Calibean

I went back for my FNP at 39 with a military husband and two kids (and two dogs). It was a struggle to balance everything and I taught my kids to try and get my attention by telling me "I really need you to focus on me now". I was very focused on school and was able to get through it well, but it occupied most of my time and when I wasn't actively doing something for school then I was thinking about something I had to do for school. I have been out almost a year and I can say without a doubt that I would do it again. I love what I do. It is not a flexible career - no way are you taking a long lunch when you have patients waiting for you, but I am loving my patients. See if you can shadow an NP for a day to see if it is something you would enjoy. It is a struggle, but one that I think is well worth it. Good luck!

I finished the program last summer and have been working as an NP for almost 6 months now. I didn't have the option of a b&m because of my location. Had I wanted to go it would have required at least a 1 1/2 hour drive each way. I don't know. I did well at GW and think I got a good education, but did spend a lot of time self teaching but it was not much different from my BSN education - where I also spent a lot of time self-teaching. I think you have to be very proactive and reach out to faculty if you are struggling or not understanding something and you have to find a good network of other students who you can collaborate with. I think the thing I missed most about a b&m was establishing relationships with the other students and having others to moan about the horrors of school. I still keep in touch with a lot of my friends from my BSN, but very few from my Masters because you just don't have the same connection if you aren't spending all those hours together in class. Back to the education - if you pick a good school and you are dedicated and motivated - you will do fine. Hope that answered your question.

I was getting in the 70's to low 80's and passed AANP with no problem. Just relax and you will do fine!

Having been a Navy wife for 20 years now, I will tell you the Navy is not wonderful at keeping you stationed together - I have seen it over and over that Navy spouses are separated. Also, you should assume that you will be deployed, probably on a schedule opposite your husband, but there is no guarantee. The recruiter will tell you otherwise, but real world experience has shown me that it happens all the time.

They don't normally see the patient. I consult if I have a question, but they are just reviewing the charts and signing off since I am not credentialed with all insurance companies yet. I think there are a few companies who don't allow just a sign off by a credentialed person so the office is not booking those patients with me yet. I'm not sure exactly how it is being billed to be honest. Just know I need a co-signature on the chart.

I just started working as an NP in October, still working on credentialing. All my charts are signed off by someone who is credentialed until we are through the process.

Hi, Started my first job as an NP several weeks ago and was told yesterday that the office will take a life insurance policy out for me of which they are the beneficiary. Now, I understand the reasoning behind it, lost income in the event of my death, I have to admit I was a little surprised. Is this standard as an NP? I of course made a joke about if I do a bad job they can bump me off. I couldn't resist. Just wondering if it was typical. Wasn't discussed during my interviews. Thanks.

My contract had to be sent to the lawyers to be written, when I went in to sign it, the pay was wrong, they had switched me from salary to hourly, which was not in my favor. Office manager apologized but I have not seen my new contract although I was told I would have it on Wed (last Wed). Hopefully it will come through on Tuesday as I turned down several other offers! So, I completely understand where you are. They also might have lawyers drawing it up and if they have not done other NP contracts, may not have a standard template. Send an e-mail on Tuesday, if you don't have an appropriate response at the end of the day, renew your search. It probably has more to do with having an appropriate legal contract written, but they should be able to give you a time frame of when the contract should be ready. Do you have a start date?

Misty, I visited campus three times during my two year program. The summer before I began, the summer between the 1st and 2nd year and then at the beginning of summer prior to my last summer class of the program which coincides with GWs graduation weekend and we participate in graduation ceremonies.

Group projects did not need to be done in person but were usually done through e-mail, file sharing or when necessary Skype. I would say that there was at least one group project a semester with some classes requiring more. Not really a big deal and I found that everyone stepped up and did their part. The master's portfolio is done through your classes. So, the resume that you develop in your leadership class is posted to the portfolio, your huge research project is posted to your portfolio etc. so there is really nothing that needs done at the end of the program if you have been keeping up with it. I occasionally felt the need to speak with professors and never had a problem setting up a one on one phone call time. I also was able to reach a professor when I had an urgent situation come up with my clinicals immediately. As far as how I completed my hours, I went to school full-time and did not work so completing hours was fairly easy for me. Depending on who my preceptor was I followed them for 2-3 days a week and worked the hours they worked which ranged from 8-10 hour shifts usually. I took most school breaks off so I didn't not have to pay for someone to watch my kids. Let me know if you have any other questions.

