Women's Health vs Family NP

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Hello,

I am in a post-BSN to DNP program...When I applied, I applied for the Women's Health DNP which is where my interests are. That very year the school eliminated their Women's Health Program and I was accepted instead into the Family NP Program.

I have heard that the program you are in determines the license exam you sit for (adult NP Program=adult NP licensing exam) and that you have to practice according to the license you receive (adult NP license=adult nurse practitioner). I have also heard stories about NPs who were licensed as adult NPs and wanted to practice women's health and had to work a certain amount of hours in adult health to maintain their license. I have been trying to find answers for weeks, as I am reluctant to continue much further in my program until this is confirmed (I completed first year). My advisor said that I could practice women's health with a family license (which I knew) but she could not confirm whether, if I am licensed in family practice, I will need to also work in family practice to maintain my license.

I just really need to know if I will have to work as a Family NP in order to maintain my license, or if I can work exclusively in women's health with a family NP license. Please help!

Thanks!

Kim

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Your FNP training includes Women's Health. It is ultimately up to your State BON, overall the FNP is the most versatile. The only issue I hear about FNPs lately is that they are being restricted to outpatient facilities by several states (not my state), but not necessarily practice specialty (excluding psych, anesthesia, neonatal). Many FNPs work in specialties solely, and maintain their licenses.

I am a FNP student, not women's Health .. FYI

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Thanks so much for the reply, it makes me hopeful. I have tried to find the information on the NJBON site with no luck. I have reached out to the Director of the Women's Health Program at my school.

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I like FNP but the school that accepted me for FNP is a private university and costly. The school I will be going to accepted me for the Emergency Adult/FNP acute care. I was kinda concern that I will have to take NP or FNP exam separately. Do I really need FNP/NP? Are there so many options as to where I can practice? Am I limited to just the ER? Thanks a lot

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Your FNP training includes Women's Health. It is ultimately up to your State BON, overall the FNP is the most versatile. The only issue I hear about FNPs lately is that they are being restricted to outpatient facilities by several states (not my state), but not necessarily practice specialty (excluding psych, anesthesia, neonatal). Many FNPs work in specialties solely, and maintain their licenses.

I am a FNP student, not women's Health .. FYI

FNP in women's health is nowhere near as extensive as the training in a WHNP program. WHNP's are also trained in full prenatal care up to the birth, but they don't actually deliver.

The scope of practice for FNP's with regards to women's health is getting ready to change, although I am sure that some type of grandfathering will be done. The guidelines are getting ready to change that unless an FNP's is credentialed specifically as a WHNP or a CNM, they are practicing outside of their scope of practice with regards to certain types of care that is common in OB/GYN practices now...how far it goes, I'm not sure.

I will claim ignorance, as I don't know the details, but I have been told this by several of my professors. However, I am sure if you contacted one of the national organizations, they can clarify this for you.

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Specializes in Anesthesia, Pain, Emergency Medicine.

Do you have a reference for this information?

It is news to me.

FNP in women's health is nowhere near as extensive as the training in a WHNP program. WHNP's are also trained in full prenatal care up to the birth, but they don't actually deliver.

The scope of practice for FNP's with regards to women's health is getting ready to change, although I am sure that some type of grandfathering will be done. The guidelines are getting ready to change that unless an FNP's is credentialed specifically as a WHNP or a CNM, they are practicing outside of their scope of practice with regards to certain types of care that is common in OB/GYN practices now...how far it goes, I'm not sure.

I will claim ignorance, as I don't know the details, but I have been told this by several of my professors. However, I am sure if you contacted one of the national organizations, they can clarify this for you.

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Do you have a reference for this information?

It is news to me.

I cannot speak for the other specialties, but several professors mentioned that there are new guidelines that are going to take place in 2015 with regards to specialty practice for women's health.

What I was told is that for example, it is entirely appropriate for an FNP to do a basic pap on a patient, even a colposcopy if necessary, however, it would not be appropriate, let's say, for an FNP to monitor a patient throughout a pregnancy.

