Grad School Deferment/Job Change

[jillybean123]

I need some advice from all you nurses out there, especially FNP's! I graduated with my BSN in December and I started working in the NICU in January. I love being an RN and so far my job has been great. That being said, I am a single mom and the starting pay where I live for nurses isn't that great. I've quickly realized I need to get a higher degree. I've always thought about being an FNP someday. Last week, on a whim, I applied to grad school. The program I applied to is a Master's in Nursing FNP program. It's all online. I can't afford to not work full time so online is my only option. I just applied to this one program because two of my other co-workers are currently in it and have said great things about it. If I get accepted, my start date would be this fall. So here's my dilemma... should I switch to the ER and defer my grad school acceptance? NICU is so specialized and I'm starting to forget everything about adults and I'm sure if I had adult care like the ER (where anything and everything comes in) then grad school would be easier. If I were to get accepted and move to the ER then I would be starting school and a new job around the same time and I think it would be very stressful. Do grad schools even allow a semester deferment because of a new job? If I deferred and started school in the spring then I would have at least six months of ER experience under my belt. I hope this long post makes sense. I'm just needing some advice! Thanks!

[Cvepo]

Defer grad school or just decline acceptance all together at this point. You've been a nurse for only a few months. FNPs (from what I have heard, though maybe others can confirm or deny) cannot practice in the NICU usually anyway so if that's your end goal, that could be an issue. It will be very difficult to work full time and take online courses (especially if you work nights) when you only have a limited nursing experience, and then you'll need to start making clinical hours for your NP at some point. Don't just jump the ED for the sake of adult experience, as ED is very different than acute care inpatient nursing and may not be the field of nursing you want to work in. I've only ever done telemetry or ICU and know I would hate the chaos of the ED (I like my chaos somewhat controlled).

To be honest, reading your post seems like you may be going to FNP for the wrong reasons. NP's salaries are not crazy high, and if your nursing pay rate sucks, I wouldn't be surprised if the starting NP rate is low as well. You will be coming out with much more in loans on top of all of that. My advice would be to work more, work your way up your hospital's seniority ranking to get paid more, and do some shadowing for an NP before you make the plunge. I would not recommend using the NP profession as a means to an end (i.e. money) as you'll probably be disappointed. You've only been a nurse for 4 months. Take a deep breath and just learn what you can. Additionally, many states (including NYS where I live) require 1 year of any nursing experience to even work in the ED.