Would being an NP fit me based on these descriptions?

Nursing Students NP Students

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Specializes in intensive and cardiac care.

Hello! I am currently working on a step down cardiac unit. Was previously working in an ICU of a trauma center. Total I have 1 year of nurse, which I know is obviously not a lot.

I have learned in my one year that I do love nursing, but I do not like the hospital environment. What I hate about being an acute care bedside nurse is how rushed we always are. How you do more stupid tedious type of work instead of feeling like youre actually making a difference for a patient and spending time with them and their families. I like educating patients and really feeling like you make a difference. I also like investigating and learning about different things such as, why is this lab value this high, etc.

I have always been interested in being an NP. Currently I do like my job (like not love) but I know it is not something I want to do forever. I hate chasing patients down, running to bed alarms, feeling more like a maid or a housekeeper rather than a nurse somedays. I feel like my job only feels like a job and not a career.

I feel like as an NP I will find more job satisfaction but I would like to hear from NP's as well. Would NP be a good option for me?

Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

You didn't really give us much to go on and truthfully 2 jobs in your first year of being a nurse could be considered a red flag. Have you thought about what type of NP work you'd enjoy? Do you work with any you could brainstorm with or shadow? There are more than a few posters here who it would appear decided they wanted to be a NP without so much as even knowing a single NP, what the duties are or local opportunities and salaries. To me not doing your due diligence ahead of time is foolish considering the amount of time and money it takes to become a NP.

As for being a NP in my experience it is far more challenging than I could have ever imagined. The amount of responsibility when you are diagnosing and prescribing is tremendous. I'm always busier than I ever was as a floor RN and with more at stake because I'm attempting to safely order medications while monitoring reactions, labs, meds ordered by other specialties etc. There is minimal time to complete what I need to accomplish and as a psych nurse I spent far more time interacting with my patients and their families than I ever do now. Although I love what I do there are times I long for my RN days.

being an np is much more stressful and mentally tasking. As jules said its not just an escape from the bedside. One has to actually want to understand science and accept the responsibility of prescribing medications which is huge. You will still be rushed as an np, not by running around like crazy but with managing illness, charting, and conversing with patients.

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