Nurse Practitioner Career Research

One of the careers I’m thinking of pursuing is called a Nurse Practitioner, or an APRN (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse).

Three significant and basic points for a nurse practitioner are:

1) Nurse practitioners can prescribe medicines by earning a license that is accepted in all 50 states, 2) All nurse practitioners all have master’s degrees, or even doctorate degrees, along with clinical training and advanced medical education, and 3) It is known that patients who have practitioners as their nurses visit the emergency room less often and have shorter hospital stays, resulting in lower out-of-pocket costs.

All points of fact are from the website www.comphealth.com, article title called “11 Facts about Nurse Practitioners.“

EDUCATION AND LICENSURE

As said in the previous section, the requirement for becoming a nurse practitioner is to have an MSN (Master of Science and Nursing) or a DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice). Most NPs start off as regular registered nurses. Once the required degree is earned, it is nationally accepted but through different states, it can vary; in one state, the nurse practitioner can work independently while in another, the NP will need another nurse practitioner or doctor to supervise her or collaborate with her. In order to achieve the essential degree, it can be through online or on-campus options.

EMPLOYMENT, JOB OUTLOOK, AND EARNINGS

Nurses Practitioners can work in a variety of environments, such as: hospitals, acute care, and ambulatory care settings (citing from www.innerbody.com). Although NPs can work practically anywhere in the healthcare industry, the job outlook also varies within each state and region. In New York, there are about 10,310 nurse practitioners employed while in Columbus, IN, the average annual salary for NPs are $146,450. Basically speaking, in both New York and Indiana, there is a large amount of competition for employment and money. The average amount of money that nurse practitioners receive per year is: $97,990.

REQUIRED STRENGTHS FOR NPS AND MY OPINION

The required strengths for nurse practitioners are: Compassion, Communication, Ethics, Critical Thinking, Attention to Detail, Confidence, Adaptability, Stamina, and Commitment to Development.

The Strengths that I think I have are:

Compassion, Ethics, Attention to Detail, Confidence, and Adaptability.

Starting with Compassion, I think I definitely have it mainly because I’m known by my peers and family that I’m nice, or polite when it comes to first impressions. I also feel that I have a natural feeling to be kind towards everyone around me. Ethics is easy for me because I have my motives and morals down pat. I do, however, know that my motives and morals will differentiate with others, so I will be considerate of that (this ties in with my Compassion as well). For Attention to Detail and Adaptability, I am observant of my surroundings, which include people and objects. Since I can notice the small things, this helps me with adapting to my future co-workers and especially my future patients. Lastly, I do think I have confidence, but my confidence level tends to be a rollercoaster, which varies with the situation and whether I’m prepared or not.

The other traits that a nurse practitioner should have are my weaknesses, or something I need to work on, which are:

Communication, Critical Thinking, Stamina, and Commitment to Development.

For Communication, I don’t consider myself a very good starter at conversations. Holding one with someone is completely fine with me, but actually starting one with somebody I don’t know is complicated. I at least want to be able to speak in another language before I get in the workplace. Critical Thinking might be a problem for me, but I have realized that I can work under pressure (sometimes). If I know what to do, I work quick and efficiently. If I don’t know the procedure or if I’m not prepared/ready, I freeze and try to figure out the situation at hand. I don’t think I have enough stamina for the healthcare workplace, but I am going improve on it by building it up little by little, or exercising. Last but not least, I do like learning new things, especially if they help me or others in the daily life, but I don’t think I would be able to commit to that. Like my confidence, my commitment is also like a rollercoaster, meaning it doesn’t have consistency. One day I’ll be really focused on the topic of discussion, another day I’ll lose interest.

CONCLUSION

Overall, my reason for wanting this job in the future is because I want to follow in my mother’s footsteps. She is an RN at the Rio Grande Regional Hospital, and is studying in an online course in order to become a psychiatrist, but for right now, a nurse practitioner. Plus, I want to help my family in case one member gets sick, and there’s a probability of less money involved.

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