This is a question that has been nagging me for quite some time.
Why is it so horrible for us to plan out our route? I want to become a NNP and as stated in a previous thread, infants are the only reason I chose nursing instead of completing a tech degree. From what I have seen on this board and a couple of others say, nursing students shouldn't choose their route before clinicals. But many pre-med programs allow students to choose their route beforehand. I even have a close friend who is a pre-med major and they are writing research papers about their route.
I agree with the OP. I was talking about this with other nurses the other day. Why is it that you need two years ICU experience to even apply to a masters program or NP? Physicians can go straight to med school with no experience if three chose to be doctors. What if a nurse wants to be a NP. I understand the experience helps but it's a different chosen path.
I agree with the OP. I was talking about this with other nurses the other day. Why is it that you need two years ICU experience to even apply to a masters program or NP? Physicians can go straight to med school with no experience if three chose to be doctors. What if a nurse wants to be a NP. I understand the experience helps but it's a different chosen path.
In the case of NNP's, it's because neonates are so unique and different from any other patient population out there, and NNP programs are designed to build upon experience as a staff nurse. They don't offer the kind of clinical time one would need to both get familiar with neonates and their care, and learn the level of care needed as a mid-level provider. I believe it may also be required by the organization that is in charge of NNP education, but I am not certain.
Medical school is also different because it basically teaches you how to learn to be a physician; it's a very broad foundation from which to springboard you into a specialty. Medical school in and of itself is not sufficient to be able to practice medicine; brand new physicians are required to complete a residency after medical school if they desire employment, which takes a minimum of 3 years, usually--and this is after many hours spent in clinical rotations for the last two years of their medical education.
A more apt comparison might be PA's, but even many PA schools require (or used to) some sort of health care experience; they also generally provide a great deal more clinical time in school than many NP programs. I believe it is this relative lack of clinical time in NP programs that is the reason so many require nursing experience before you can apply. If NP education were dramatically altered to include thousands of hours of clinical time like many PA programs (and certainly such as physicians acquire doing 80~ hour weeks in residency), then perhaps the experience requirement would subsequently be dropped.
The reasoning goes that LD nurses pick up habits on their floor that may not necessarily serve them as midwives. Idk what those habits are though. Also I think it's reasonable that doula and lactation experience count for something. This isn't across the board at all programs though.
My friends that are doctors all set up their shadowing/rotating on their own whether it was before they actually started medical school or during breaks. For their school clinicals they had try a bit of everything much like nursing school places you. Just yesterday I met a 2nd year student doing ENT who wants to do emergency medicine for sure. Moral of the story is make your own path and experiences on the side. It's hard and competitive but if you really want to you can do it. So you can definitely shadow/rotate w/ a NNP but I t would have to be something you do in addition to school work/Clinicals. Maybe see if you can volunteer with one or find some clinical trials involving NNPs and incorporate some research for your school in the field that way you can be there long term and get double the CV brownie points. Not sure about your program but a lot of the top, very strong academic programs greatly encourage this.
In theory, I see nothing wrong with knowing what you want. Yet, so many people have issues with that. When I taught, I was on the admissions committee, and I interviewed potential students. I would always ask them "what kind of nurse do you picture yourself becoming/where do you see yourself working?" I think it is a great motivation tool. I would also ask students who were failing/struggling that question. Again, motivation. People can (and often do) change their minds, things stand in our way, or experiences steer us away from certain specialties (or draw us more towards the specialty), or just lack of an offer can make us rethink our decision. And all of this is okay. BUT, I don't think it's fair to say that a person is being closed minded because they already know what they want to do. However, open minds yield more opportunities in the end. I've never been one to put all my eggs in one basket.
My thoughts about this specific post, and the OP was "okay, it's her decision. If she doesn't get her dream job in the NICU right out of school, she'll do something else to pay the bills. Things happen for a reason, they don't always go the way we plan. It's really not our problem, or concern, right?
And as an educator, I figured she'll do what she has to do to get through nursing school, and get through the 90-95% adult rotations (where I used to teach, my students had 4 peds days at best, and about the same (maybe 6) OB days (and no NICU, unless it was an observation day in either Peds or OB if the prof was willing to send you and the unit was willing to take you). I thought, clearly, she'll be professional enough, and understand the importance of it. Then I read this:
Certainly why I dislike adults. They annoy the hell out of me and i will NEVER care for them as a RN. I would rather remain unemployed until I find a NICU job. ������
I would definitely admit that I would never want to work pedi, but it would be because it would be too hard emotionally to see children suffering, not that I can't stand kids and they irritate the hell out of me. If I did say that, I imagine some would have a similar reaction to what you saw here.
While I liked your post, it was really more of an appreciation for your thought process. I am a peds nurse, working with kids who suffer terribly. By contrast, I am not the type that does well with elderly adults suffering: I very much enjoy alert and oriented adults, so its not that I 'can't stand them'; I just don't like to see them suffer, as well as seeing the family dynamics (family members doing 'everything they can' to keep a shell of a body alive. To each his own, right?
Kssable
40 Posts
I agree with the OP. I was talking about this with other nurses the other day. Why is it that you need two years ICU experience to even apply to a masters program or NP? Physicians can go straight to med school with no experience if three chose to be doctors. What if a nurse wants to be a NP. I understand the experience helps but it's a different chosen path.