ACNP - working life

[friendlylark]

Hello Nurse Practitioners :-)

So ... I've decided on the BIG question. I have been looking at Nurse Practitioner programs and I hemmed and hawed over the FNP vs. the ACNP. I have decided on the ACNP. There are a few reasons for this:

(1) My favorite population is geriatric. I love my old people. I care (for reals) about their health and social issues and know that this is the population that suits my interests and strengths.

(2) I don't care to learn about pediatric or women's issues.

(3) I believe that the best working environment for me is the hospital. I don't see myself at a clinic or urgent care.

(4) I imagine myself working with a hospitalist group - and I believe the ACNP will suit this vision.

I guess the thing I am worried about though is ... will I end up having to pull a lot of night shifts at the hospital??? Will my working schedule consist of a ton of nights and weekends? I don't mind an afternoon schedule or working weekends once or twice a month - but I am telling you I will not survive a night shift schedule.

So I guess I am wondering about job options and opportunities once I graduate with my ACNP. For the ACNP's out there - do you work a ton of nights and weekends? Did you have to work those hours in the beginning to "pay your dues"?

Thank you for any replies! Just want to see if I am on the right track here!

Anne Marie

[Angie O'Plasty]

It really depends on where you work. I am in a hospitalist group and work only days and evenings...we have dedicated night shift APPs (the catch-all term at my hospital for NPs/PAs) so the rest of us don't have to do nights. That said, I started out on just nights at a small community hospital...it wasn't SO bad because we could sleep if there wasn't anything going on, but I was still glad when we started rotating and later when I didn't have to work any nights (the aforementioned small hospital merged with a larger one and ultimately all inpatient care was moved to the larger hospital which is where I now work, and with the move came no longer having to work nights). As far as weekends, I work every other as we have a 7 on/7 off schedule which is very common for hospitalist groups. Sometimes this is a bummer as far as trying to coordinate doing things with other people or missing events that are happening on the weekend, but on the other hand it is pretty nice having some weekdays off to go places when they aren't crowded (whether errands or fun places). Hope this info is helpful!

[friendlylark]

Thank you Angie O'Plasty :-) That helps. In some ways, it is really just a leap of faith, methinks. I have one other question, if I may. I am also interested in end of life, hospice care. Is the ACNP degree more appropriate for that, or is FNP? It's really hard to know the correct path!

[Angie O'Plasty]

As far as FNP vs. ACNP for hospice/palliative specifically, I am not sure. Maybe someone in that field could chime in?

[LessValuableNinja]

Depends on where you live. In my area, you see both acute and FNP in hospice roles.