NP Student with doubts...

[Dancer10]

Hello everyone, I am new to allnurses.com and I was hoping I could reach out to you all. I am a FNP student expected to graduate in May with major doubts about whether or not I made the correct decision in pursuing this degree. I very much dislike my bedside RN job, and my clinical experiences in NP school have not sparked my interest in any specialty. I have absolutely no clue what I want to do or what my long-term goal should be as a NP who longer has any interest in patient care/interaction. Did anybody else experience these same emotions? If so, any suggestions on how I can motivate myself to get through these last six months of school?

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I am also an NP student who started having a lot of doubts about being an NP. I ended up taking a year off from school and looking into other MSN options. Even if you graduate with your NP you will still have an MSN that you could use to teach undergrad, do management, get into leadership roles, etc. Maybe you should look into NP career options as well as just advanced nursing career options in general

[AmakaFNP]

I'm a NP student and I'm also having second thoughts about this career. But I've gone this far and can't quit now. I don't think I want to be doing direct patient care for 30+ years so I'm looking into other options.

[TammyG]

I am feeling the same as AmakaFNP. I am an adult NP student and also questioning why I ever started the process. I loved my job as an RN. But I also have gone too far and can't quit now. The way I look at it, I am almost done, and this will give me lots more options. If I really want to work as an RN, I can continue to do that.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

I am feeling the same as AmakaFNP. I am an adult NP student and also questioning why I ever started the process. I loved my job as an RN. But I also have gone too far and can't quit now. The way I look at it I am almost done, and this will give me lots more options. If I really want to work as an RN, I can continue to do that.[/quote']

Remember that once you pass your NP boards you at officially on the clock to make sure you have at least 1000 practice hours as an NP before 5 years are up!

[Riburn3, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

I am also an NP student who started having a lot of doubts about being an NP. I ended up taking a year off from school and looking into other MSN options. Even if you graduate with your NP you will still have an MSN that you could use to teach undergrad, do management, get into leadership roles, etc. Maybe you should look into NP career options as well as just advanced nursing career options in general

This to me is spot on. I too had similar doubts before attending FNP school. What set it apart for me was the variety of roles I can take on with the degree. I liked that it is a clinical degree that advances my scope of practice. Being that it is FNP, the education is broad and gets you into many clinical doors of nursing. At the same time, you still have an MSN which opens doors in other avenues. For example, our House Supervisor is a PNP and our CNO is an FNP. Neither have a degree in administration or education. Lastly, we all have had clinical instructors through undergrad that were NP's in one form or another. So there's the education aspect.

To me, the NP route is the trifecta. It opens clinical, education, and administrative doors. Other MSN degrees might open one or two, but lack the superior clinical component. There are numerous avenues and routes you can take that otherwise would never be open to you with anything else.