My daughter is thinking about going into nursing ...

[Home'scool]

... and I would really appreciate some advice :001_smile:

 

Ever since she was little, she always said she wanted to "help people and make a difference." Now that she is a senior in high school, she has decided that she really likes the sciences, like chemistry and biology. She got a 4 on her AP Biology exam. She will be taking AP Chem this year. In discussing all of this we have come up with nursing for her. It seems like a good fit.

 

But ... I really don't know any nurses to have her talk with, so I was hoping someone on here would help! What are the pitfalls to look for? Is this a good match for her? I know there are a bunch of different ways you can go in nursing (E.R. nurse, critical care nursing, etc.) .... how do you go about choosing?

 

She is extremely bright and very motivated so I think she would lean towards something challenging. I know she would also like to channel her training into joining Doctors Without Borders or some organization like that, too.

 

All advice welcome (and really really needed!!) :bigear:

[Stacie Leigh]

She needs exposure to some medical environments. You should be able to tell pretty quickly whether or not she has the stomach for it. She should demonstrate interest, not disgust and hopefully compassion as well. (There are things that are disgusting to nurses and doctors too, but if she recoils instead of leaning in with interest to even simple procedures and such, then it's probably not for her and that is ok!)

 

See if she can volunteer as a candy striper at a hospital or a reading companion or feeding assistant for a senior in a home. I've been told that some of our local hospitals and children's homes even take carefully screened volunteers to hold babies just to give them human contact. If she's comfortable in those settings and is interested in advancing, that's a pretty good indicator that nursing could be for her!

[Teresa in MO]

when my dd was 15 she decided she might be interested in nursing and volunteered at a local hospital. She did go on to nursing school and became an RN. Before she got married this past spring and moving to Montana, she worked at one of the few children's rehabilitation hospitals in the country. They had volunteers also. I would definitely have her volunteer in a medical environment. Maybe some hospitals would let her shadow a nurse, not sure but thought I would throw that out there.

[Ria]

My dd is 22 and just graduated with her BS RN. She loves nursing, loved the school (man, is it hard!!!!), loved her internships, etc. Your dd would not have to pick a specialty in the beginning; the students go through rotations to expose them to lots of different types of nursing. My dd's friends are everywhere: NICU, PICU, ICU, med-surg, ER, trauma, and even dr's office. Does your dd have specific questions I could ask my dd?

 

Ria

[ChristusG]

She could become a CNA first to get into the environment and see if she would like to further her schooling to become a nurse. CNA school is relatively cheap and pretty quick to complete. You can be a CNA in a hospital or a nursing home. I've heard from many, many people that CNA's get to spend time with the people while nurses have to deal with much of the paper work and technical stuff.

[Momof3littles]

I don't know if she is set on nursing, but other health fields she might be interested in are physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.

 

When I was in high school I spent time volunteering at an outpatient private practice physical therapy clinic. In order to apply to programs at that time you had to have a certain # of volunteer hours. She may be interested in observing a therapist if she isn't 100% certain she wants to do nursing specifically. Allied health is still a field that is in demand, and there is a lot of flexibility in settings. PTs, OTs, and SLPs have a good bit of autonomy in many states. All 3 fields require a master's degree to sit for licensure. There are also programs for therapist assistants, like PTAs (physical therapist assistants) and COTAs (certified occupational therapist assistants). It isn't very easy to transition from a PTA to a PT or from a COTA to an OT, however.

 

Therapists practice in outpatient clinics, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health, rehab hospitals, etc. I worked in pediatrics, which was a lot of fun.

 

PT/OT/SLP programs require multiple internships. When I was a student, I rotated through four internships. One was 5 weeks, one was 6 weeks, and two were 8 weeks long (I graduated w/ my master's in 2001). It is usually required or strongly encouraged that the student rotate through different types of settings...inpatient (hospital for example), outpatient (like an outpatient orthopedic clinic), and then in the last 2 internships sometimes something more specialized (spinal cord rehab, pediatrics, etc.) was an option. I was eventually hired by one of the places I interned at (a pediatric clinic doing a mix of outpatient and early intervention. EI is run a bit like home health and I saw children 0-3 years old in their homes).

 

I had several students shadow me when I was still working and I always enjoyed the experience.

Edited July 25, 2011 by Momof3littles

[Orthodox6]

My only current exposure to the question is the situation of my d-i-l. She has a 3.8 GPA, which is not high enough to get her into nursing school. :confused:

She is on waiting list for 3 semesters now. At least she obtained her CNA, and has a decent job while waiting.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I did over 20 years of nursing as a RN in acute and critical care as well as long term care, education, supervision, and dialysis. I was at the bedside for most of those 20 years so nurses do get to do bedside care depending on the area they choose. Honestly the rotations one goes through in school will help a nurse decide which area to choose. All nurses should consider starting with one year of medical surgical hospital experience to start with or possibly going right into critical care, telemetry, or emergency care as long as there is an excellent orientation. Nurses should realize that most jobs will be evening or night shift to start and that day jobs are sometimes hard to get but not always. Usually every other weekend and holiday is also expected. Nursing can be grueling and most health care facilities do not have sufficient staff members:( Critical care areas usually have the most staff. The good thing about nursing is that there many options to choose from and one can change areas fairly easily.

