Interview for Neonatal NP

You may want to try over on the Nurse Practitioners board - it has a few NNPs that comment regularly.

Hi, hope I'm not too late, been away from here for a while.

I finished my ANNP MSc last year.

The questions for my interview put me in different situations, one about a reg doing something you didn't agree with in the middle of the night, one about speaking to a parent re survival at 24 weeks, umm one about multiple emergencies in different places and managing them with x y and z staff.

Which school is the interview with? I interviewed with Rush University and was accepted for the fall 2017 cohort. The interview was very laid back and I got the impression it was more to see if I would be a good fit for the program. She asked why I want to be a NNP, what experiences I had that would help me as a NNP student, what kind of capstone project I had in mind, that kind of stuff. The best advice I can give is to try to be relaxed and be yourself, hard to do when you're nervous I know!

Thanks for the responses. I recently found out that I was accepted into the program for fall 2017. My biggest concern is my lack of experience in the NICU. I only have 2 months experience and I work in a level 3 NICU but we don't always have babies with that acuity. We mostly have level 1 with a few level 2 babies. The program advisor told me that I only need 1 year experience by the time clinicals begin. It's a 3 year program and clinicals won't start until the last year, so I'll have about 2 years experience before clinicals. My clinicals will be in a larger city with very high acuity, so I will get that experience during clinicals. Im just worried I'm jumping into things too fast.

Can anyone one give me advice on what they think? I have always wanted to be an NNP. This is my dream come true getting into this program. If I start clinicals in 2 years and feel completely incompetent to be at that level, I have no problem asking if I can defer until I gain more experience. It's not ideal, but I would never finish the program if I don't feel qualified to practice as an NNP.

I would really appreciate some advice

thank you for reading :)

Since you asked, I will share my opinion. I had about 15 years of Level III experience (including travel nursing and extensive charge nurse experience) before starting my program. As an NNP, you will be looked at to be "in charge" in most experiences and competent at the head of the bed. A lot of that comes from your nursing voice and how assertive you are, including in dialogues with other nurses, doctors and NNPs. That voice needs to be developed time and experiences, which may take longer in a slower Level III.

Only you can decide if pursing your degree is right for you, but I would really consider if you will have the depth and breadth of experience by the end of 2 years. Obviously, I don't know you or your situation but that is my advice.

I got accepted to Rush's NNP Program too, I start in August 2017! Crazy excited but really nervous! See you at orientation!