I want to be an FNP/CNM...what should my first job be?

[tiffanygrace]

I am a new nurse and have been working in home health since for the last 9 months since I graduated from my BSN program. I have a goal to obtain my dual degree as an FNP/CNW in a few years through a dual-degree program. However, I am struggling to know where I should work now to gain adequate experience to enter such a program.

For the last 9 months I have been working un-skilled home health care and now have two jobs offers for skilled nursing. One is full time nights L+D at my local hospital. The other is flexible part-to-full time days at a long term care facility. To throw into this mix I have a yet-to-sleep-through-the-night 18 month old and several years of experience as a birth doula. I know the L+D job would be great experience but I don't know I can rock nights with my little one, who also has night terrors on a weekly basis. When I asked how soon I could switch to days during the interview the nurse manager said "Maybe this is the right job for you but not the right time" which lead me to believe that in a small town county hospital it wasn't gonna be quick to be working days in L+D. Concerning the LTC job, it would work better for me as a mama. But would it be good experience? The nurse to patient ratio is 1:40.....would I get anything out of this besides stress and some management skills?

Thank you for any advice!

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

Find a couple of FNP/CNM dual programs (the two I know about are in Emory and Vanderbilt), go to there or call them, request an interview with admission person and ask all the questions you want. Keep in mind that CNM programs are in general more selective than FNP and the these mentioned above are in high-ranked academic centers and so might be even more picky.

You won't have any problems finding a mid-range FNP with your experience already if your GPA is high enough (3.3 to 3.5 is about "safe margin").

It is good that you have experience as doula but still I would advise to get into L&D and work there for at least a year or two doesn't matter what, even if it will be all nights if you have more or less reliable support at home. It will greatly increase your chances for success if you decide that you still want to pursue this avenue. In addition, working will allow you to build up your network, which you WILL need dearly even if your school helps with preceptors. Last but not least, it will condition you to tolerate the load of grad school studies, which is not a light one.

And, BTW, you can work in Women's health with FNP alone, doing everything but L&D.

[sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN]

Hopefully as a real nurse on med surgvor labor and delibveryy... but you need real clinical

Experience

[sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN]

Clinical nursing as RN

[klone, MSN, RN]

In answer to your question that you posted in your title, absolutely the L&D job is the one you should take if you have aspirations to be a CNM.