So I am finishing up FNP school and have three job offers and need some advice about which to choose. The salaries are all fairly similar (Womens health pays a little less, but they get 1/2 days every Friday so it evens out) and all say the offer bonuses for productivity, but no place can give concrete numbers about what these bonuses will be. Womens Health - working with a well established practice who has 4 docs, 3 NPs and 2 midwives. Spend my days doing Paps, OB visits, IUD/Implanon insertion. No call and half days on Fridays. Great office, was very comfortable there during my clinical rotation. (Of course probably because I am a woman and have had 75% of what women come in complaining of). About 15-20 min drive. Family Practice - good practice, part of an established group with opportunity to move around and go into specialty later if I want. MD has committed to training me for 12 months (he calls it a residency) so I will be top notch. Practice has 2 MDs. 2 NPs and a PA but will soon get a third MD. MD plans to retire in about 1 1/2 years and his patients will be shared between me and his PA. About 10-15 minute drive. Derm - Guaranteed productivity here - which will result in the highest eventual pay. One MD and NP at this office. MD has trained a new grad NP and understands what is involved. Great office, well run and part of the same practice above so there is some movement possible. About 25-30 minutes drive from home. So, my concern is this, my husband is active duty military and we start a 3 year tour here in October, after that we may stay here or end up moving elsewhere. I have to admit that family practice seems overwhelming to me at this time, but my brain is telling me if I go into family practice that I will be able to move and get a job anywhere. However, both derm and womens health seem like they would be less work and certainly more conducive to family life but perhaps not as portable as family practice. What do you think? I realize this is a great problem to have and am thankful that I have so many oppurtunities.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll let you know when we get to the end. There is a lot of other things to be considered in the job offers as well and I need to have both of them in front of me to really be able to compare.

I wish I could find the new graduate mean. Tried school and they didn't really help me with a number, lots of advice, but not really what is a realistic expectation in my area. Which job do I choose, salary aside though - family practice or OB/GYN?

It is possible, but the semesters where you have 4 classes will be reading/paper/quiz intensive and the semesters that you have fewer classes will most likely have a lot of clinical hours. Do you have a family or a lot of other things occupying your "free time". Either way, you have to do what works for you, If you choose to work it will be challenging, but honestly it is challenging even if you don't. Time management is your friend. I did not work and my son told me the other day that he feels like I have ignored him the past two years and that he can't wait until I go back to work so I can really be "here" when I am home. Yes, for a 10 year old boy he is really quite verbal and perhaps may be trying to elicit some guilt (he wants and X-box).

So, I now have two job offers. One with family practice - I do not know the salary yet but the MD seemed shocked when I said 90,000 and repeatedly told me that this would be a residency year and after a year of training with him I could go anywhere. I don't know what my final offer will be as I have to negotiate with HR still. On the other hand I have an offer with OB/GYN (which is an area I really loved) that is lower pay but we only work half days on Fridays and there are far fewer hours worked during the week. I have also never seen anyone in the office taking charts home like I do in family practice. I have to admit, I am a bit overwhelmed by family practice because of how much it encompasses, but with the support of the physician think I could do well and feel that the smartest move would be to get the broader base so I always have it to fall back on. OB/GYN is really a more comfortable area for me and I loved this office and really enjoyed the work, I feel like it is a great fit, but worry about the portability of it or if I go OB/GYN will it be impossible to come back to family practice if I want to at a later date?

I'm sorry I think when I said the MD I am working with it was misleading, what I meant was the MD that I am currently doing clinicals with. I have been a nurse since 2007. I live in Maryland in an area that is in need of providers. I really enjoy the family practice clinic and think I could be happy there, but to muddy the waters, got a call from the OB/GYN office I did clinicals with (and loved) and have an interview there next week. I am stressing too much and am thrilled to have multiple opportunities, just need to figure out the right path and stay strong when I negotiate. Thanks for all the info!

I am finishing up FNP school in a couple of weeks and the Physician that I am working for has offered me a job. He asked me to give him a start date and what I would like for salary (or what I think I am worth). I told him (jokingly) $150,000 which I don't think he found as amusing as I did. Here are the details, it is a family practice clinic although I may have to occasionally fill in at the attached Urgent Care. There are many other providers, but I would specifically be working with the physician and his PA. I have pulled Salary.com and see that for the area 25% earn 85,000 and 50% earn 92,000 but it does not break salary down by specialty/years of experience. Does anyone know where I can get solid numbers to back up the salary I am looking for besides salary.com. I am thinking that I would love to see 90,000 but that it may seem too much to ask as a new grad and that 85,000 would be more appropriate. He did mention that he is going to spend the first 12 months training me as if it is my residency and I could renegotiate my contract at the end of the time however, the group that the practice belongs to is fairly well known for not raising salaries regularly. I was earning $35/hour as a nurse prior to going back to school.

If you are doing the part time program MSN-FNP program you will not start clinical hours until the Spring of your 2nd year - you will have 75 hours during Health Assessment - these hours count as part of your adult hours. The rest of the clinical hours will all be in your last year in FNP I, FNP II, and FNP III. You must do at least 200-250 hours to progress from one class to another. The hours are broken down as follows; 250 adult hours (internal), 250 family hours, 150 pediatric hours and 100 OB hours. If you are doing the DNP program, I am not sure how the hours break down in that program. I know there are restrictions about doing clinical hours where you work, but I think if you are in a different part of the hospital and not doing them directly in the unit you work for you will probably be okay - I think the concern is mainly that clinicals are your time to be a student and learn how to function in a new and different role and if you are on your unit you will step in in as a nurse when necessary. You must have a contract with every site and it can take up to 2 months to complete the contract so also keep that in mind. I did not do any hours at a hospital, all at private practices as this is the role I will go into when I finish.

