An interesting question has been posed to me a few times in the past few weeks and I have been giving a lot of thought about it so I figured what better place to discuss my thoughts than here on the blog. The question that was presented, and I think many Nurse Practitioners have been asked the same question, is “if you had to do it all over again, would you still do the NP route or would you go PA or MD/DO?”. To answer that question honestly, I never really thought about it. When I say I never really thought about it, I really mean it. When I graduated from nursing school many moons ago, there weren’t many nurses going into nurse practitioner programs (at least as far as I know). Then I went and worked at a moderate-sized community hospital where again, not many nurses were going on to become nurse practitioners and we did not have a huge nurse practitioner presence in the hospital I worked in at the time. It wasn’t until, nearly 10 years into my nursing career, I decided to move on from my comfortable community hospital to a major children’s hospital. There is where I started to see more and more young nurses going on for advanced degrees and a few years in I decided to join the crowd.
Now obviously none of that answers the question of whether or not I would do it the same way if I had it to do all over again. I guess the easy answer to that question is, yes I would. Why you ask? Well because I’m a nurse first and foremost. I appreciate the nursing model of care. Not to say that there is anything wrong with the medical model because there isn’t, but I am very much in the mindset of once a nurse, always a nurse. I think my nursing background greatly helps my bedside manner with patients. I am not afraid to get on the floor and play with a small child while I am examining them. I have sat with young adult patients, singing along with them to calm their nerves as I suture. I enjoy taking the time to sit with my patients and just chat about life and whatever. Of course, that isn’t always possible depending on how busy the day is, but I think my many years as a bedside nurse taught me how to have those moments with patients and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
There is so much more to bedside nursing and advanced practice nursing, but if that is the route you are considering for your future, I think it is important to look at what nursing is and do you have the passion for it. Nursing, especially hospital nursing, is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You work nights, holidays, weekends. Your coworkers become your family because they are in the same boat as you. You will laugh with them, stress with them, and cry with them. You will have days where you hate it, yet you will still love it. Patient care is important because as the nurse, you are the one who is there for a full 12-hour shift with your patient when the providers are in and out. You are the one watching for those major changes and contacting the patient’s provider when those changes happen.
I may have moved on from bedside nursing as it can burn you out after an extended period of time, but the nurse is still in me. I wouldn’t change my path for anything. So to answer the question I originally posed, no, I wouldn’t do it any other way. Sure nurse practitioners still have a ton of convincing to do to the general public and medical groups to show that we are great providers for our patients and that we are an integral part of the healthcare team. It will take time, but we are getting there.
Now I pose the question to everyone else, if you could do it all over again, would you? It doesn’t matter what your career is now, but take the time to think about it. Is there anything you would do differently in your career? Sometimes I think it is just nice to take a moment for a little reflection to see if where you are now is where you want to be.
Have a great week everyone! I hope to stop back soon!
xo, Tara
That NP Mom 