Emergency (NPs)

[MR-RN15]

My ultimate goal is to become a Nurse Practitioner and work in the ER. Is this common? From my searches online, I found one program that offers the NP with a specialty in emergency care.

I'd love to hear from other ER nurses about this or others who are interested in the same.

[CraigB-RN, MSN, RN]

There are actually more than one. Emory and Vanderbilt are the two I can think of off the top of my head. What they are is a Family Practice and an Acute Care combined. As of right now there is no such things as an EMergency NP. There are NP's that work in ED's. Do your homework. The laws governing NP's are different from state to state and a few states have strange rules about who can do what. You need to be able to take care of all ages.

I would say keep an open mind. You might find that ED isn't what you were expecting and another area is more to your likeing.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

I would also look at what credentials are being hired in area hospitals.

Some hire NP's (and be careful on specialties, as some rules regarding for instance Adult NP's means that you can not treat or see children under a certain age is some states). Some hire PA's. And some will not hire anyone but MD's.

Is there a reason that you would not want to go to PA school if your main interest lies specifically in emergency medicine? As noted above if you are specializing in family practice/acute care this may not transpose to an ER setting well.

It is really state and even facility dependent. A very informal trend seems to be that RN's can and do go straight into NP school with little or no experience as an RN. Depending on state, they do have clinical hours, but otherwise, no experience in nursing. So the ER is not likely to hire an NP that has no experience. PA schools, again, state dependent, one needs a large amount of clinical hours before one can apply to a PA school.

Definitely food for thought. You could consider getting a BSN, and certifying in CCRN, Peds CCRN, Trauma...whatever flavor you gravitate to.

Best wishes!

[guest769224]

If you are already working as an RN in the ER with excellent work ethic, sometimes they will take you as a new grad FNP or ACNP. Depends on how rural

[Bo,RN]

We have many NP's as providers in our ER. They usually work in the "fast track," but do take on higher acuity patient's when there are no fast track patient's.

[ScrappytheCoco]

I have worked in 3 EDs and all employed NPs. In my experience, they take fast track or the lowest acuity patients, mostly ESI 4's and 5's, occasionally a soft level 3. They don't do traumas, chest pains with risk factors, etc. They were all FNPs. They really do have a place in the ED and are a great help with reducing wait times and taking pressure off the main ED.

[jdc6773]

We have one NP (FNP), two PAs, and the MD working with us in our ER at one given time. Our NP worked ER for 5 years went to school and was directly hired in as NP no problem