Selecting a Specialty

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Specializes in NICU.

Hi All,

I will be starting my FNP program in a few weeks and am currently a nurse in a level 3 NICU. My program includes clinical rotations in family health, women's health, pediatrics, gerontology, and a fifth specialty of our choice. With my BSN, I really enjoyed psych but was advised to go a different route right out of school as to not lose any skills, but I also find community health, dermatology, and plastics really interesting. I would love to know why and how you got involved in your respective specialties. I would also love to hear any advice on getting into rural practice that might involve more community education and involvement.

Thank you all!!

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Acute care. I rotated with residents who had to IP and OP work. The fact that they had to constantly manage OP issues with their patient panel really turned me off from going OP.

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I am a FNP with my MSN. I did 2 years in a primary care clinic (family medicine) and now work as a hospitalist (which I absolutely love). Someone I have come to realize is figure out if you are a procedure junky I.e. suturing, cutting etc. If so, then check out procedure focused specialties like dermatology. If you are not a procedure junky (I am not) then focus on something like psych.

A good friend of mine who worked as an FNP with me at the primary care clinic was amazing at procedures. She was interested in derm but then got a job with neurosurgery and now makes 150k+/year and loves it. Another FNP I know loves psych and went that route and got a job as a psych NP with the county and makes 140k+ (psych NPs are the most in demand midlevel in the US). Psych NPs do no procedures and nor do I as a hospitalist.

In Closing: Decide whether or not you like procedures and this will help you refine your specialty.

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Specializes in NICU.

That is really helpful! Thank you so much!

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