Applying to NP School at Simmons

Guest1144461 · Apr 28, 2020

This is perhaps the biggest myth when it comes to being an NP. The stress levels are definitely NOT lower. The stakes are much much higher. One day rounding on a 15 bed med surg floor as a NP makes my entire ICU career stress level wise look like a joke. The onus is on you and you alone for developing the plan for your patient's care.

As a FNP you will constantly have urgent messages, labs to follow up on, patients, getting admitted to the hospital, refills etcs. As a RN you clock in and clock out then go home. This is NOT the case as a NP.

Choose wisely.

Future MSN · Apr 30, 2020

Are there any nurse practitioner jobs that could give you the shift work that allows you to clock out. This is important to me. I want to give my future patients 100% while I am at work but I feel it is also important to me to be able to go home and call it a day where I can recharge. Burn out in health care is a serious issue and I don't want to fall into that trap because I feel like a lower satisfaction in your work makes for poor patient care.

Guest1144461 · Apr 30, 2020

1 hour ago, Mindy834920 said:
Are there any nurse practitioner jobs that could give you the shift work that allows you to clock out. This is important to me. I want to give my future patients 100% while I am at work but I feel it is also important to me to be able to go home and call it a day where I can recharge. Burn out in health care is a serious issue and I don't want to fall into that trap because I feel like a lower satisfaction in your work makes for poor patient care.

Well acute care has a more shift like schedule but you work 7 days on straight then 7 off mostly. When I leave work I'm mostly off but there are still things I have to follow up on.

Primary care or outpatient work seems to have the worst run of it with the advent of the mychart/messaging systems patient use. They are always getting harassed.

You also have to realize NP school won't prepare you to be a functional and capable provider. You will need a ton of time study on your own and many many hours patient care time until you become proficient. My stress level went up 100x when I became a provider. Being a RN was a chill life.

203bravo, MSN, APRN · Apr 30, 2020

yeah will tell you that as a FNP, I often receive a couple of calls on off days with official x ray reads, lab results, pt requests.. But find that these calls really don't last very long and thus not a great deal of time on off days.

However, I am lucky that while patient's and pharmacies can request refills via our system --- I am not notified of these requests and will only review them when I return to the office ?

Future MSN · May 1, 2020

On 4/29/2020 at 7:35 PM, Numenor said:
Well acute care has a more shift like schedule but you work 7 days on straight then 7 off mostly. When I leave work I'm mostly off but there are still things I have to follow up on.
Primary care or outpatient work seems to have the worst run of it with the advent of the mychart/messaging systems patient use. They are always getting harassed.
You also have to realize NP school won't prepare you to be a functional and capable provider. You will need a ton of time study on your own and many many hours patient care time until you become proficient. My stress level went up 100x when I became a provider. Being a RN was a chill life.

Do you ever think of just working as an RN again? What compels you to put in the extra effort and put up with the extra stress to be a NP? Is it the different provider-patient relationship?

Guest1144461 · May 2, 2020

7 hours ago, Mindy834920 said:
Do you ever think of just working as an RN again? What compels you to put in the extra effort and put up with the extra stress to be a NP? Is it the different provider-patient relationship?

No I have always wanted to be a provider, I will take the stress because I enjoy the job.