NP Programs

[Scott01]

I am a BSN student and am applying to NP programs. My goal is to work in an ED, critical care unit or as a hospitalist as an NP. I have heard conflicting opinions about whether I should pursue the FNP or the Adult Acute NP. I have been told that I am more likely to be hired with the FNP (especially in the ED) if a lot of my clinical training is in the ED because it is includes peds. Others have told me that there will soon be regulations that restrict NP practice to the areas in which they were trained (i.e., FNPs will be restricted to primary care sites, etc.). Can anyone out there give me some practical advice? Thank you.

[Le-Lee_FNP, MSN, RN, NP]

you are going to continue to hear conflicting information because your question highly depends on region. Do you have any Emergency Nurse Practitioner programs in your area? The best thing would be to become dual certified as a FNP and ACNP. Vanderbilt University in nashville has an ENP program where you can become dual certified.

Or you could always do FNP first, then a post-masters in ACNP or vise versa.

It doesn't sound like you want to work in a clinic at all so perhaps if you just want to do one specialty then you should stick with ACNP. The only reason I say this is because you will definately be qualified for ICU and hospitalist roles with that specialty. ED would still be up in the air depending on location and the hospital itself if you did FNP.

[Scott01]

Thank you very much. Aside from the issue of who will accept which degree, I have heard from some academics that there are regulations in the works that would strictly restrict NP scope of practice to the area in the NP trained (i.e., FNP would not be permitted to practice in a critical care setting). Have you heard anything about this? Thanks again.

[Le-Lee_FNP, MSN, RN, NP]

Thank you very much. Aside from the issue of who will accept which degree, I have heard from some academics that there are regulations in the works that would strictly restrict NP scope of practice to the area in the NP trained (i.e., FNP would not be permitted to practice in a critical care setting). Have you heard anything about this? Thanks again.

I've heard that tossed around mostly from people posting threads on this site. I can't say that I have heard that in any healthcare settings or from within my own community of healthcare professionals. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it is true or not true. If I were you I would google it and see if you can find a credible source (such as ANA, or your state board of nursing) that states something about that. I can see this as being more of an issue in states where NPs are not required to have a supervising physician. But if you are in a state where you do require a supervising physician and you are provided the appropriate on the job training, I don't see what the big deal is. but that is just my .

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

ACNP + AC-PNP