Preceptor/Grad school/Nurse practitioner

[RN prn]

Hi everyone!

Well, I am having a little bit of dilemma and was wondering for some suggestions and/or input. I am in an accelerated bachelor degree program and because of the nature of this program, it is only one year.

Beginning in the spring semester, we will be preceptoring in a field of our choice, if available. Here's my issue:

Before I started nursing school and decided to become a nurse, I thought of pediatrics or NICU to pursue. During clinicals, I didn't have the best experience in pediatrics because it was a small unit and we only had one patient per student, so there wasn't much of a variety of cases. I absolutely love kids and even worked as a teacher before starting nursing school. I think it was because of the experience of the hospital and floor that I didn't get to enjoy or learn as much as I would have liked to. However, I was at a different hospital for my OB rotation and fell in LOVE with it from NICU to L&D and everything in between. I really enjoyed L&D (which is somewhere I had never seen myself).

When I complete my BSN, I plan on working and beginning a masters degree program. I am thinking about family nurse practitioner vs. pediatric nurse practitioner vs. neonatal nurse practitioner. I am not considering a masters degree as a CNM. I don't know which nurse practitioner track to choose and if preceptoring in L&D is the way to go. I know if I pursue NNP, I need years of experience before applying. I can't decide if I should try preceptoring in pediatrics a different hospital then my fellow classmates to give it another try or do OB? The hospital we do most of our rotations at does not have a preceptorship available in pediatrics.

I'm not sure if this really makes sense, but if I can clarify anything, please just post back and I will try to better explain myself. I am just a little confused. Also, does anyone know whether or not I can work in pediatrics as a family nurse practitioner? I know I wouldn't be able to work with neonates.

Thank you for reading and for any insight that you may be able to provide me with.

[fsaav]

The person who I see for all my care is a FNP and she is always willing to give me advice about nursing school etc. One of the other women who works in this office with her (an OB/GYN) office is a WHNP. She was explaining to me that she is really grateful that she chose the specialty that she did because being a FNP she can work in internal med, family practice, OB/GYN, peds and lots of different areas but the WHNP is limited to only caring for women. If there are no jobs for that at the time, she'd be out of luck. I guess it would be the same situation for the other "limited" specialties.

Personally, I'd go for the FNP.

Good luck!

[TX RN]

I'm enrolled in an ACNP program and considered doing the FNP track. However, I really enjoy the hospital setting and prefer it over the clinic setting. The FNP is a more comprehensive specialty, it covers all ages, BUT it's role is usually limited to clinic settings. The "fast-track" (minor emergency) E.R. is usually the only time you see FNP's in the hospital setting. This is also changing, I have seen a few FNP's that work for physicians round on patients at the hospital. State legislation differs from state to state and influences practice. I would recommend you search for Nurse Practitioners in your area and ask them the same question. Or once you start working in your specialty look for what type of practitioner you see working the area that intrests you. Best of luck.