Where can a rusty NP sharpen her skills and keep up to date?

[fallen7219]

Hello All!

I live in California and I graduated from a NP/CNS program back in 2008. I did a 1 year stint as a part-time NP soon after to get my DEA and NPI. The project and my contract completed so I didn't get to practice as a NP further. Problem is that it has been EXTREMELY hard to find another NP job to fit my schedule since I also work as a bedside RN. (Economy is still bad so it is hard to give up my RN job plus I have bills to pay!) Also, many places want a more experienced NP rather than a newbie with barely any experience like me.

To make a long story short...I feel like my NP skills are getting extremely rusty and I don't feel confident enough with my NP skills anymore to apply for NP jobs. I am sure there are others on the same boat. Are there workshops, helpful guides, references, reviews, etc. that you think will help sharpen my skills and keep me up to date?

I've thought of attending a NP certification preparation course even though I have attended it before. I actually have the review materials from the Fitzgerald and Barkley and Associates review courses. I've even thought of volunteering at a local clinic, but they don't really want to train.

Please tell me about your experiences and let me know what would help my situation.

Thanks ahead of time!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I'm sorta in the same boat. I'm an adult health CNS who has been working full-time in a nephrology practice since I got licensed in 2006. However, I wanted to expand my practice to include kids so I went back to school in 2010 (at the end of the 5 year time limit from obtaining my MSN).

However, I don't see kids currently and in order to keep my license current I have to have 1000 hours of seeing kids prior to renewing my license.

I've tried volunteering too but that was a no-go in my area too. My other option is medical missions which I may try for next year - that would at least give me the hours I need.

As an NP don't you have to work a certain number of hours/5 years to keep your license current also?

Does your hospital hire NPs?

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

It depends on what kind of NP you trained under and what kind of NP jobs you are looking for. If you want to brush up on Pharmacology, there are a lot of CE options around that will meet than need. I know Fitzgerald has Pharmacology Updates scheduled as live sessions across the US. ANCC now requires part of your total CE units for certification renewal to include credits in Pharmacology. If you are an office based or primary care NP, there are conferences where you can brush up on office-based skills including a national conference by ACNP (American College of Nurse Practitioners) in Denver in October. If you are an ACNP, it all depends on what specialty you will be hired into. The basics of how to do admission H&P's, admission orders, diagnostic work-ups, progress notes, consults are things that you should already know. But there are specialty-specific skills that you should be trained on when you do get hired to a practice (i.e., chest tubes in CT Surgery, line placement in ICU, EKG's in Cards). Hopefully, an employer will be willing to train you on these if you do get a job offer. All I can tell you is to continue trying to apply for an NP position that suits your training and go from there.