What if an ANP wants to add FNP or MHNP certification?

zenman · Jan 24, 2010

When you talk to a school about a post-masters in whatever area you want they will tell you what additional courses you need plus clinical.

Trauma Columnist · Jan 24, 2010

I was an adult health CNS who wanted/needed to expand my scope. I looked into several FNP programs and was told I would repeat all my adult stuff too.

Well, that wasn't what I wanted so I am doing a peds CNS.

ANPFNPGNP · Jan 27, 2010

Where I live, ANPs and PNPs are more common than FNPs because most offices/EDs specialize in kids or adults. I'm in an ANP program that'll I'll finish in 2011. There aren't any FNP programs in town. What if I want to add FNP or mental health certification to broaded my scope of practice? I know I can get a post-MSN certificate, but do you think I'll have to repeat all my 'adult health' classes? Or just coplete the coursework related to the additional scope of practice.
I like the idea of working with the homeless or in an urgent care center, and that might mean being able to deal with kids and psychological problems too.

I was an ANP/GNP and went back for a post-graduate certification as a FNP. My advice to anyone planning on NP school is to do the FNP the FIRST time around. Trust me, it will save you time, money and heartache later on.

Basically, I had to quit my full time job, go back to school and REPEAT clinical rotations in adult and gero...never mind that I was basically working for FREE, since I was licensed to diagnose and treat the patients. This is important, you can NOT get paid for your clinical hours and you can't do them where you currently practice. Since this was a new certification, I still had to complete 500 clinical hours. The only thing I really needed was the kids under 12 and OB, but whatever...

I was very fortunate b/c the school offered a combination Child/Maternal class that was PERFECT for the ANP, so that was the only class I had to take. However, that changed - I was in the last class offered that deal. Any ANP's after that were going to have to take about FIVE classes plus the clinicals.

So, I can't stress this enough, get the FNP first and then specialize after that.

lilla_fjaril · Jan 30, 2010

Thanks everyone. I will take this information to heart. It may still be more cost-effective for me to get my ANP (basically free through tuition reimbursement) and then pay to complete a post-masters in FNP than it would be to switch to a more expensive school where I could get an initial FNP. St Louis University has some on-line post-masters certificates for as little as 15 credit hours and there must be other similar programs. Since I'll be one of those NPs with only about 4 years of nursing experience, I see the wisdom in completing another 500 hours of clinicals, even if I do have to pay to work for free. I was actually planning on offering myself up as a free intern to potential employers for 3-6 months.

And for those of you who think no nurse without 20 years of experience has a right to try to be an NP, I encourage you to keep an open mind. There may be no substitute for experience, but an intelligent and motivated person can achieve great things. I personally have received excellent care from fledgling PAs and NPs

ANPFNPGNP · Jan 30, 2010

And for those of you who think no nurse without 20 years of experience has a right to try to be an NP, I encourage you to keep an open mind. There may be no substitute for experience, but an intelligent and motivated person can achieve great things. I personally have received excellent care from fledgling PAs and NPs

I will say this, experience doesn't equal expertise, that's for sure. I know a direct entry NP who had a business degree before getting into a NP program and she is a far better practitioner than several NP's I know with years of nursing experience.

It's just confusing though b/c we're advanced practice nurses and the word "advanced" implies that we've actually worked as a nurse for a while. Just sayin'!