I am a young determined person who has started FNP school. My dilemma is I will complete my FNP program at 29 years old. I am married but I have no kids right now.
I want two kids and I have been hearing stories from older friends who had problems conceiving so I guess I'm a bit worried. I do plan to stay home at least a year after my kids are born and then I will go back to work.
My question is should I plan on getting pregnant during my last year of school and have my baby then??? In this case I will have my FNP liscence,,,,,and will not work 2-3 years after graduation and then try to get into the workforce. Will this be difficult?
OR I could graduate…work one year then I'll be 30 and then take off 2-3 years (to have 2 kids)…so I will have one year of FNP experience under my belt?
Wow Alicia, That is a great achievement! Thanks for the support :)
Carachel 2, thank you for your input. I appreciate your honesty actually…! The point you make that RN's can call in and a float will cover but as an NP…wow….never thought of that.. YIKES! hah
SO i guess you make me realize another important point….daycare=kids getting sick more YIKES!!! It is hard, because my mother in law is a great great person but is very tough and wants things her way…I could not imagine having her babysit (which she would love to) but my ways of mothering or whatever would definitely be pushed down. But there are pros and cons here…The pro would be if the baby was sick….I could still go to work. I know some people may even say that I am very lucky to have a person like her to help ! I know people probably don't have that.
In day care, the baby is going to be sick more Oh man…I know having children is hard BUT WOW! I am just imaging the surface of what can happen here..
I definitely am not putting my future children in daycare all the time…that is heartbreaking!!
For anyone who has taken a couple of years off, is it harder to find a job? Or are NP's in high demand to the point that you will be hired.
NYC...I've been able to make it work by working part-time all of these years. I found a small family practice and have managed to job share all these years. When a kiddo gets sick, my husband and I split the day. He usually stays home in the morning while I go in and see morning patients that are harder to reschedule and then our office staff will reschedule the afternoon patients.
So it IS doable. But you need to go into it with a mindset that you cannot get the absolute best throwdown awesome clinic /cardiovascular/hospitalist type job without paying a price. You need to know that what works at one age may not work for another age.
Also your comment about possible difficulty conceiving is SPOT on...infertility seems to be rampant among nurses for some reason. Just be prepared for that !
You CAN do this. You CAN find part-time positions...it just takes a little work. Set your priorities with your husband and work hard to negotiate for what is important for you. For me it has been FAR more important to have a flexible job and just work a few days a week vs. a high profile awesomeness type job. You can make it work, but doing a bit of prep work and thinking is important. I think you are asking some great questions and I think this is a great forum for it as well.
i agree that it is certainly ok to ask about other's experiences! personally, i don't really work with anybody else on my same professional path, so these forums are invaluable to get ideas, bounce ideas, etc!
daycare is certainly something to think about. my folks were the babysitters for my first, and my second went to an organized daycare program. it was so much easier with my first- it there was illness, my mom took care of the problem. with my second, if there is illness, we have to juggle and figure out which parent is taking a day off, if my parents can at all help, etc. now that my folks are older we don't rely on them as much. also, when viruses go around, a daycare is like a virus mill. my second gets EVERY bug that floats. i currently work a RN job (still in NP school) that i have lots of time off in my bank. i plan to negotiate for a hefty time off bank in my NP job to allow for kid's sick days and such! if i were a working NP with little ones, i would do everything in my power to hire an in-home babysitter or student 'nanny'.
Wow thanks everyone! I appreciate the nice encouraging words!!!! I do want Flexibiilty!! that is for sure…I would rather have flexibility rather than have a high profile job and live at work with kids no way!
I will do research and definitely will consider what is important for me when applying for jobs. I appreciate everyone's advice….! Thank you thank you and thank you!!
When I was deciding to have my kids (actually... Out of my 5 kids I've planned one soooo nvm) I never thought.. Huh... I should ask a bunch of random internet nurses if I should have a baby.
I'm pregnant now actually. Do y'all wanna name him? Ready set and gooooo!
Oh and you're not even close to advance maternial age so I don't think you have much to worry about. You can get your fertility tested but I don't think that's necessary unless you're actively trying.
I also wouldn't take off a year or two or three after school to find a job. Employers don't seem to like those huge gaps. Personally I would wait until I had a job (maybe just part time), benefits, ect ect and work part time after the baby is born for a while.
