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Discussion

Future of WHNP's?

Hi everyone,

So I recently graduated and took my first job as a NICU nurse. While I was extremely grateful to start off in what I thought was my dream job, I am honestly not enjoying it as I hoped I would. Its very stressful and I always find myself looking for other jobs during my lunch break. I really enjoyed postpartum and the care I was able to give to the mom's and generally healthy babies in my OB rotation.

My dilemma is this... I always wanted to go to NP school and I would love to work with women for prenatal care, care during the pregnancy and postpartum. I love the aspect of pregnancy and care of the woman in general. But from reading threads I been seeing that Women's Health NP may not have many job openings :( I would like to eventually for in and OB office but Im not exactly which NP program I should go for to be able to qualify for that job. The only school in my area hasn't admitted anyone to their Women's Health NP program since last yr and I believe they are gonna get rid of the program completely this yr :( Ive read that Family NP can be an option, but do Family NP's work in OB offices or OB outpatient settings?

I know I want to give care to women but I don't want become a CNM as the actual delivery doesn't interest me. Whewww I know that was a lot. But PLEASE HELP, any advice would be greatly appreciated :) Thank youuuuuu!

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    FNPs can work in an OB/GYN provided the fellow physicians there are comfortable with their knowledge. On a more personal and probably TMI note, my own provider for those services is a WHNP and is an excellent provider. She said she had no trouble finding a job and actually encouraged me to go into that particular field. With specialization, you may find it easier to get into an office. But, I do not have any solid proof that that's true.

    Hope this helped!

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    You might consider joining your state's NP organization and asking them if there are any WHNPs you could talk to. I would also suggest the Frontier Nursing University's facebook page, as I know FNU accepts WHNPs every term, so they have quite a few alumni who are WHNP that they might be able to put you in contact with.

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    • Author

    In my opinion a WHNP would be a better choice over FNP for an OB/GYN clinic, thats why I dont understand why the school in area is getting rid of their program. That gives me courage to stick with WHNP as I know that is utimately what I want to do. Thank you so much for responding!

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    • Author

    Zmansc- thank you for that information, I am going to look on their facebook page and hopefully find some WHNP's there, thanks :)

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    In my opinion a WHNP would be a better choice over FNP for an OB/GYN clinic, thats why I dont understand why the school in area is getting rid of their program. That gives me courage to stick with WHNP as I know that is utimately what I want to do. Thank you so much for responding!

    I would agree with this. I know of one individual who is a FNP/CNM, who works in a birth center. I asked why she went FNP vs WHNP and her reasoning was that sometimes the mom brings a family member to a visit that also needs some treatment. With her FNP, she can treat anyone in the family as well, so she isn't limited to just treating mom.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating FNP over WHNP, nor am I advocating her position, just providing it as another opinion. Although I believe there will be less opportunities for WHNP, I also think there will be less WHNP competing for those positions, and once you have a couple years of experience you will be able to find positions that take advantage of your unique skill set. It's the first job that will be the hardest to find in any specialty.

    Good luck!

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