Preparation for NP family practice. Best prior clinical experience?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2012

see, there isn't just one area that will be the best. if you think there is, then you'll learn differently when you are in school. if you are in school, then you should learn that every clinical area has its own set of expertise points.

family practice np school will teach you what you need to know to be a beginning family practice np, the same as nursing school teaches you what you need to know to be a beginning nurse.

for that reason it almost doesn't matter what you do as a first nursing job; any will do. just be sure that you make the most of the learning opportunities it offers you. you do have a lot to learn.

kakamegamama · Jul 15, 2012

I am finishing (I hope) clinicals for my FNP this fall. My prior clinical experience was primarily antepartum/postpartum/newborn nursery/Level 2 NICU, with a smattering of overseas family experience from "the cradle to the grave" so to speak. You will learn in NP education what makes up diagnoses and differentials for disease processes and other health issues. So, I agree with the previous poster--it really doesn't matter where you get experience as a RN. And, by all means, choose an area that you enjoy----your life will be more pleasant. And, don't rush into NP education---much can be learned through years of clinical practice as a bedside RN that can help tremendously and that can be missed when rushing. Being a NP is more than about a higher income or "better" schedules, for example. It's about using critical thinking that sometimes comes only with years of experience, about that "6th sense" that an experienced RN has that can't always be explained but is just there, among other things. Good luck to you.