When I was deciding to have my kids (actually... Out of my 5 kids I've planned one soooo nvm) I never thought.. Huh... I should ask a bunch of random internet nurses if I should have a baby.
I'm pregnant now actually. Do y'all wanna name him? Ready set and gooooo!
There is a whole professional blog for women physicians that deals directly with issues like this. There is a lot to examine and only a group of other NPs would understand and be able to reflect on the timing. She wasn't asking IF she should have a baby. She was wondering about the *timing*..i.e. while in graduate school, etc.
i agree that it is certainly ok to ask about other's experiences! personally, i don't really work with anybody else on my same professional path, so these forums are invaluable to get ideas, bounce ideas, etc!
daycare is certainly something to think about. my folks were the babysitters for my first, and my second went to an organized daycare program. it was so much easier with my first- it there was illness, my mom took care of the problem. with my second, if there is illness, we have to juggle and figure out which parent is taking a day off, if my parents can at all help, etc. now that my folks are older we don't rely on them as much. also, when viruses go around, a daycare is like a virus mill. my second gets EVERY bug that floats. i currently work a RN job (still in NP school) that i have lots of time off in my bank. i plan to negotiate for a hefty time off bank in my NP job to allow for kid's sick days and such! if i were a working NP with little ones, i would do everything in my power to hire an in-home babysitter or student 'nanny'.
You may be able to negotiate time off but actually taking it at the last minute when the kids are sick is a HUGE game changer at a professional practice. Everyone else has to shift their schedule around to see your patients and let me tell you...you will feel the heat one way or another. Just because you have the time owed to you doesn't mean you will want to take it.
Specializes in Med-Surg, Ortho, Subacute, Homecare, LTC.
I'm 29 now and in an ADN-BSN program. These thoughts cross my mind all the time as I'd like to get into an NP program next year, but I'd also like to get pregnant this year. My husband is gone half the month for work so it would be tough to balance all if that. I also worry about fertility and balancing everything. Also I don't think it's wrong to ask these types of questions on a forum. She's not basing her entire decision on a random strangers post. This is no different than going on any other forum and asking the same. If you worry about the future generations because of one silly post then maybe that's more of a personal issue...
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Oh and you're not even close to advance maternial age so I don't think you have much to worry about.
Unless...she's one of the increasing number of women who is blindsided by menopause at age 35 or 36.
Although I don't want children, I feel that people who do should make their prime childbearing years a priority. A career is nothing more than a job, whereas a woman's fertility is fleeting. Once it's gone, it's gone forever.
Unless...she's one of the increasing number of women who is blindsided by menopause at age 35 or 36.
Although I don't want children, I feel that people who do should make their prime childbearing years a priority. A career is nothing more than a job, whereas a woman's fertility is fleeting. Once it's gone, it's gone forever.
Not to mention that infertility seems to be epidemic among a lot of RNs I know.
Thanks to those who agree that is this a great question TO ASK and become MORE AWARE….specifically. There may be things I don't even know!!! (Like a couple of people have posted infertility is common amongst RN's?!? I don't know the scientific basis of that but hmmm )
To Mols Nurse: awesome goal you have there to become a NP. I would advise you to get accepted into NP programs is difficult and one factor you must consider is years of RN experience. You need at least 1-2 years according to certain program guidelines although it is tough to get it in with such little amount of experience, in fact, one school mentioned the average years of experience is four? I know it changes from school to school but just keep this in mind :) and never give up :)
nyc2011
151 Posts
Wow Alicia, That is a great achievement! Thanks for the support :)
Carachel 2, thank you for your input. I appreciate your honesty actually…! The point you make that RN's can call in and a float will cover but as an NP…wow….never thought of that.. YIKES! hah
SO i guess you make me realize another important point….daycare=kids getting sick more YIKES!!! It is hard, because my mother in law is a great great person but is very tough and wants things her way…I could not imagine having her babysit (which she would love to) but my ways of mothering or whatever would definitely be pushed down. But there are pros and cons here…The pro would be if the baby was sick….I could still go to work. I know some people may even say that I am very lucky to have a person like her to help ! I know people probably don't have that.
In day care, the baby is going to be sick more Oh man…I know having children is hard BUT WOW! I am just imaging the surface of what can happen here..
I definitely am not putting my future children in daycare all the time…that is heartbreaking!!
For anyone who has taken a couple of years off, is it harder to find a job? Or are NP's in high demand to the point that you will be hired.