Question for current NP Students...

Published

Also asked this question in the NP forum. Would like to hear from anyone who is far along in their program...

I need to position myself for success in completing my upcoming program starting in August. So I have a question regarding my work.

Currently I work in an acute care hospital, full time, 12 hr shifts. It is an LTAC floor. And it can get pretty hectic working nights. My question is how much or where I should be working for my NP degree to succeed? Should I be working less or in a less stressful position? Or can I do both comfortably? The program I am starting in is a 3 year program, so its not quite full time.

Thoughts?

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What specialty are you going for?

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I started out in medsurg and left that for an urgent care position (and took a pay cut) when I had a year left in my FNP program because I wanted more outpatient experience. It was a great choice as I am essentially shadowing a provider every day at work and understanding why they did x or y instead of z. A lot of my classmates are in the ED and have said that the ED experience has really helped them-especially with assessments. My classmates that are on specialty units or ICU dont have some of the experiences that the others have and had more of a learning curve when it came to noncritical diagnoses. However, some of them have absolutely no interest in working outpt or ED and plan to stay in acute care so that job works well for them.

I worked part time nights until I started clinical and then I switched to urgent care doing one or two 12 hour shifts per week. No one in my program was able to stay working full time when we got to clinicals. But, every program is set up different!

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I'm going the Adult/Gero route.

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Interesting replies. I currently work full time nights. But i'm thinking that will come to an end very soon. I'm thinking that it will be too much on my plate to work full time.

What would you think about working for a Home Health/Hospice agency while going to school?

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Sounds flexible!

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If you're in a fulltime program, it will be feasible to work. Don't worry. I wouldn't stress about moving to another position, but that depends on your perspective of stress! ;)

Congratulations by the way!!!!!

It will all be nerve racking first, but don't let your job go when you feel overwhelmed….maybe go prn…that way if you feel u can pick up a full-time schedule u can!

Where are you starting by the way

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Specializes in ICU.

My program is full time and is incredibly intense!! We are encouraged to not work at all (though almost all of us do). I work per diem and find that is manageable with my class and clinical load. Those who have been working full time are trying to switch to PT or PRN. If you have a family to care for, it makes it even more difficult. Can it be done? Yes. But it'd be better to be able to devote more time to your program.

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