Acute Care Nurse Practitioner residency/fellowship

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Hi everyone,

I will be finishing an AGACNP program this June and and considering applying to a residency/fellowship program. I was wondering if anyone out there has gone through such a program and can speak to its pro's and con's?

It seems like a great opportunity enhance my learning, gain practical skills and have support while learning my new role. I have a few questions though.

Do AGACNP residency/fellowship programs increase your preparedness for practice?

Do they increase competency?

Would a traditional on boarding process (for whatever specialty you are hired into) adequately train you?

Do they increase your likelihood of getting hired at that facility or any other facility?

Will it positively impact hire-ability if you do have residency/fellowship but apply for position that wasn't covered by that residency/fellowship?

Thanks in advance!

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
10 hours ago, buttercup9 said:

Hi everyone,

I will be finishing an AGACNP program this June and and considering applying to a residency/fellowship program. I was wondering if anyone out there has gone through such a program and can speak to its pro's and con's?

It seems like a great opportunity enhance my learning, gain practical skills and have support while learning my new role. I have a few questions though.

Do AGACNP residency/fellowship programs increase your preparedness for practice?

Do they increase competency?

Would a traditional on boarding process (for whatever specialty you are hired into) adequately train you?

Do they increase your likelihood of getting hired at that facility or any other facility?

Will it positively impact hire-ability if you do have residency/fellowship but apply for position that wasn't covered by that residency/fellowship?

Thanks in advance!

In theory, fellowships provide a structured process of learning the specialty with closer supervision by an experienced provider for the entire length of the fellowship. It’s a luxury you may not get in a more traditional on-boarding process that most NP’s in specialized fields get.

For that reason, you would gain more competence as gaps in your NP education will potentially be supplemented by the additional supervised training. Some new NP’s may not necessarily need the fellowship if they will be working in a field they are already familiar with (ie, CCU nurse who will work in Cardiology).

Being hired after the fellowship will depend on how individual programs are set up. Some actually prefer graduates of the fellowship in terms of hiring new NP’s if a position is open. Your performance during the fellowship will factor in that decision, however.

ANCC is now accrediting fellowship programs for NP’s so that’s a direction towards standardization. If you decide on going for a fellowship, the ones I’m familiar with will hire you as a fully credentialed NP with all the privileges but with a salary significantly lower than what an NP with equal qualifications would get.

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Do you feel as if you can practice safely after a brief training period? Are you going to work in a role with support from other CC NPs/pulm cc docs at least until you get used to it?

If you can find a supportive job why not do that these fellowships usually only pay like 50k a year.

You can likely find some place that will train you to do whatever it is that your program may have not had time to prep you for

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Spadeforce-

It is hard to say if I can safely practice after a brief training period as

1. I don't know what specialty I will be hired into

and

2. I don't know what the training is like.

I also imagine that there is a lot of variation between hospitals and specialties into the quality of the training/orientation.

My inclination is to gravitate towards critical care/cardiology however I do not have ICU experience. I have 3.5 years in a non trauma ED and 7 years med/surg/tele including solid organ transplant and thoracic surgery. My lack of ICU experience may hold me back in getting a critical care position.

I am quite anxious about that first year in and want to be as prepared as I can possibly be. I just don't know if they are quality programs or if your orientation period would be sufficient.

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I generally encourage residency for anyone who can stomach the pay cut. (Though the ones I've looked into paid 75k which is right about what I made as an RN) I think in today's environment, it should be a mandatory part of our education. It only better prepares the clinician and reinforces expectations of care (presuming it is a true residency). You noted your experience may be lacking and in your case, it might be a good idea. With the expectation of hiring these days becoming experience due to saturation of new grads, it may be a good call.

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5 hours ago, buttercup9 said:

Spadeforce-

It is hard to say if I can safely practice after a brief training period as

1. I don't know what specialty I will be hired into

and

2. I don't know what the training is like.

I also imagine that there is a lot of variation between hospitals and specialties into the quality of the training/orientation.

My inclination is to gravitate towards critical care/cardiology however I do not have ICU experience. I have 3.5 years in a non trauma ED and 7 years med/surg/tele including solid organ transplant and thoracic surgery. My lack of ICU experience may hold me back in getting a critical care position.

I am quite anxious about that first year in and want to be as prepared as I can possibly be. I just don't know if they are quality programs or if your orientation period would be sufficient.

you could probably contact fellowship programs via email and send them a list of questions such as 1. pay and benefits of the program, 2 where people get jobs afterward, etc.

The fellowship programs still probably make money off you I assure you they use you to bill for more than what you make in salary and benefits, but again they train you also.

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The one I looked into was 60K/yr, $500 for CME, FT employee benefits. No guarantees if you will be hired post-fellowship. Also, 20K sign-on bonus for a 2-year commitment into the specialty.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

We have an AGACNP fellowship program that is one year in length. It’s ANCC accredited and we have graduated fellows who have mostly been hired as regular career NP’s by the institution after graduation. We’re in a high cost of living area and the compensation is six figures but the amount is still much lower than what a new regular career NP or an experienced RN would make. You can PM me if you’re interested.

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