OB as new grad possibly interested in FNP?

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Specializes in critical care.

Everyone has an opinion on whether new grads should get med/surg experience before entering a specialty. The "new school" of thought seems to be that if you know what specialty you want, then go for it. But what about if you know what specialty you want, but don't plan on staying there forever?

I'm a BSN student graduating this summer, and thinking about where I'd like to go from here. My question is: Is L&D/mother/baby experience acceptable for becoming a FNP? To be honest, I love basically all populations, from kids through older adults. I'd be happy in med/surg if there were more time for patient communication and education. I love this aspect of the maternity floor, and think I'd be much happier there than in med/surg. But, I want to keep my options open for working with other populations as an FNP. Any advice? & thank you in advance :)

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I really wish some qualified readers would reply to this post. I am in a very very similar situation-soon to graduate my BSN program with the same interests. My background is in LTC, hospice, and home health with the elderly population whom I love... but my heart truly is in L&D/mother-baby/NICU and I also greatly excelled in those clinicals. BUT I also have a strong desire to become a FNP but it seems to be a general concensus that before I do that, I NEED to get experience in Med/surg first. Problem is, I never really enjoyed a med-surg rotation (though I did well) and would find myself wishing I was back in L&D rotation.

I almost feel like I just need to decide between two distinctly different plans. It's such a life changing decision and it's stressing me out...type A= constant need to plan.

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Excellent question! Hopefully we'll see some good responses.

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Specializes in labor & delivery.

We have an experienced L&D nurse starting her FNP program in the fall. She only has OB experience and was accepted right away at Grand Canyon University. Best of luck to you!

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Specializes in Family NP, OB Nursing.

I don't have much to add, but will say that out of my 15 years of nursing experience prior to becoming an FNP, the last 14 years were in OB. I won't say that med surg/ICU/ER experience wouldn't have been beneficial, because in many ways I think it would have been, but I did well in school and passed my boards without any problem. If you love OB, go for it and if you eventually want to be an FNP, go for that too. Good luck :D

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Specializes in Couplet Care/Newborn Nursery.

I am currently in an entry level masters program. I have been working in postpartum/nursery for the past year and will start the FNP portion in August. I have zero med/surg experience and went directly into OB as a new grad.

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LDrn did you get a BSN or ASN? I want to eventually go for either NP or Certified Nurse Midwife. I really want to work with mothers and babies. But it would be hard for me to get a BSN right now so I'm probably going to go the ASN route. I'm wondering if there's any chance I could get a good job without the bachelors in nursing.

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I too am in this similar situation. I started nursing school in Fall 2010. The first year of my nursing program is LPN and second year is RN. After the first year I took my LPN boards and worked LTC through the summer and into the first part of the RN year. (About 6 mons) LTC just wasn't really my niche and working and going to school was becoming to hard so I quit my job. The vast majority of my clinicals have been Med-surg and Outpatient surgery and I just don't really enjoy Med-surg as much as I thought I would. We're required to do a 120 hour precectorship before graduation and I chose OB because that's really where I've always wanted to work. I have fell in love with it and they currently have two job openings and I'll be done at the end of April. So, I'm really hoping that I'll be able to get a job there. However, as for long term plans FNP & WHNP are some things I've always been interested in as well. I'm going to start working on my BSN in the summer and it will take me a full year to complete, but where I venture from there into masters work I'm still undecided.

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Can an FNP work in a ob/gyn office? Is it better to become an FNP over a WHNP? Perhaps gain experience in women's health as a RN and try to find NP jobs in an ob/gyn office as an FNP rather than restricting yourself with a WHNP degree? I ask because I am really interested in ob/gyn (don't want to work in PP tho) but don't want to limit my opportunities as an NP, especially for prospective jobs, loan repayment, or possibly change in interests 10 years down the road.

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Specializes in women's health, NICU.

Hi! I'm about to finish my FNP program in August. I only have gyn/mother baby/nursery/nicu experience; i had absolutely no desire to do med surg.... It can definitely be done , even though I do sometimes think I would have benefited from at least working the ER....oh well! I cant see myself working somewhere that I really don't enjoy anyway. good luck with whatever you decide to do!

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