elFNP

I would recommend the Tungsten E. That's what I use. Its about $199. It's basic and not a real high end gadget. It should have enough memory for you to install needed references for what you will be doing.

i graduated from a fnp program. all i can say is read, read, and read.:uhoh21:

I have few questions. 1. What is her INR when you refuse to give this Coumadin? 2. Does she have a DVT, valve replacement, s/p hip surgery? 3. What abx is she on? What is her albumin?

You can't go wrong with getting 1. Epocrates 2. 5 Minute Clinical Consult 3. John Hopkins Antibiotic guide (free)

I like the Tag Heuer 2000 series watches as well as the Oakley D1 watches.

BreastfeedingRN, I really have to disagree with some of your statements. Does a NP with many years of nursing experience make a better NP than a NP with fewer nursing experience years? I think not. I did not have many years of nurisng experience when I went to NP school and I could run circles around alot to the veteran nurses in the NP program. I don't have a problem with some nurses going to be a NP with a few years of nursing experience. If that is what you want to do, then do it. A lot of nurses do not have the balls to do it and would rather just stay in their comfort zone at the bedside. Many physicians and hospitals are hiring those same NPs with hardly no nursing experience. In my opinion, it is not the nursing experience you have, but the NP experience that makes you a better NP. In planning my visit at the doctors office I would ask how much NP experience the NP has instead of how long he/she worked as a nurse! I don't hear people saying you should have tons of nursing assistant experience before you become an RN.

Try: careerbuilder.com (that is one site that i have used in the past.)

Family Nurse Practitioner

I heard and seen many people ask that question. How much experience do I need? How many nurses know about the JNC 7, Framingham risk score, running coumadin clinics, coding office visits, performing punch biopsy, intra articular injections, etc. Even if you have years of nursing experience behind your back, you are not guaranteed to pass the program. The only area where i've seen years of experience makes a difference is a RN with tons of cardiology experience the will work cardiology as a NP. But that experience will only carry you so far. From what I've have seen as a nurse practitioner, having years of nursing experience compared to someone with 2-5 years is not that big of a difference. For example, I have NP friends the work Infectious disease, HIV clinics, and Dermatology. The years of nurisng practice did not prepare them for that. Their NP program, preceptors, and collaborating physicians did. How will 10, 15, and 20 years of acute care or ER expereince help you there. I'm a FNP working with Internists and it is a totally different ball game than nursing. Nursing experience will give experience with patient/family interactions and how to handle some minor complications. The best experience you get is when you get out of school and get with a physician or nurse practitioner that is willing to teach you.

Start school in 2005. Pushing school further back is not a good idea. The longer you delay school the more bills you probably will accumulate. Also, If you delay till 2006, you're goning to be dreading you made that decision when you see your classmates graduating and you are still in school.

I took both the ANCC and the AANP certification. They were both pretty well rounded. Neither had a whole lot of growth and development which a lot of test takers devote a fair amount of time toward. I think the ANCC was easier than the AANP. If you have a job lined up and you needs your test results in a timely manner, take the ANCC. I got results back in 4 days. The AANP lets you know immediately after answering the last question your prelim results (It will say: Your prelim score indicates you have passed), but getting those results on paper will take nearly 4-8 weeks. If you have any other questions send me a message.

I did Med/Surg for 4 years. That was a very BIG mistake. I completed my masters as a Family Nurse Practitioner last Dec. 2003. That was one thing Med/Surg made me do, go back to school!

I went to the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Al. Many different NP tracks to choose from. I did the FNP track. The FNP track is offered online as well as many others. I did most of my FNP preparation at the campus. The classes I did take online were not bad once you learn to navigate around the class/net. It's probably going to seem like a lot more work doing online. Regardless, it is going to be challenging either in the class or online. Here is the website. Email me if you have any questions. http://www.southalabama.edu/nursing/

Try Medscape.com. That is where i get most of my CEUs.