PNP vs Pediatrician

[PedsInTraining]

Hi!

This is my first post (in fact I just made this account a couple minutes ago) so if I do anything wrong, I apologize. I know questions similar to this have been asked, but I’m very confused and was hoping for specific advice. I’m about to start college and really want to make a final decision. I’m very interested in health care, specifically Primary Care Pediatrics and have narrowed my choices down to Pediatrician or Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. Working in the NICU has crossed my mind as well, and it’s a consideration, but primary care pediatrics is more likely. My parents REALLY want me to go to PNP route, which is something I certainly understand. It is faster than the MD route and I want to be very involved in direct patient care. The nursing model is more appealing because again, being more involved the the patients’ care is very important to me. If I went the PNP route, would my role differ much from that of a pediatrician? I’m just at a crossroads here because I want to be a leader and I’m scared of patients and their families not trusting me without the MD title, but I truly do prefer the role of Nurses/Nurse Practitioners and how involved they are. Do you NPs face problems from patients and families, or do younot have too many problems? From your guys’ experience, would you recommend the PNP or Pediatrician route?

I’m sorry it’s so long, just very confused LOL. Please let me know what you guys think. Thank you so much!

[babyNP., APRN]

Hi there, welcome to allnurses. I see you posted this in the NP forum which is probably the most appropriate place to put forward your questions. Just so you know, it's generally frowned upon to post the same post in multiple places.

That being said, I don't think this is the best place for this kind of question- the PICU stands for "pediatric intensive care unit" which means that the patients are in a hospital and are critically ill, unlike primary care which is done "out-patient" in a clinic type setting and the patients are healthier. A pediatric intensivist (a doctor that works in the PICU) is very different than a regular pediatrician that works in a clinic, just like an acute care PNP has a very different role than a primary care PNP.

[PedsInTraining]

5 minutes ago, babyNP. said:

Hi there, welcome to allnurses. I see you posted this in the NP forum which is probably the most appropriate place to put forward your questions. Just so you know, it's generally frowned upon to post the same post in multiple places.

That being said, I don't think this is the best place for this kind of question- the PICU stands for "pediatric intensive care unit" which means that the patients are in a hospital and are critically ill, unlike primary care which is done "out-patient" in a clinic type setting and the patients are healthier. A pediatric intensivist (a doctor that works in the PICU) is very different than a regular pediatrician that works in a clinic, just like an acute care PNP has a very different role than a primary care PNP.

Hi babyNP! Sorry about that, I tried to delete the other posts but I don’t think that’s something that’s possible. Also I’ve gone on AllNurses before and recognize that name, I was interested in the NICU for a while. That makes sense though. Thank you!