ACNP job description/satisfaction

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Nov 29, 2013

Not sure how you can compare job descriptions between an ACNP and a CRNA.

CRNA's have a narrowly-defined and highly-specialized focus and job description. ACNP's, though somewhat narrowly-focused from a Nurse Practitioner perspective, have a variety of employment possibilities from Hospitalist to Intensive Care to Specialty Practice in Medicine and Surgery. That, in some people's eyes, could be an advantage. However, despite growing in-patient opportunities for NP's, ACNP's are NP's and compensation is still generally lower than CRNA's.

I have been an ACNP in Critical Care and have enjoyed the role. I have been fortunate to have worked in places where there is tremendous support and exceptional opportunities to learn in the field. Overall, I've experienced collegiality and respect from physicians. Though I am not a CRNA, I work closely with Anesthesiologists who are also Intensivists in the ICU as well as residents in an Anesthesiology program. I have great respect for Anesthesia as a profession and would imagine that it's also a great field to practice in. I would say it boils down to what you envision you would enjoy better as a career.

lmarti10 · Nov 29, 2013

thanks for the response! was it difficult for you to find a job as an ACNP?

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Nov 30, 2013

I graduated in December 2003 and had a hospitalist-type position at a freestanding acute rehab hospital within a month after graduation prior to even getting authorization to test from ANCC. I wasn't that picky at first and this job ended up being something I wasn't really happy having. While I did a lot of in-patient medical management, I felt that the facility was stifled being a rehab hospital unable to provide high acuity care when patients get sick. There were code blues which we managed but majority of the time, patients are sent to the ED for higher level of care.

After over a year there (which I did because I didn't want to switch jobs so quickly and I was being nice to the manager and physicians), I left when I found a position I liked. I found an ICU NP position by networking with classmates in the ACNP program who were already working in the ICU as NP's. I stayed in Critical Care since. I have not had difficulty finding ICU NP positions now because I have experience in the field as an NP. The field can be quite competitive though, we get numerous qualified NP applicants from across the US when we have openings. Unfortunately for some applicants, the hospital we work for is affiliated with a university with an ACNP program and many of their grads end up working in our group.