Working in FNP School

allnurses Guide · Oct 18, 2018

I am a going to graduate in December with my BSN and am applying to FNP programs for Fall 2019. I am planning on working part time during the program.

I am a big believer in the fact that the first year or two of practice as an RN is a steep learning curve and you owe it to yourself, your patients, and maybe your employer to focus on learning your role as an RN without the additional pressure and time constraints of graduate school and learning a completely different role. I also think working part-time as an RN in your first two years is difficult.

From an objective side, consider the time allocation. Full time graduate school will be about 8 hours a week of class time plus an additional 16-24 hours a week of outside-class work, making 24-32 hours a week of class-related time. Then clinicals start: 8 hours a week increasing to 24-32 hours per week by the end of the program (most programs have clinicals 3 days a week in the last semester).

I am thinking about working in Psych during FNP school part-time. Would this be a bad idea to work in Psych during the FNP program, especially as a new graduate nurse? Just worried about experience or losing my nursing skills working in psych. I am very interesting in working in psych as an FNP down the line after getting a post certificate

Why are you thinking about FNP if you want to work in psych? My advice would be to focus on graduating, shadow some NPs in both FNP and PMHNP specialities, and take a psych RN job. Work for a year or two to figure out if that's what you want to do with your graduate education.

Cococure · Oct 22, 2018

It's great that you are planning your next career move but I would suggest taking the time to learn to hone your RN skills. As the above poster stated the first couple of years are steep as a new nurse so focusing on that you be your main priority. Working as a nurse extern and working as a floor nurse on your own is a huge difference. I would also suggest after you have a couple of years experience then start to explore other units ...you never know you may like ICU or ED etc and want to work as a NP in those areas. If you want to be psych NP then yes work in that area after school if you want to be a FNP then floor nursing in critical or acute care areas are better. Also assess why you want to be an FNP? Do you know what the job entails? Have you shadowed NP's?

Oldmahubbard · Oct 22, 2018

If your desire is to be an FNP, then I could not recommend working in Psych while you go to school. You will need every last bit of the med-surg experience.

It is too soon to know at this point what your real calling is. Get some work experience. And take one class a semester. The basic course are the same for all the NP specialities.This will take about 2-3 years and by then you will be in a much better position to know what suits you

A Lot of people seem to want to do, this but I don't recommend trying to do the double boarded thing. It never works out and you don't get paid. It just ends up costing more and nobody will appreciate you for it.

Spadeforce · Oct 23, 2018

I am a going to graduate in December with my BSN and am applying to FNP programs for Fall 2019. I am planning on working part time during the program. I work in PACU as a nurse extern, but don't know if I want to work there after graduation. I am thinking about working in Psych during FNP school part-time. Would this be a bad idea to work in Psych during the FNP program, especially as a new graduate nurse? Just worried about experience or losing my nursing skills working in psych. I am very interesting in working in psych as an FNP down the line after getting a post certificate

just dont throw around you are going to grad school before you even graduate BSN or they may be reluctant to hire