Doing Direct Entry NP with desire for more clinical

[thenewguy8]

Hello everyone!

I'm very intensely considering moving into a direct entry NP program, but the primary thing holding me back is that I hear over and over again that these DE programs do not provide adequate clinical education for someone who is about to work in primary care (I'm looking at FNP). If I do a direct entry NP programs, are there ways that I can work for a year or two in a supervised fashion, getting more clinical experience before I apply for a job on my own?

I understand that NP's who have been RNs for 10 years would have all the clinical exposure they might need, but for me just starting out I want to make sure I can be a safe and effective provider, and its seems more clinical experience would be the best bet.

This is also sort of a general question of what sorts of jobs FNP grads do - within the field of primary care (i.e. are there FNP rolls in hospitals as well as doc offices, etc.)

[Blessedx3]

My advice is work part-time in the ER and do part-time DE program if that is your goal. In the ER-you see everything and there is some autonomy of ordering labs, etc. Your skills would be what they need to be as well. Just a thought....

[zenman]

Just keep signing up for more clinical. I'm sure your university will like the $$$. And pick and choose your preceptors for the experiences you want.