Adult track NP

LetsChill · Jun 13, 2012

ACNP- hospital in-patients, specialty clinics/offices (adults only)

ANP- specialty clinics/offices (adults only)

FNP- clinics/offices (children and adults)

It all depends on the acuity that you want to treat.

Vanderbilt has an ER-NP program, consisting of the education of an ACNP and FNP

http://www.nursing.vanderbilt.edu/msn/enp.html

Best bet is to get both certifications for the ER, otherwise if a peds pt comes in the ER and you only have an ACNP, you would have to leave your scope of practice to treat that kid. This limits you in your opportunities to function in the ER and thus, with only an ACNP, makes you fairly unmarketable in the ER.

I am relocating my family to Nashville for Vanderbilt's ACNP program.

reebokHCFR, MSN, EMT-P, APRN, NP · Jun 14, 2012

Appreciate the info Letschill. I have looked for hours for programs, but I'm limited by my qualifications (particularly, bachelor's in a non-nursing field). the adult np program near me has acute as a small part of the clinical program ("...in settings focused on the care of the acutely ill client.") so I will probably end up staying with them. I'll do what I have to do and then continue schooling if I decide to branch out later...you know, when I'm a filthy rich NP

if anyone is interested, I am looking at Florida Southern.

http://www.flsouthern.edu/KCMS/Adult-Graduate-Education/Graduate-Programs/Master-of-Nursing.aspx

LetsChill · Jun 14, 2012

Vanderbilt has a pre-specialty program. Meaning you enter with a Bachelor's in a field other than nursing, then graduate as an NP, or, in your case, an ENP.

But if I was in Florida I'd want to stay there too :cool: I'd love to get a job there after NP school

ANP programs prepare you for primary care, like a doctor's office. That deterred me as I have always wanted to work in with acutely ill patients.

coast2coast · Jun 14, 2012

I am an adult NP. My experience has been that only FNPs or PAs are hired in ERs and urgent care centers, since those settings typically only want providers who can see whatever comes through the door. However ANPs are routinely used on inpatient services/hospitalist-type services.

For example, I graduated from a nominally "Primary care" ANP program. But since I was interested in inpatient work, I was allowed to do clinical rotations on inpatient services and could easily have gotten a job in a similar setting after I graduated. But there is no way I would expect to be considered for an ER position ( no sweat off my back ... I love primary care). Make sense?

With the changing of ANCC (and likely AANP) certifications in the next few years, there will be renewed emphasis on the primary care focus of both FNPs and ANPs, and a recognition that ACNPs are the only NPs who are trained to work in the inpatient environment. Of course hiring practice will change much more slowly, but you need to think carefully about what type of setting you want to work in before you commit to a certain type of program.

Personally, I thought I would love acute/inpatient-type work but hated it once I saw what the NP role was. Fell in love with primary care and the ANP certification has worked out fine for me.

reebokHCFR, MSN, EMT-P, APRN, NP · Jun 14, 2012

Thanks very much coast2coast. would you mind elaborating on "... hated it once I saw what the NP role was. Fell in love with primary care..." particularly the first part. thanks.

coast2coast · Jun 15, 2012

reebok,

As an NP student I rotated on a hospitalist service at a large hospital. I say that I hated the role because it was very narrow and repetitive and I found waiting for a large team of docs and consults to make simple decisions extremely frustrating. Bear in mind that the way NPs were used in this hospital is not the way they are necessarily used everywhere - but basically we did scut work, managed hypertension for surgeons who couldn't be bothered, cleaned up messes when somebody got overdosed or otherwise med-error'd while on the floor, did discharge teaching for post-op patients who were newly diagnosed as diabetic, hypertensive, etc. Even the smallest and most-straightforward decisions (I'm getting a repeat head CT, I'm titrating coumadin) often required final clearance from the surgical team. They spent as much time approving and documenting these requests as they would have just managing the problems themselves ... I was also VERY unimpressed that NPs weren't allowed to do the initial hospitalist consultation for this particular service. We would go see new patients, write a note, pass it to our supervising MD, they would see the patient, and then re-write our note and sign it. What a joke!

The flip side of this experience being - I found independence and challenge in primary care. Honestly I find primary care much, much more difficult than inpatient work and I will gladly take the pay cut to stay in this setting over the relatively narrower scope, easier shifts, and better bonuses associated with a hospitalist position. But to each his own - we need good NPs in every setting !

I suspect that my experience on the hospitalist service is not necessarily comparable to work in an ER - the ER is a world unto itself. You will need a ER NP to weigh in on that one.

LetsChill · Jun 16, 2012

Interesting insight. Good to know when I start looking for a job