I'm an NP student - How did you choose your specialty?

Specialties NP

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I am currently in an accelerated BNS/MSN NP program and am thinking about what specialties I am interested in and what goals I have long term. I haven't had my maternity/pedi rotation yet, but I am really interested in labor and delivery and maybe even fertility. On the other hand, I also have a love for neuroscience (what my original BS is in), the brain and Alzheimer's - though I'm not sure if care in this area is something I would enjoy long term.

I worked as an LNA at an assisted living home for people with dementia over this past summer and I loved it, however it was so emotionally and mentally draining that it really took a toll on me as time went on. I know nursing and caring for others is never an easy job, and I am a very hard worker, however I want to have a job that won't constantly burn me out. I'd like to have a job that I smile at and am busy at, but am not so mentally exhausted that I can't socialize or do anything but sleep when I get home from a shift. I think that might be why labor and delivery seems so appealing to me... it's usually happy. It also could be the fact that I love kids and I love babies. :)

Long story short- I know I have plenty of time to figure this out for myself, but I'm a planner and I'd love to hear about specialties you're in or jobs you have that you love and why! How did you get to where you are and how did you decide what you wanted to do?

Are there studies to prove this? I don't know. I guess I'll have to look.

The problem is there are no studies that qualify either group as having better outcomes or improved patient satisfaction. The only focus most studies show is ability to get through school and pass boards. Past that, nobody is willing to put one group against the other in terms of patient outcomes and it's likely because it could be detrimental to a part of the profession. So while the DE camp loves to throw the "scientist" argument in our face because we are forming our opinions and career choices on lifetimes of actual nursing experience/anecdote, they don't have any data suggesting theirs is just as good or better either aside from ability to get through school and pass boards. Oh yeah and a few doctors that are happier with DE because they can mold that person in their medical model image.

The problem I have is that APRNs were organized to fill gaps in care using a model focused on much more than medical management. It was supposed to take advantage of the distinct nursing knowledge that's accrued in taking care of the whole patient and expanding on that with medical knowledge. That to me is where de falters... The loss of seeing patients at their worse. Seeing the effects of medication side effects in real time. Physically taking care of that post surgical patient and being able to relay to them as a provider just what they can expect from the surgery they are recommending.

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