Like I said, they didn't give me the source, but if I was looking at one or the other, I would call the national organization to find out what is changing. I feel very confident that my professors would not have told us this if it were not true.

Most people that are going for their FNP plan to work in a specialty versus general primary care...so if it were me, that would be an important aspect to find out.

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I work in a reproductive endocrinology and GYN practice in FL and we have one FNP and one WHNP who work with us. They both do the same thing, see the same patients for women's health, etc. They are certified by different boards but as far as I can they can both fiction similarly in our setting.

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I work in a reproductive endocrinology and GYN practice in FL and we have one FNP and one WHNP who work with us. They both do the same thing, see the same patients for women's health, etc. They are certified by different boards but as far as I can they can both fiction similarly in our setting.

Pull up an WHNP program at any graduate school and then an FNP program. WHNP would be a one-year program if one semester of women's health is all that was needed.

Functioning similarly is not the same as being trained identically for the patient population you serve.

Who would you go to for the delivery of your baby? A general practice physician or a ob/gyn?

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Specializes in Anesthesia, Pain, Emergency Medicine.

"You were told". This is hearsay, period. I don't take anything at face value. You should always request a source. Would you take someone's word for a treatment modality or drug dose?

If you post something as important as this, you really should provide a quality reference, not just something you heard.

So here we are, information passed from someone who is not a NP about our practice.

No offense intended.

LOL, btw. It is not inappropriate for an FNP to provide prenatal care. I do it all the time. It is very basic and well within our scope. GASP, I even do IUD placement.

I cannot speak for the other specialties, but several professors mentioned that there are new guidelines that are going to take place in 2015 with regards to specialty practice for women's health.

What I was told is that for example, it is entirely appropriate for an FNP to do a basic pap on a patient, even a colposcopy if necessary, however, it would not be appropriate, let's say, for an FNP to monitor a patient throughout a pregnancy.

Like I said, they didn't give me the source, but if I was looking at one or the other, I would call the national organization to find out what is changing. I feel very confident that my professors would not have told us this if it were not true.

Most people that are going for their FNP plan to work in a specialty versus general primary care...so if it were me, that would be an important aspect to find out.

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Specializes in Anesthesia, Pain, Emergency Medicine.

Babies are delivered all over the country by family practice physicians. Even c-sections are done by FPs. Everything does not center around urban utopia.

Again, no offense intended but you are showing that you really don't understand advanced practice.

Pull up an WHNP program at any graduate school and then an FNP program. WHNP would be a one-year program if one semester of women's health is all that was needed.

Functioning similarly is not the same as being trained identically for the patient population you serve.

Who would you go to for the delivery of your baby? A general practice physician or a ob/gyn?

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"You were told". This is hearsay, period. I don't take anything at face value. You should always request a source. Would you take someone's word for a treatment modality or drug dose?

If you post something as important as this, you really should provide a quality reference, not just something you heard.

So here we are, information passed from someone who is not a NP about our practice.

No offense intended.

LOL, btw. It is not inappropriate for an FNP to provide prenatal care. I do it all the time. It is very basic and well within our scope. GASP, I even do IUD placement.

First of all..is your computer broken or something wrong with your screen? Did I not say from THE BEGINNING that I didn't have a source? Did I not say from THE BEGINNING that I would call the national boards and find out what is changing? Did I not say SPECIFICALLY that I didn't have the details?

I just didn't hear it while I was at the mall shopping. I am attending a very well respected graduate school...several of my professors are leaders in the nursing community...one is on a national board. One student asked about changing from WHNP to an FNP and that was the answer she received.

It is their job to keep up with the guidelines and I feel very confident that they would not be "spreading false rumors". My only reason for even posting was it is something that the OP, MIGHT WANT TO CHECK ON.

I don't understand why you are so offended. The change isn't supposed to be affecting those already working in the field. I would rather check than finish a DNP program and find out when I graduated that the national guidelines changed and I could not practice in the specialty that I wanted to.

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