Which is better Pediatric NP or Family NP?

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  1. What kind of practitioner would you be?

    • 13
      Pediatric NP
    • 18
      Family NP
    • 1
      Neonatal NP
    • 1
      Adult NP
    • 0
      Women's Health Care NP
    • 1
      Geriatric NP
    • 2
      Acute Care NP
    • 0
      Occupational Health

13 members have participated

I have been looking into nursing lately and i am considering which field to go into. I have been thinking of being a pediatric NP, but I am also considering being a Family NP. Which do u think has more job opportunities and what is a day like in each career. I would really appreciate ur answer and would like to hear from ur experiences.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

Shadow shadow shadow. See what settings you like the best.

Likely a FNP will be the most versatile and the most job opportunity. But it may not be exactly what you want.

Sent from my iPhone.

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Specializes in family practice.

I did family so I wasn't stuck in a rot for too long. In my practice I currently will get 4hrs I peds a week once my adult probation is over with more time if I wanted

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Specializes in Med-Surg and Neuro.

Are you planning to work as a regular RN in those roles for a few years first? The neonate NP program I looked at required 2 years experience in neonate before applying. Likewise, a peds NP I looked at wanted at least 1 year acute care of peds or higher. Just giving you a heads-up.

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I agree with Boston! Shadow! Where I live, if you end up loving peds, most places (ped offices, hospitals, ped urgent care and ped spec)prefer to hire pnp's here. They won't accept fnp's unless you have years of experience. I'm not sure what other areas are like, but here we are saturated with fnp's but the pnp's have their pick, when it comes to children centered careers. Don't choose based on what people tell you what direction you should go. Find out what you like, what you have a passion for, and pick from that. Also like someone above mentioned, maybe get some experience under your belt working to help gain insight as well. : )

good luck!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.

For "a day in the life"...you need to shadow and then know it can be completely different for another NP.

Job market...can make arguments either way. I went peds because I only want peds. I made sure all my education was peds and not just 1/4 of it...I believe I have a stronger peds base. I never want to work with adults. There are places that will hire an FNP into peds and some who want the PNP. You have to think about what you think is going to be the best outcome for you.

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Specializes in Emergency.

As the others have said, shadow both and get a feel for them. I would not let the job market dictate that choice though. There may be more jobs for one vs the other, but once you have your first couple years of experience you will find good jobs are more important that alot of jobs, and there are good (and bad) jobs in both fields.

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Thanks for all your input. I plan to learn more about each one and get a feel of how a day would be in each area.

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