I am interested in becoming a nurse care practitioner; I am already in the healthcare field.
I have made several observations in my research thus far. Perhaps someone could lend me some advice and/or further insight.
Salary Related Obvservations
1) NP's that work in acute care tend to make more money.
2) NP's that specializes tend to make more money
2) Nurses that have doctorate degrees tend to earn a greater income.
Comments?
My question is, should I choose to become a nurse practitioner and moreover should I choose to pursue a speciality degree....say "oncology nursecare practitioner", tell me if I understand correctly, having this degree would allow me to practice in an oncology based setting because that is what I am trained in. However, my question is, does this speciality in training in fact limit me to aquiring a NP position in an oncology based setting, should I choose to go into a different nursing field. I am curious because i don't want to specialize in something and have it be the be all end all should I choose to get into a different area of nursing, say family practice for instance. This might seem like a stupid question but I have no idea since I am not in this field at all. I was wondering how this question applied to other areas, example....how many Clinical nurse specialists actually end up doing family practice, or midwifery or whatever. Does having that speciality training limit your job options????
So are you trying to say that FNPs can even work with Neurologists as assistants (like PAs)?
Thanks
Nev
Absolutely. We have several that work with Neurologists/Neurosurgeons in Missouri, and I suspect this is the case across the nation. There are both FNPs and PAs that work in specialties here. When I see a job posting/ad, it says NP/PA.
That's what I get for PWE (posting while exhausted).
That worried me too - hate to piggyback, but I have a similar question. I've read here that some NICUs also use Peds NPs. I just started a direct-entry program, and a lot of the folks that were going to go NNP are thinking of switching to Peds because they would have the flexibility of working NICU but also getting out of it if they ended up not liking it. I know, I know, I shouldn't commit to a specialty until I have more experience, but any thoughts? Okay, I'm PWE'ing now, and it's time to stop. Nrsg school orientation is sleepy-making.
That worried me too - hate to piggyback, but I have a similar question. I've read here that some NICUs also use Peds NPs. I just started a direct-entry program, and a lot of the folks that were going to go NNP are thinking of switching to Peds because they would have the flexibility of working NICU but also getting out of it if they ended up not liking it. I know, I know, I shouldn't commit to a specialty until I have more experience, but any thoughts? Okay, I'm PWE'ing now, and it's time to stop. Nrsg school orientation is sleepy-making.
I've never heard of PNP working in NICU. The neonates and OB are the only two I can think of that would truly make you exclusive to those specialties (NNP and midwife, as would CRNA to anesthesia).
FNPs need to practice what they are trained in-------------primary care. End of discussion. ACNPs receive the specialty training. It is going to come down to lawsuits before we in the nursing profession set up clear defined boundries for practice. :angryfire
FNPs need to practice what they are trained in-------------primary care. End of discussion. ACNPs receive the specialty training. It is going to come down to lawsuits before we in the nursing profession set up clear defined boundries for practice. :angryfire
The Texas board of nursing has been pretty active in this area in the last six months. They told one of the Texas Childrens hospital that the FNPs there were outside of their scope of practice to do inpatient medicine. Texas seems to be the only State BON really concerned with this right now though.
Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
The Texas board of nursing has been pretty active in this area in the last six months. They told one of the Texas Childrens hospital that the FNPs there were outside of their scope of practice to do inpatient medicine. Texas seems to be the only State BON really concerned with this right now though.
David Carpenter, PA-C
It seems like the state BON's have so much in their plates right now. In the advanced practice nursing arena, the DNP proposal initially offered some promise as far as standardizing NP education across all the NP specialties by having the first 2 years of school dedicated to generalist training and having the 3rd year as the year of actual residency for the NP specialization. Poor planning on the part of whoever may have been responsible (NONPF, AACN) gave rise to a number of dnp programs that are different from each other. I have yet to examine the curriculum of post BSN programs that award a DNP but I see no clear direction in actually implementing a change towards standardizing NP training so that it doesn't get too confusing (to nurses themselves even!).
It seems like the state BON's have so much in their plates right now. In the advanced practice nursing arena, the DNP proposal initially offered some promise as far as standardizing NP education across all the NP specialties by having the first 2 years of school dedicated to generalist training and having the 3rd year as the year of actual residency for the NP specialization. Poor planning on the part of whoever may have been responsible (NONPF, AACN) gave rise to a number of DNP programs that are different from each other. I have yet to examine the curriculum of post BSN programs that award a DNP but I see no clear direction in actually implementing a change towards standardizing NP training so that it doesn't get too confusing (to nurses themselves even!).
I think that the nursing compact will eventually mandate standardization for those states that participate. The main problem is that there is no enforcement of the training standards right now by either the certifying organizations or the accrediting organizations.
I was told by one of the Texas BON investigators that they have pulled two NP licenses in the last month for not achieving minimum training standards in their NP program. Both were in FNP. One did all their training in a neurologists office and never saw a pediatric patient and the other did all their training at an aesthetics clinic. They are now going through the Texas FNP programs and auditing the hours. The hospital credentialling are freaking about this. They have relied on the certifying organizations as proof that the student did the required hours and are now finding out that this may not have happened in some cases. In Texas at least its becoming a real nightmare.
Interestingly the State BONs have long understood this is a problem but have not chosen to deal with it.
From 1996 "If the examinations provided by certifying bodies are -- or can be made to be within a reasonable time -- sufficient for regulatory purposes, no further provision is needed nor will it be sought via the National Council. If not, all avenues will have to be explored to meet the regulatory mandate for public protection."
At this time progress was reported as being made but there are no further reports have been issued. Ie. the state BONs had concerns about the certifying process but did not pursue them (my opinion).
The other issue that has been discussed here is scope of practice. Many states define scope of practice as that stated by the certifying organization. However in the last several years the published scope of practice has been altered to become broader. For example the FNP scope at the ANCC site no longer mentions primary care. This has led Texas among others to start enforcing their own standards.
Sorry, I just have to get on my soapbox for a minute here.
CNM's do not just do OB. We also can do gynecologic care and some primary care of women. It is in our scope of practice because it is part of our training. I, myself, probably do 40% GYN/60% OB with some primary care thrown in there - thyroid, UTI, URIs, derm, etc. I know other CNMs who do 100% GYN.
nev
76 Posts
So are you trying to say that FNPs can even work with Neurologists as assistants (like PAs)?
Thanks
Nev