In America, there are currently more than 290,000 nurse practitioners. Primary, most NPs are certified in primary care. However, how can an NP advance their careers from this point?
As an NP, you have various options to select between because you're highly trained. In the healthcare industry, they can evaluate, diagnose, order, interpret diagnostic tests, manage acute & chronic problems, and most even have a certification to prescribe medication.
NPs have many open doors to advance their careers with all this knowledge. To visualize how this is possible, we suggest becoming familiar with the below:
1. Specialization
As mentioned, NPs already have advanced education, skills, and experience, which allows them to specialize in many essential areas.
With their skills, they can either work their way into management or education, which could offer advancement in their career. However, apart from that, they could also become specialized in more in-demand and valuable roles.
For instance, today's top NP roles consist of Adult-Gerontology, Pediatrics, Psychiatric Mental Health, Women's Health, Nurse Informaticist, and Health Policy Specialist. Without question, each of these job roles offers excellent career bonuses and satisfaction - making them worth the consideration.
2. Further education
When you're an NP, it's a requirement to regularly enroll in continuing education (CE). As a result of this, use your credits provided by the healthcare company to educate yourself further.
There are several different education areas you could focus on, and it depends on how you'd like to advance your career. However, you'll want to choose the right institution as these could be more beneficial. The most notable ones we'll leave below.
• Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Education (NPACE).
• PRIME Education
• Fitzgerald Health Education Associates
• Barkley & Associates
• Advanced Practice Education Associates (APEA)
• American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)
Either of the above options is excellent and highly recommended by NPs around the nation. Although they might seem similar from an outsider's perspective, you undoubtedly see the education quality within these institutions.
3. Mentorship
After completing the above and becoming the best version of yourself, the next available thing is teaching. This gets miscomprehended a lot because many believe it only consists of schoolwork. However, that couldn't be more wrong.
When being a teacher in a medical field, you could be utilized in schools, online, or even in a teaching-learning process. When becoming a mentor for the new generation of NPs, it does offer some excellent job satisfaction knowing that you're helping healthcare professionals begin their careers.
You can advance your NP career in a direction you truly want by considering all of the above. Without question, an NP is never stuck for options, and they're endless opportunities for them because of their high education, skill, and education levels.
Are you interested in making a change?
After reading the above, you might want to search for new opportunities. If that's the case, we recommend you contact us. We're a job board that finds practice opportunities that are hard to find online. Simply tell us where you want to practice, and we'll identify the current possibilities.