Future FNP student

Trauma Columnist · Feb 11, 2008

Hopefully some of the FNPs will come along soon and answer your questions. What is your ultimate goal after you obtain your FNP? Work in a clinic? Work in a hospital? Something different? I will say that as an APN (I'm an adult health CNS), you have to have good organizational and prioritization skills. This is across the board. You have to know the important from the unimportant. My experience as a nurse was 1 year in the ICU and 10 years in a level one trauma center ER. I work in nephrology now. Quite a big difference. However, my skills and assessment ability that I gained in the ER (as you are gaining in the ICU) helped me tremendously. Its a very individual decision.

Editorial Team / Admin · Feb 11, 2008

Hi everyone,
I am a BSN student, getting ready to graduate in May. I am planning on beginning my FNP program in the fall. I plan on working on it part time, while I get experience as an RN for a couple years. I've always wanted to work in the ICU and I work there as a student nurse tech right now and love it. However, an advisor for the NP program said that working in Med/Surg will give me a better basis for learning since I will see patients of all different kinds. I have not had the greatest experiences in Med/Surg and honestly, I dread working in it. I enjoy ICU because you get to learn all you can about your patient and really focus on their individual care. I feel you cannot do that on a Med/Surg unit because you have many more patients. However, if it will really help me in the long run for my FNP program, I will suck it up and do the Med/surg thing. My question is to those of you that are FNPs or are currently in a FNP program. What experience did you have as an RN? Do you think that Med/surg is the right place for me when I graduate to get experience?

Hello, Lauren

Congratulations on your plans to become an APN.

I agree with traumaRUs.

My experience included OR, OB, ICU, ED, Education .. prior to becoming FNP. If your passion lies with critical care, ICU, then I suggest working that area. Nothing wrong with that at all. You will garner the med-surg skills necessary in ICU.

It is good to read that you are serious about getting some RN experience prior to practicing as an NP. This will serve you well.

Good luck with the remainder of your BSN program and your plans to become FNP!!

VivaRN · Feb 12, 2008

If you want to work ICU, work ICU. Go where you think you can be at your best, supported as a new nurse and giving good care.

Before entering my FNP program I worked mostly critical care. I appreciated the assessment, lab interpretation skills, and being up-close to the disease process. Though, as Trauma said, it is an individual decision. People take different things from different practice environments.

No one I've seen is better or worse depending on where they worked prior to becoming an FNP. One of my preceptors worked neuro ICU. Another worked on a gyn floor. They are both awesome and very compassionate, intelligent practitioners.

Moral of the story: Do what feeds your soul.

BeachyRNn08 · Feb 12, 2008

Thanks guys, it's good to hear that it's okay to go other places after graduation than a med/surg floor to get my experience for FNP school. Med/surg makes me cringe... :barf01:

yellow finch, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2008

Sounds strange that you were advised to work out on the floor instead of in the ICU. Don't these folks know that there is such a thing as a Medical ICU? You will still see a large range of patients and deal with the exact same thing as you would out on the floor but in a more concentrated form. You'll have more interaction with Physicians and Mid-level providers because you will actually have the opportunity to interact with them while on the floor you're chasing them down (if you even see them come through).

I worked on the floor for 1.5 years after 1 year of horrible, horrible ICU experience. It took all my nerves to return because I had such a terrible introduction to ICU (long story, not very interesting, just a bad unit to be on with high turnover). I've learned something from every place I've worked. I now work in a Neuro ICU and have a preceptor for my FNP program who was a Transplant ICU RN before she turned FNP.

So there. We aren't all close-minded and sheltered ICU nurses. :nurse: (Just kidding, of course)

Best of luck to you! I'm exhausted every day from all the time consumed by school and my job.... but it will definitely be worth it!!!

sailornurse · Feb 12, 2008

I had about 20 years of med-surg (surgical/orthopedics/neuro/medical/telemetry & 2 years L&D) and then transferred to the ER during FNP school. You did not say what type of ICU (general) or the size of the hospital but if you are focused on learning, that's what matters. Be sure that you take a variety of patients, look at the labs/diagnostics and understand the meds/patho. It depends on the types of ICU's you will be working on, bigger/teaching hospitals may have specialized ICU's(neuro/open-heart/coronary/medical/surgical) or it may be a general ICU where you get all kinds of patients. Since you are going to tackle FNP part time, I think you will do fine. I did part time in the beginning & completed my MSN/FNP in 5 years. I do wish I had acquired some pediatric experience along the way. That topic was a bit more difficult for me vs the general/adult medical conditions. Luckily my daughter was 4 when I started so it was easier to apply pediatrics to her & I had a "guinea pig" to evaluate. Good Luck-Stay Focused.