What is the best nursing job to fulfill requirements for NP specialties

[studentnurseASN]

I am interested in getting specialties in family practice and psych. What is the best job to hold before entering into the program?

[mangopeach]

4 hours ago, not.done.yet said:

Any time you work with an ill population you are getting exposed to psych patients and any time you are working with psych patients you will have people with medical problems as well. None of these exist in a silo. You will need to choose a primary specialty.

This all day every day. I'm a new grad NP. I spent over 7 years in patient psych. It is my opinion that anyone that wants to be a psych NP should be a psych nurse prior to becoming a psych NP. Just my opinion. I was always gobsmacked at some of the things some of my cohorts that never worked psych would say.

Rest assured that I would run the other way if I took my loved one to an appointment and walked into an office and saw one of them sitting in that chair. In time, I suppose they will be great clinicians , but I think there are things you learn when you are exposed to actual psych patients that you don't learn in a book.

I can't imagine being a cardiac NP without ever setting foot on a cardiology unit. Again, JMO.

We didn't give IV meds on my unit but I gave levothyroxine, insulin, metformin, you name it blood pressure meds, coumadin, anti, biotics, nebulizer treatments, on my unit, made sure chest x-rays got done, etc. Psych patients do not check their medical issues at the door. In fact, just as they do not take their psych meds, they do not take their medical meds so they come in with uncontrolled blood sugar, blood pressure etc. Psych patients tend to have shorter life spans. They tend not take care of themselves.