NP specialty, what to choose?

[soljhs, BSN, RN]

Hi, I am an RN, thinking about becoming NP. There are several types of NP and I don't know what kind of NPs would be right for me. Any advice on how to choose?

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Hello solijhs,

We moved your topic to the Student NP forum where you will receive helpful feedback from students as well as seasoned NPs.

Just read through this forum for similar topics.

Good luck.

[verene, MSN]

Do you want to work outpatient or inpatient? Adults, kids, babies, everyone? What is your current background? What things about nursing do you like, or what are your strong interest areas? Are there things you absolutely couldn't stand to do as part of your job?

I'd start with setting, population, interests, and personal strengths/weakness and then figure out which NP specialties look interesting and/or strongly align with your prior experience and/or strong interest areas. I strongly recommend if you are unsure, to really take your time to research each NP practice area, and to reach out to NPs you know to find out what their days look like.

[db2xs]

It's similar to when someone chooses what sort of nursing to enter: What are you interested in? Write down a list; seeing things written down really helps. Find NPs in different specialties and ask for informational interviews. You can start by reaching out to professional associations, as well as NPs at your current job. Hope that helps.

[LadyT618, MSN, APRN, NP]

How long have you been a registered nurse? Have you explored different fields? Being an RN is your opportunity to explore what you'd like to do for the long haul and perhaps help in deciding what area you'd like to advance your practice in.

[Success2011]

Same here . Looking at Psych. Been a nurse for 14yrs 3yrs Med Surg , 8yrs acute hospital case management. 3yrs community health.

[direw0lf, BSN]

It’s a tough choice and usually, at least from the experiences of NPs I spoke with or listened to give a lecture, it wasn’t exactly a deliberate decision. They would kind of say “This opportunity fell in my lap” or “this door just opened and I walked through” like that kind of thing. Kind of like how my peers and I landed our first RN jobs. For many of us, it was the opportunity presented to us, unless we wanted to relocate. My friend who got ortho never wanted ortho until he was there. Another friend never saw herself in the ER but she tried it and loved it and is staying there. I’m probably the rare one who fought for a specialty I didn’t do as well with at first (peds) omg I was much better with adults esp geriatrics, but I fought to land peds and become a good peds nurse and get into a top peds NP program. Anyway point is that usually the NP choice is based on your prior RN experience. Like a psych nurse doing psych NP or ER doing acute care adult geri. Feel out where you like as an RN, then u can choose your NP path based on that. There’s no rush, you want to be sure so that you invest in the right school and specialty for NP.