Ask an NP – Early Decisions about My Future as an NP

00:01 I think one of the first things that as a nurse practitioner before you graduate, just like you would if you was an RN, you start thinking about, you know, do I want to go into ER? Do I want to go into surgery? Do I want to go to med-surg? Same thing applies to nurse practitioners.

00:16 You have to just start thinking about what opportunities are out there.

00:20 Some of the ones that I've experienced in my area is outpatient, private sector.

00:26 There is inpatient private sector and then there's inpatient community health.

00:35 Each one of those jobs is completely different.

00:37 I suggest that maybe you shadow a nurse practitioner in those areas before you make a decision about what you want to go into.

00:45 Inpatient is hard and fast.

00:49 You got to get the patients treated.

00:51 You got to get their symptoms under control quickly.

00:53 Outpatient, you go a little bit slower and you're a little more cautious.

00:59 I have done both.

01:00 I've done inpatient and outpatient.

01:02 I love both of them equally.

01:05 But just look into what opportunities and what would be a best fit for you.