It's my dream to become a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. When I went into nursing school for my BSN, I had an end goal in mind of working with women and advocating for their reproductive rights. I had the most amazing NP as my primary care and she really inspired me to pursue this career. I really want to apply to Cal State Fullerton's WHNP program. Their mission statement aligns directly with my beliefs. The program trains primarily for the outpatient setting, which is exactly what I want to do.
However...my main setback is that they have have preferred 1 year experience in OBGYN. I'm a new nurse, with 14 months of experience, working in a heavy general surgical med surg floor. Fortunately, we do have patients from all backgrounds including d&c, hysterectomy, mastectomy, ovarian CA etc... But I don't have direct OBGYN experience.
All though I'm very passionate about Women's Health, I don't have much interest in L&D. Women giving birth is not a passion of mine, but I feel like it's an easier way to get OBGYN experience. My hospital just had an opening for L&D internship, but I didn't apply and now I'm somewhat regretting not applying because I could of used the experience. I'm currently looking for other OBGYN opportunities ideally in the outpatient setting, but I haven't had any luck.
So now I'm at a crossroads, do I jump start my career and apply now with limited experience? Or do I hold off and try to get OBGYN experience and be a more competitive applicant?
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Hello Everyone!
It's my dream to become a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. When I went into nursing school for my BSN, I had an end goal in mind of working with women and advocating for their reproductive rights. I had the most amazing NP as my primary care and she really inspired me to pursue this career. I really want to apply to Cal State Fullerton's WHNP program. Their mission statement aligns directly with my beliefs. The program trains primarily for the outpatient setting, which is exactly what I want to do.
However...my main setback is that they have have preferred 1 year experience in OBGYN. I'm a new nurse, with 14 months of experience, working in a heavy general surgical med surg floor. Fortunately, we do have patients from all backgrounds including d&c, hysterectomy, mastectomy, ovarian CA etc... But I don't have direct OBGYN experience.
All though I'm very passionate about Women's Health, I don't have much interest in L&D. Women giving birth is not a passion of mine, but I feel like it's an easier way to get OBGYN experience. My hospital just had an opening for L&D internship, but I didn't apply and now I'm somewhat regretting not applying because I could of used the experience. I'm currently looking for other OBGYN opportunities ideally in the outpatient setting, but I haven't had any luck.
So now I'm at a crossroads, do I jump start my career and apply now with limited experience? Or do I hold off and try to get OBGYN experience and be a more competitive applicant?