Scared to venture off the beaten path

[wernicke, BSN, RN]

I've known since before nursing school that I want to be an FNP. However, I always envisioned myself as spending a couple of years as a bedside RN before getting my advanced degree.

I worked at a busy hospital for four years, volunteered in middle and high school to get the experience to make myself a competitive candidate for the positions I got at the hospital (secretary then PCA, both student positions). So, essentially, I'd been working towards that goal since I was fourteen. (Just setting stage for why I'm so nervous)

I had a job lined up. But then, I was diagnosed with a very large benign tumor and needed major abdominal surgery to remove it. I'd have had to have gone on leave right after taking the position. That would not have been possible, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to formally apppy for the position I had lined up anymore. Holding off surgery was not an option because the mass was damaging my kidneys; I already had an AKI at diagnosis. Four days after the diagnosis, I definitively found out that I would've gotten the job. I must admit that stung! Jobs at that hospital are hard to get, as I live in an area with a nursing surplus. I had another strong potential lined up but that didn't work out either. Had spent three years lining that one up but I always knew it'd be a crapshoot

But things sometimes happen for a reason. I've had a heck of a time getting another job at this hospital and I think that first one was probably my only shot. However, I now have the opportunity to work with medically complex patients at home (ventilators, central lines, tpn, etc.). It's a new grad program and I will get a very lengthy orientation. The company seems fantastic. I've gotten a formal offer and will sign papers this week.

This seems like an opportunity that could get me more relevant experience to be an FNP. Not only that, but home health seems to be everything I love about nursing minus the things I don't love so much. The bad luck regarding getting a job at the hospital may have been good luck in the end? Perhaps this was what I was "meant" to do instead?

However, I'm super scared to go this route. I have over two years PCA experience on a bustling floor but no RN experience. Not doing med/surg just seems a bit scary since it's What-One-Does after nursing school. And I don't dislike med/surg. I love it. I just think I'll love this more.

Am I making a mistake? Should I try and get s med/surg job as well? Or is this good experience to get my FNP? I'm just super worried because, as daft as it sounds, I've been working towards one thing for nine years and suddenly changing course at the last minute is out of my comfort zone to say the least!

If I am doing the right thing, how do I get over my fear and apprehension? I can conceal it in my day to day life, but internally I'm stressed.

Sorry this is so rambly! A side effect of a treatment to prevent another tumor is causing me to get very little R.E.M. sleep. That'll go away in the coming days (I'm not accepting shifts until I've slept like a normal person because even though I'm sleeping 6-9 hours, without R.E.M. its not useful sleep for cognitive performance). So I hope this makes some sense.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

The home health job sounds great for you. You don't have to work med surg after nursing school. That is an old idea we need to do away with, it goes back to the days when people in hospitals were not as sick as they are now, and new grads did not get good orientations. With a good orientation, you can work anywhere and you should work somewhere you'd like to stay a few years, in your case the time it takes to finish FNP school, however long that is. Lots of home health places near me are offering new grads great orientation, to compete with the hospitals. A friend of mine went this route and is very happy.

I went straight into psych. No regrets whatsoever. It's why I came into this field.

Let the med surg floors have people who want to do med surg. Med surg is not a starter job.

Good for you. In home health, you will have practice making decisions on your own. You will learn what a home health nurse needs from an FNP. You'll see the kind of stuff an FNP sees.

It's the better deal for you.

[wernicke, BSN, RN]

Thank you so much; it really does help to hear that. I especially like how you put it, "Med Surg is not a starter job". You're right-it's a separate career path. And this path is what's likely best for me; I look at FNP job listings near me and most want community experience. It also seems to just be a wonderful fit.