FNP wanting to specialize

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Hello everyone.

I am currently in school to become a FNP. I am wondering if once I graduate, if I want to do something else besides be a FNP in a primary care clinic, will I need further certification or will I have to take more classes?

For example, right now I think I am interested in OB/GYN. Besides taking boards for FNP, will I have to take boards for anything else to practice as an OB/GYN NP? Will I be allowed to practice as an OB/GYN NP with only an FNP certification?

I don't know if I will have to take another semester of classes specializing in this or if a job could hire me and I would just receive on the job training for it.

Thank you in advance!

I think it really depends on what area of the country you are in. In ND, the vast majority of NPs are FNPs. Yes, there are a few WHNP, NNP, PNP, PMHNP, AGNP, etc, but VERY FEW. By far the majority of NPs working in the specialty areas are FNPs. I work in primary care which of course FNPs are ideally trained for, but as far as I know, the specialty areas train FNPs on the job. I know that is true for my classmates that work/worked in specialty areas.

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Specializes in ICU.

Thank you for all the posts, I appreciate it!

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Specializes in Mother/Baby.

I'm a WHNP who had no interest in FNP because I knew I loved OB/GYN. However, being specialized does limit your opportunities. If you like other things besides Women's Health, I recommend staying in FNP! That way if an OB/GYN job is hard to find, you have other options. Sometimes I think I should have started with FNP because WHNP jobs are limited. But I do love what I do and I have no interest in doing anything else :)

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Specializes in WHNP-BC, FNP-C.

I completely agree. I got my WHNP in 2011 and the job market in Texas is actually pretty pathetic. I have found that a lot of OB/GYN positions are filled by FNPs. Since I was having difficulty getting a decent job due to being so specialized, I decided to go back for a post masters FNP. I felt like the FNP to WHNP job ratio was >20:1 when doing searches. I will finish my FNP program in May. I wish I had known better, I would have just done FNP to begin with. :blackeye: I have no idea how much of a salary I should expect once I am dual certified. I hope to make more than just a baseline FNP, but I have not been able to find many sources to use as examples.

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I am a FNP and work in neurosurgery. My physicians actually prefer FNPs rather than Adult or acute NPs. In our service, we see children and adults. Only the FNPs are allowed to document on the pediatric pts in our hospital system.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.
I am a FNP and work in neurosurgery. My physicians actually prefer FNPs rather than Adult or acute NPs. In our service, we see children and adults. Only the FNPs are allowed to document on the pediatric pts in our hospital system.

This is why I'm glad I did FNP but have considered going back for more specific certification. I know FNP can basically do everything with the right training but I just like having the credentials to back it up [emoji52] a little shallow perhaps.

I've been doing a lot of women's health in the rural clinics I'm at so I've considered it...

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I thought of doing the same thing but now that I've started paying my student loans, I don't want to rack up more debt for no reason!

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I am a FNP and work in neurosurgery. My physicians actually prefer FNPs rather than Adult or acute NPs. In our service, we see children and adults. Only the FNPs are allowed to document on the pediatric pts in our hospital system.

That's different than a lot of places I have worked. Our inpatient neuro is exclusively ACNPs, even the outpatient clinic is 50/50 ACNP/FNP.

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Specializes in College Health; Women's Health.

I'm a newly licensed FNP and got a job no problem in women's health. It was my number one pick for a specialty after loving my women's health rotation. I was worried going into job searching that the fact that I had no background in OB/GYN as an RN would be a problem, but in my area it didn't bother them at all. I had a killer reference from my women's health preceptor and talked up my love of women's health and it worked! For reference, I graduated December 18th and had the job offer February 5th. It was the only application I had put in [emoji4]

I may later on go on for a post masters in women's health, or even CNM depending on how my practice evolves. But the door is open for everything with an FNP, so my advice is to start there. Good luck with everything!

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Specializes in Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner.
I'm a newly licensed FNP and got a job no problem in women's health. It was my number one pick for a specialty after loving my women's health rotation. I was worried going into job searching that the fact that I had no background in OB/GYN as an RN would be a problem, but in my area it didn't bother them at all. I had a killer reference from my women's health preceptor and talked up my love of women's health and it worked! For reference, I graduated December 18th and had the job offer February 5th. It was the only application I had put in [emoji4]

I may later on go on for a post masters in women's health, or even CNM depending on how my practice evolves. But the door is open for everything with an FNP, so my advice is to start there. Good luck with everything!

That's great to hear! I'm going FNP but want to work solely in women's health. I've looked at job descriptions at places like PP, and hope that my current experience makes me an ideal candidate. Something to look forward to anyway.

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That's different than a lot of places I have worked. Our inpatient neuro is exclusively ACNPs, even the outpatient clinic is 50/50 ACNP/FNP.

In our practice we have 7 ARNPs, only 2 are ACNPs. The rest of us are FNP. Our practice hires based on your experience as a NP or RN. Most of us came from our Neuro/trauma ICU as nurses.

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Specializes in WHNP-BC, FNP-C.

This is the exact reason I had trouble finding a WHNP position. Too many FNPs taking over my turf. :sneaky:LOL. I do really enjoy doing primary care as well as OB care, so I am hoping to find a position that can let me do as much of both as I can, but my heart will always be with OB.

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