Ask an NP – Switching Majors in NP School

00:01 In nurse practitioner school, I originally was enrolled in the family nurse practitioner program.

00:08 And this was during COVID.

00:10 And when we were getting ready to start clinicals, about three or four months before clinicals, COVID was widespread.

00:18 And we were really having trouble getting preceptors and clinical spots.

00:24 Being a male nurse practitioner student, for family, I needed to do a maternity rotation, female health rotation.

00:35 And they were not only not letting the males in, they weren't letting the females in either just because of COVID.

00:41 So I did my research with my three other classmates and we all switched to acute care.

00:47 Even though I was a little bit hesitant, I felt a little intimidated by acute care, but I had my three study buddies with me and I knew that we could pull it off.

00:58 About a month into really getting into the clinicals with acute, the school announced that they were going to start the very first doctor of nurse practitioner for psych mental health at the college I was attending.

01:14 And I immediately contacted the Dean and said, "Hey, I went in on this." She told me, "Unfortunately, I need to set out for a year just to catch up with the other students." And I just really didn't feel like I could afford that time, especially being an older student.

01:30 But about two weeks later, the Dean contacted me and said, "Hey, Jack, we have moved the classes around.

01:38 We think we can make it work if you're still willing to do it." And I said, "Absolutely, I'll do whatever I need to do." I jumped ship as well as three other students in my class.

01:50 None of the three that I originally started the nurse practitioner program with, but three strangers that I didn't know.

01:57 And we were the first four psych nurse practitioners to graduate from a brick and mortar school in Oklahoma.