but mainly outpatient in our Urology Department. I love it. I am independent, have my own panel of patients I manage on my own etc. If peds is the only thing you want to do and you have access to a PNP program, I think it is reasonable to do the PNP. That being said, one caveat in this tough job market, FNP IS more marketable. If it is hard to find a pediatric job, then you do have something else to fall back on (which I do not have). I am lucky, my current job was my first job out of school and I have been here 10+ years. That being said, I do occasionally look to see what other oppurtunities are out there, and the pickings were I live are slim. Good luck with whatever you choose!

[Annaiya, NP]

There have been other discussion on this here. The advice seems to be to check what is being hired in your area. Apparently some areas prefer to hire FNPs, even in a peds practice. But where I used to live they would only hire PNPs for pediatric clinics. It makes no sense to me to get an FNP degree unless you want to work in a family practice or do ER fast track. When you focus your whole degree on your specialty you will be better prepared to work in that area at graduation.