What type of exp. before Acute Care NP?

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Sep 15, 2006

Hey folks,
I am in the process of applying to nursing school and eventually believe that I may take the Acute Care NP route (only time will tell..). I know that many schools have certain requirements, but I wanted to get some info from those of you who work as/with Acute Care Nurse Practitioners. What kind of experience should one have before he/she starts a program? One year of Med/Surg plus two of ICU? 3 years different ICU's? None? What do you think? Thanks in advance!
CrazyPremed (maybe CrazyPreNP)

I'm in NP school right now. My advisor told us she would recommend working in tele to get some experience. That is exactly the unit I happen to be working on now actually. I would also imagine that getting some ICU, CCU and/or ER experience would be great. Of course if you wanted to work as a hospitalist NP then getting some med/surg experience would be helpful also.

CrazyPremed, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 15, 2006

Thanks.

Do you mind me asking; why acute care as opposed to FNP?

Thanks,

CrazyPremed

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Sep 16, 2006

Thanks.
Do you mind me asking; why acute care as opposed to FNP?
Thanks,
CrazyPremed

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you asking why am I studying acute care vs. FNP? I personally am only interested in working with adults, so I knew the family route was not for me. Plus, the FNP route is more aimed towards primary care, and my area of interest is definitely with inpatients (although I am still big on emphasizing health promotion and disease prevention ). I hope to be a hospitalist NP-so that's why I chose to study acute care.