I am graduating from an AGPCNP program in December 2017. However, I've realized in my clinical rotations that I don't think primary care is for me. It requires a lot of administrative work in addition to the practice of healthcare. One of my clinicals right now is with an inpatient patient management service at an acute-care community hospital and I love it! I love going around to the different units... general medicine, psych, telemetry, etc and helping people with their pain. Sadly, as a future AGPCNP I don't think they would hire me in that setting since I'm primary care. My other clinical is in a primary care HIV clinic and I find it rather monotonous. Most patients are taking their medication as prescribed and are stable with their viral load, but have several other co-morbidities which can get complicated, yet I find it boring because there's not a lot of hands-on stuff. I imagine though not all primary care is like that. I realized this week that I'm someone that likes to do more focused care on individual problems such as pain, neuro, etc. rather than focus on general care. I'm better at seeing "the trees" but not "the forest" if that makes sense.
I have current experience working as a volunteer EMT-IV (EMT-B who also does IV skills). I like dealing with acute illnesses and focusing on what's going on right now with the patient. Working in an ED might be overwhelming especially for someone who's new, but I really like the idea of working in urgent care. You get everything from fractures to mild/moderate asthma attacks. You have the opportunity to work days and evenings and you're treating acute illness. It may be tough adjusting to the urgent care pace at first, but I can definitely do my best. But, urgent care typically hires FNPs because they work with patients of all ages.
Here's what I want to do. I'm doing well in school (GPA is 3.52), so I figure why stop if you're doing so well? However, I'm now considering applying to an FNP post-master's certificate after I graduate from the AGPCNP program. It's specifically designed for NP's in other specialties who want to go for FNP. There's only 1 program in the USA that is accredited in my state. It's online and you get placed with a preceptor. It's 17 credits, I'm guessing that's a max of 2 semesters part-time, so I can work part-time as an AGPCNP while in school.
Do urgent care centers typically hire new NPs? I imagine they'd be a great place to learn. I would need help learning things like suturing because I haven't learned that skill yet.
Is It normal for people to be in NP school and want to change their direction? I feel like sometimes you don't realize where you fit in until after you start school.
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I am graduating from an AGPCNP program in December 2017. However, I've realized in my clinical rotations that I don't think primary care is for me. It requires a lot of administrative work in addition to the practice of healthcare. One of my clinicals right now is with an inpatient patient management service at an acute-care community hospital and I love it! I love going around to the different units... general medicine, psych, telemetry, etc and helping people with their pain. Sadly, as a future AGPCNP I don't think they would hire me in that setting since I'm primary care. My other clinical is in a primary care HIV clinic and I find it rather monotonous. Most patients are taking their medication as prescribed and are stable with their viral load, but have several other co-morbidities which can get complicated, yet I find it boring because there's not a lot of hands-on stuff. I imagine though not all primary care is like that. I realized this week that I'm someone that likes to do more focused care on individual problems such as pain, neuro, etc. rather than focus on general care. I'm better at seeing "the trees" but not "the forest" if that makes sense.
I have current experience working as a volunteer EMT-IV (EMT-B who also does IV skills). I like dealing with acute illnesses and focusing on what's going on right now with the patient. Working in an ED might be overwhelming especially for someone who's new, but I really like the idea of working in urgent care. You get everything from fractures to mild/moderate asthma attacks. You have the opportunity to work days and evenings and you're treating acute illness. It may be tough adjusting to the urgent care pace at first, but I can definitely do my best. But, urgent care typically hires FNPs because they work with patients of all ages.
Here's what I want to do. I'm doing well in school (GPA is 3.52), so I figure why stop if you're doing so well? However, I'm now considering applying to an FNP post-master's certificate after I graduate from the AGPCNP program. It's specifically designed for NP's in other specialties who want to go for FNP. There's only 1 program in the USA that is accredited in my state. It's online and you get placed with a preceptor. It's 17 credits, I'm guessing that's a max of 2 semesters part-time, so I can work part-time as an AGPCNP while in school.
Do urgent care centers typically hire new NPs? I imagine they'd be a great place to learn. I would need help learning things like suturing because I haven't learned that skill yet.
Is It normal for people to be in NP school and want to change their direction? I feel like sometimes you don't realize where you fit in until after you start school.