I am finishing the FNP program at GWU in less than 8 weeks!!! It is a very good program, but obviously has been very challenging. I live in Maryland, 1 1/2 hours (without traffic) from GW. I have had to have 3 visits to campus during the program and site visits from professors to me at clinicals (only one although some students need additional site visits). As with any online program, setting up the clinicals is the most challenging part for the majority of students. I thankfully had no issues with this. I will caution you that some schools (such as Georgetown who set up clinicals) end up having to place their students quite far away from their homes. I worked with a student from Georgetown who was commuting 2 1/2 hours each way to her clinical site. I set up my own clinicals and never went more than 25 minutes from my house. As far as the program goes. Tons of reading, discussion board, group projects, papers, masters portfolio and 750 clinical hours which all equal a ton of work. I have found the majority of the professors to be top notch and incredibly responsive to my questions. I will be going to Haiti this summer with a program from GW which is mostly covered by the university. I felt that the tuition was well worth it, the SON is one of the least expensive programs at GW and about $1000 less PER CREDIT HOUR than Georgetown. Calculated out is was about $4000 more expensive than University of Maryland (which would have required me to travel). Also, after having participated in graduation this weekend, the distinction or being part of graduation on the National Mall in DC (we are the only University who can graduate on the mall) was pretty amazing. Let me know if you are looking for more specific info.

I live in Southern Maryland which is a bit of a drive, but have had no difficulty finding a preceptor down here if you are willing to make the drive. I think with so many schools competing for clinical sites in the DC area it can be challenging so moving outside of the metro area might be a good bet. Does your school have a list of preceptors that they already have contracts with? That is a great place to start if they do. Good luck!

Thanks so much for your responses. I had a great day with him and decided I just need to lighten up a little. He is hard to read, but I do think he is just giving me a hard time (with humor). He did tell a patient that I was remaining noncommittal about where I was going to work when I finished my program, which was completely accurate. I am still weighing my options. Hard to say what the future holds today, but whatever it is, I know it will be challenging and rewarding.

Ftoggg123, Point taken, thanks. I am extremely lucky to have good opportunities and I am very thankful. Your post made me put things in perspective. I also have opportunities with a Womens Health clinic and a Peds clinic. Urgent care would probably a great start as a FNP, but it scares me a little, I am not sure how much support you actually have and I know that no one has lasted over 3 years in this Urgent care. Thanks for another point of view.

I will be finishing up my FNP this summer and have had many wonderful clinical experiences. Yesterday, as I was leaving my Peds clinical site, I was asked by another Dr. in the building to come and see him. This family MD worked with me for 75 hours last year and has arranged for me to do hours with him in the office and also set up many specialties (Derm, Endo, Rheum, Cardio etc...) over the next two months. Two of the preceptors I have worked with are with the same group and all of the specialists that I will be spending time with are also a part of this group. I did not ask the Dr. to set up these specialties, he offered. Well, yesterday when I went to see him, he said that he heard that I do not want to work in the Urgent Care (associated with this group). I explained to him that while I have not made any decisions about where I will go (or been offered or accepted any job offers) that I was not sure that I wanted to go to Urgent Care as a new grad because although I know the experience is terrific, the volume of patients you have to see is extremely high as is the burnout rate and I am not sure that it would be the best move for me or my family. I reiterated that I am still open to all oppurtunities and do not plan on interviewing anywhere until I have passed my boards and the fact that he has gone out of his way to set up these great experiences will be taken into consideration. He mumbled (jokingly, I hope - but am not certain) something about putting all this time and effort into training me. So I guess my question is this - Just what do I owe him? Certainly, I have had many preceptors (5 in fact) some who are also quite vocal about wanting to join their organizations as well, but none who seem to expect something in return. I of course will give him a wonderful thank you note and gift card as I do all my preceptors. Maybe I am just overthinking this, but it really rubbed me wrong and I start clinicals with him on Monday. Just interested in your feedback.

1. George Washington University 2. MSN FNP 3. Took a leave of absence from my full time job, may do some PRN though 4. Full time school 5. Worried that I have no recent hospital experience and how that will play into everything. Thankful because I had someone offer to set up all my clinicals for me. Hopefully when I need them in a year, they can come through for me!

I was accepted to George Washington University's fnp program for the fall. Trying to decide if I go part time and keep working or go full time and quit my job. Not loving my job right now, but feel really guilty about leaving but could probably continue to work PRN if I wanted. (And if I don't upset my supervisor too much, she wrote me an awesome reference.) I am worried if I will be able to handle the work load no matter what option I choose! Congratulations to everyone!