Any regrets becoming a NP?

[DesertSky]

I'm curious to hear if anyone has any regrets regarding becoming a NP? If so, what do you wish you would have pursued instead? I have a few concerns that give me pause such as over saturation of NP's and provider burnout. What if I go through NP school to not be able to find a job? What if I get burned out as a NP?

I have been a critical care nurse for over 5 years and I'm not sure if my feelings stem from stress from balancing work and school, or if it's second thoughts creeping in. I'm halfway through a MSN AGACNP program at well-respected, brick and mortar school where my preceptors are provided. I work in a level 1 trauma center ICU and see how hard our AGACNP's work and that a number of them seem to be rather burned out from the sheer amount of work and responsibility they constantly have on their plates.

I would love to hear thoughts from anyone who would be willing to share.

[NewbieFNP, MSN, RN, APRN]

No regrets. It has been a step away from all the physical labor expected of an RN. There are many settings which offer a good life/work balance. Don't be afraid to move around and try different areas/settings to find a good fit.

[Forest2]

From reading all the posts it sounds as if you need to decide where you want to work and if that work is available where you live before you even start.

[thinbluelineRN, MSN, NP]

Not for a minute. But I also don't work in super busy clinic seeing 30-35 patients a day like I did when I was completing hours for school. While in NP school I figured out exactly where to not work and what type of situation I did not want to put myself in just looking and speaking with my preceptors - some even took their charting home or charted over the weekend which I knew I did not want to do.

Fast forward to after I graduated and took the boards I applied multiple places and got two offers:

1. One at a FQHC which is really busy with a high provider burn out rate as they are always hiring, this job started also would have made me eligible to apply for student loan repayments.

2. I was hired by a big occupational medicine company- they have urgent cares all across the US and was told I would be contracted out to an on-site clinic (another very big company on the west coast) where I would be the provider with my supervising physician coming in once a week. No loan repayment eligibility but pay difference between the two jobs - about 40k.

I took job number 2 and have the best team to work with, I have 10-15 patients a day, I see all types of injuries and certify a lot of drivers (DOT physicals)have a lot of time to chart and have an awesome supervising physician who is very supportive.

Not what i trained for but I'm learning the intricacies of orthopedics, some trauma and occupational medicine and having fun while doing it.

[Oldmahubbard]

On 6/18/2019 at 9:59 AM, Samoyed said:

Part of me has regrets. I was an RN for 7 years and worked in specialty med surg and ICU before becoming an NP. I have now been an FNP for about a year. I work in adult primary care for the largest specialty care group in my state. The patients are quite complex, 30+ medical problems on 30+ medications, many being autoimmune, cancers, hematologic. I went to a well respected B&M school. I feel very underprepared. I might feel a little more prepared if I worked in a small town family practice with fewer medically complex patients.

I definitely have physician support. But what tends to happen in my clinic is that routine follow up and annual exams get booked with the physicians. I see all the same day appointments-- and NOT strep throat, sinus infections. I get booked new leg swelling (I have diagnosed countless DVTs), shortness of breath (I can always hope for PNA, asthma exacerbation- but its usually more complex like IPF, or something autoimmune-sarcoid, lupus), visual changes, weakness, fatigue, confusion, chest pain, abdominal pain. While some things are self limiting and end up easy/benign... I have diagnosed way too many cancers. When I get booked with cellulitis it tends to turn out to be osteomyletitis moving towards sepsis! Abdominal pain is infrequently constipation or diverticulitis it tends to always be something surgical I'm sending to the ER. I also frequently get booked hospital follow ups....why yes you were in the ICU for 21 days in cardiogenic shock and you're booked to see the brand new NP now on 10 new medications and still having chest pain. If I didn't have strong nursing background there is no way I would survive.

Part of me wishes I tried working in a procedural area like endo, cath lab EP lab. Or tried something different altogether like inpatient pediatric ICU. How's the pay difference? Well I'm making 25k more than I did an as RN. But instead of working 3 12's and being done at the end of my shift, I'm now working 4 "10's". 4 10's = 4 16 hour shifts and working at home and on my day off equally about 60 hours per week. Therefore based on the amount of time I'm working, it is quite considerably less than an RN. Work comes home and my home life suffers.

Despite this.... I love seeing patients. I love the environment. Sometimes the follow up and medical complexity can be beyond overwhelming and time consuming. I am thankful for UptoDate. And an understanding spouse who is also a nurse!

You make significantly less per hour than you did as an RN