Boyd_NP

I took Fitzgerald's live review course and also bought her CDs review course on eBay. I wish I would've skipped her live course and just got the CDs as they are basically a recording of all that's covered in the course. Her textbook that is handed out at the review course was helpful. I took ANCC test for FNP and passed first try and I really think just listening to her CDs over and over helped ingrain what's on the test. Good luck.

If they don't hear the stop smoking message from their HCPs then we are doing them a disservice. Because ultimately what does it matter sending them for more labs, PFTs, CXRs, if we don't counsel them on stopping smoking? And who are we to write off all our patients who are smokers. I had a 74 yo guy with a bladder mass stop smoking and he said he did it cause I always mentioned how he needed to stop smoking. And jeez its so much more pleasant to sit in the exam room with him as he no lomger smells of cigarette smoke. I hate to say I'm fairly cynical too when it comes to patients with chronic problems but someone has to tell them and hopefully in a way that offers them assistance either giving Rx for NRT, zyban or chantix, or giving them info on quit lines, etc. I can't just summarily dismiss all smokers as not interested in quitting. There will always be some who do want to quit. If we don't address their smoking habits then we are doing them a disservice.

If given the choice and knowing what I know as a relatively new FNP (a little over one year experience) I would say go to med school and don't look back. Also if you can specialise then all the better. As an MD you will get better education, more money, more opportunities, more respect, better networking. It's a no-brainer. If u r concerned about loans then go with govt repayment assistance where there are jobs that have loan forgiveness. U might work in less desirable areas for a few years but if u r not worried about that then could be a good option. As an NP I know for a fact that finding clinical rotations was pretty much left up to the student. it's a roll of the dice on what kind of precepting u will get unfortunately. Since I had worked for a number of years in bedside nursing prior to NP school I felt that it gave me an advantage to those who hadn't worked long as nurses or worked admin or school nursing where they didn't have the exposure to giving meds, seeing variety, etc. it's not like NP school is cheap either.

Hi all -- I'm presently working in a private practice and am the only NP working with two docs.I've been there about 5 months now and it's my first job as an NP. My job includes rounding on their in-patients every morning, answering pages from the hospital on all new consults, seeing patients in the office and being on-call every third week (with one of the docs backing me up). While I think it's a lot especially as a new NP, I do have about 12 years nursing experience, working med-surg, oncology, and ICU. Part of those years I worked as a travel nurse and you learn to be very flexible, resourceful, anytime you are working as a contract nurse. Having a broad experience has definitely helped in my NP role. I could not imagine doing my job with only, say, two years nursing experience. Things I like about being NP: greater autonomy and influence in my patients' lives, variety of the work, the benefits of having a broader education, the options available now that I have with a Master's in Nursing, travelling to conferences and meeting other clinicians while learning. My patients have told me how happy they are to have me as their NP. It's really a great feeling knowing you're able to influence someone so positively about their health. Things I don't miss about working bedside (and I think a lot of these could go without saying): I don't miss turning patients regularly, breaking my back getting them up to a commode, running a code on a 94 year old with metastatic cancer in the ICU because the family wants everything done, taking ventilated patients on multiple pressors to CT scan halfway across the hospital, or the measuring and recording of urine output hourly. I do miss the camaraderie of working with a good unit of nurses, you know like the kind that all appear to help with a new admission. You don't find that many places but when you do it makes working bedside a total pleasure. So, overall I think my job satisfaction has increased due to greater autonomy, respect, variety of work, and influence I have. A lot of bedside nursing is task-oriented and I think that is what makes it so unappealing. I know I would make a lot more money working as a travel nurse in an ICU or agency but then I'd be back to doing a lot of tasks I don't like doing. There is a lot of on the job learning to do and it's a different feeling now that you are the one making decisions instead of just carrying them out. I do put in about 50 hours a week and make slightly more money than I did working as a staff ICU nurse but definitely I wouldn't go into the NP role to make great money. RNs earning 100K per year will find it a little bit difficult going thru the pain of getting an MSN/NP just to find out that they'll not make near that much as a new NP grad despite all their nursing experience. However, your back and joints will thank you for it in the long run. So, do it if you have the desire to learn and have greater autonomy, influence in your patients' lives, and better options. With the greater experience you get as an NP, the more indispensable you will become to a practice and will be able to better leverage your salary, benefits, etc. Ok -- just my long-winded thoughts on the subject---