There is this notion that the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) specialty program should be the default, and this should not be the case.
SpecialtiesNPArticle
First off, I believe that we need to stop this push to have anyone and everyone come into nursing just to become a Nurse Practitioner. We need to stop the "I just want to be a NP, but I'm not sure where I want to work," mentality. This article is not about this particular topic directly, but I believe it ties into the true purpose of this article. I feel many whom have no researched the NP profession thoroughly end up just settling on FNP. I also would love someone to write another article expanding on the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS- multiple subspecialties much like the NP discipline) and Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) facets of APRNs, as many individuals don't consider these specialties either as they are less popular.
I have seen many posts over the years about the correct specialty certification that one should have when pursuing Nurse Practitioner education. There is this notion that the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) specialty program should be the default, and this should not be the case. Many individuals have a notion that they do want to transition from the bedside to the provider realm. Some individuals know exactly what area of advanced nursing they want to work in, others haven't the slightest clue, which is perfectly fine.
The problem that I have seen is that everyone and their brother wants to go to FNP school, instead of any of the other specialties. Now, FNP programs do have a wide scope of practice, but remember, the number of clinical hours may only be slightly more than other specialities, therefore, the clinical hours that one will have is spread very thin to all areas of clinical practice.
Is this a problem? Well, that depends on your end goal.
If your goal is to work in family practice, retail, or urgent care; the FNP specialty is right on for you due to the actual philosophy of the program. It is called Family NP for a reason, it gives to a broad, but somewhat superficial understanding of all of the systems across the lifespan (disclaimer- not saying that all FNPs have only a superficial understanding, but rather the focus of the typical/average FNP programs). This specialty is also great for those whom have not identified a particular area to practice. This would give that individual what they would need to be able to trial and error specialties.
When jumping to FNP is a problem- I have seen many posts and discussed with many aspiring NPs, "I'll just get a FNP cert, just because it gives me the most options." Honestly, the 'most options' is still being debated on. What isn't debated on is that if you know you want to go into a specialty, FNP is not likely going to be your best choice. I knew that I didn't want to work with kids or OB patients, I wanted to do either general internal medicine (adult medicine) or a specialty before I started school. I settled on Adult-Gero Primary Care NP (AGPCNP), with the intent to work in the area(s) that I had desire in.
"But wouldn't a physician want to hire someone who can see everyone?" One of the questions I hear a lot. The thing is, consider where I wanted to work: either adult health (IM) or adult specialty. Why would I need to know peds or OB if I didn't see peds or OB? One of the biggest motivating factors as to why I was able to get my job was the clinical area(s) that I completed my hours in. I completed all of my hours in adult health, internal medicine (with some basic OB primary care issues), urgent care, and cardio/nephro. I got my job over FNP candidates because my now boss saw that I had far more in-depth knowledge of adult disease, diagnostic, management etc, than my FNP counterparts. My certification and education fit far better into most of the jobs I was offered. We do nephrology in my practice- adult only. Remember, most specialty areas will do either adult or peds, not both.
I have met numerous NPs whom are FNPs, working in adult heath or a specialty with adults who wasted extra semesters trying to find Peds/OB clinical sites, extra semesters off because they couldn't find clinical sites, etc. Many of these FNPs knew they wanted to work in adult health, but wanted to 'keep their options as numerous as possible.' I have found FNPs wanting to work in women's health, whom are passed over for Women's Health NPs (WHNPs) due to the depth of knowledge discrepancy for the specialty.
In conclusion, the FNP certification/specialty should not always be a fall back, the go-to certification, or considered the best way to find a job. My thought is that if you want a NP job for the sake of a NP job, go for it. I wouldn't recommend just settling for a NP job unless you really are content with anything. No matter what, most of the learning as a NP does happen post-graduation, but remember, you still have to get a job and maintain the job long enough to learn.
