Experience Before Becoming NP

[Fiddlesticks27]

Hi All,

I am planning on advancing my education and career and becoming an NP. I've done a few years in med-surg and a few years in primary care. I'm wondering what kind of clinical experience would best prepare me to be an NP. I think I would ultimately enjoy being a home health NP in a rural area. Should I have ICU experience? ER experience? I'd be interested in learning what clinical settings you may have worked in before becoming an NP and how it helped you (or didn't help you!) Thanks so much!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I had 14 years nursing exp when I becam an APN, 2 as an LPN in LTC, 1 in adult ICU, 1 in Peds ICU, 10 in level one ER which was the most recent. ER gave me the ability to think on my feet. For me that is the most important skill. Move been an APN for 10 yrs now in same practice and though it is nit my dream job it offers enough variety and autonomy and compensation that I'm staying.

[Fiddlesticks27]

Thank you TraumaRUS. In your opinion and experience, do you think that an APN should have ICU and/or ER experience before practicing as an APN, regardless of the setting in which they practice? I'm trying to figure out what kind of setting I should get more experience in while I'm going to school. Thanks!

[PG2018]

Home health? Med-surg and prim care.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Its hard to say - the NPs I work with come from varied backgrounds: ER, dialysis, home health, med-surg....

[BostonFNP, APRN]

ED and primary care would be the best in my opinion.

[Penguins10, MSN, RN, NP]

I did volunteer and career fire/EMS before nursing school, which was useful background, then worked in sub-acute care, primary care, and emergency medicine as an RN prior to taking an IM/nephrology job as a new NP. I work in primary care now.

Whatever setting you work in will provide some transferable skills, so there's no point in being dogmatic. However, an ED job is ideal in a lot of ways, you will take care of patients with a wide variety of concerns, you can watch the way those concerns are evaluated, you can see the disposition (who needs to be admitted), and you should definitely start to learn sick/not sick which is obviously extremely valuable in any future work role. Primary care can provide similar breadth of exposure, it depends a bit what your role is and how much the folks you work with are willing to teach.

But, like I said, pay attention (read about patients, think about why you're doing what you're doing, do continuing education, ask questions of patients and providers as it is appropriate) wherever you are and you'll learn things that are useful in the future (and be better at what you're doing at the time!).