 

IMHO, if I were to go into nursing, then I would try to go into a program where you ended up with a BS in Nursing plus a masters that supplies a Nurse Practitioner license to start with to give one the most options in nursing:)

[ktgrok]

I would love it if my kids went into nursing. It's an excellent field, and there will always be job openings. in our area there are routinely signing bonuses offered by hospitals!!! It is the only field I know of that has signing bonuses, other than major league sports, lol. Very good money, lots of opportunities, and the ability to work flexible schedules. My mom was a nurse when I was young and she could work the weekends, two 12 hour shifts, and be home with the kids all week. However, she has an overly caring, sometimes anxious personality and was not able to leave her work at work. She would have nightmares about the patients, talk in her sleep, and generally was burnt out by her mid thirties, when she got accredited as an activities director at a nursing home. She had always worked in geriatrics, but at least then she wasn't responsible for their medical care and slept much better.

[Momof3littles]

With respect to hours, that may be another consideration for looking into Allied Health (OT/PT/SLP). While therapists in some settings do work occasional weekends (hospitals for example) or evenings (outpatient private practice for example), there isn't usually as much alternative shift work overall. Obviously the hours aren't a big deal to some people but it is possibly something to consider.

[Reesegirl]

My 24 year old dd is RN. She graduated from university in 2009. She had the promise of a job even before she graduated pending passing her nursing boards. The great thing about becoming a nurse is that you can do it all within 4 years time at a university and leave with the ability to step right into a job and earn good money right away. In her first job she started at $31.00 an hour and now is working for a temp agency making $40. I am not saying that the earning power is the outstanding factor in her choice to be a nurse. She always wanted to be a nurse and loves helping people. After her freshman year of college she took the CNA test and got her paperwork to enable her to work over the summers in a hospital.

 

It is hard to get into many programs. My dd's friend from high school went to our local cc, had very good grades (3.8) but it took 2 years to get into the program. She just graduated, though 2 years after my daughter who went to a private Christian university. Even at my dd's university there were usually 100 students trying to get into the program but only 40 spots available. Many universities are limited in the number of students that can be accepted to their programs due to the lack of teaching staff. I know that at her university, after she graduated they encouraged her to return for their masters program so that she could then teach clases for them even as a adjunct professor. My dd didn't want to go that route because she wanted to actually be a nurse and help people and not be a prof.

 

Another poster mentioned physical therapy....My youngest dd is majoring in pre physical therapy. Unlike nursing, she will have to do an additional 3 year phd program after she graduates before she can actually be ceritfied. There is a lot higher expense to becoming a physical therapist than a nurse.

Edited July 25, 2011 by Reesegirl

[mandymom]

My only current exposure to the question is the situation of my d-i-l. She has a 3.8 GPA, which is not high enough to get her into nursing school. :confused:

She is on waiting list for 3 semesters now. At least she obtained her CNA, and has a decent job while waiting.

 

It's been 16 years since I graduated and 10 years since I've practiced nursing professionally, so this may or may not still be valid....

 

You might have her look for a school where she does not have to "compete" to get accepted to the nursing school. I looked at several schools where you did all of your prerequisite courses and then applied to the nursing school and competed for a space until you got in. At the university I chose, however, if you met the minimum requirements (I believe it was a 3.0 GPA and all the prerequisites), you were automatically admitted to the nursing program. It was a baccalaureate program though, so it is probably different if you are looking at just an associates program. I would say that if she is looking at any type of management or further certifications (like nurse practitioner or nurse midwife), she will need her BSN as well as a masters for many things so she probably ought to go that route. It really doesn't take that much longer. I got my degree in 4 years with 2 summers of classes.

[Orthodox6]

Thank you for this advice; I think it sound. If she were my dd, I would suggest it. As she is my d-i-l, however, my son and his job can't be ignored. They are not in a position to move. Again, thank you!

 

 

It's been 16 years since I graduated and 10 years since I've practiced nursing professionally, so this may or may not still be valid....

 

You might have her look for a school where she does not have to "compete" to get accepted to the nursing school. I looked at several schools where you did all of your prerequisite courses and then applied to the nursing school and competed for a space until you got in. At the university I chose, however, if you met the minimum requirements (I believe it was a 3.0 GPA and all the prerequisites), you were automatically admitted to the nursing program. It was a baccalaureate program though, so it is probably different if you are looking at just an associates program. I would say that if she is looking at any type of management or further certifications (like nurse practitioner or nurse midwife), she will need her BSN as well as a masters for many things so she probably ought to go that route. It really doesn't take that much longer. I got my degree in 4 years with 2 summers of classes.

[mandymom]

Thank you for this advice; I think it sound. If she were my dd, I would suggest it. As she is my d-i-l, however, my son and his job can't be ignored. They are not in a position to move. Again, thank you!

 

Oh, I totally understand that for your DIL! Sometimes life and circumstances dictate what we are able to do!

 

I was really suggesting that for the OP (and any others that hadn't started the path to nursing school yet), so that her daughter didn't find herself in that same position. I know several that have been there and have a great GPA, but there are only so many spots. Hopefully you DIL gets accepted quickly!

[Home'scool]

Thank you for all the advice! it certainly gives us a lot to think about and look into.

 

Some of this makes me a bit worried though. I didn't realize it was so hard to get into nursing programs. She would be going for a bachelor's at least, and probably a masters. She has a GPA somewhere around 3.8, and makes A's and B's, but it sounds like it is still very tough. I would hate to see her apply and be rejected everywhere.

[mandymom]

Thank you for all the advice! it certainly gives us a lot to think about and look into.

 

Some of this makes me a bit worried though. I didn't realize it was so hard to get into nursing programs. She would be going for a bachelor's at least' date=' and probably a masters. She has a GPA somewhere around 3.8, and makes A's and B's, but it sounds like it is still very tough. I would hate to see her apply and be rejected everywhere.[/quote']

 

Her high school GPA doesn't figure into acceptance into nursing school. For most BSN programs, a student chooses their university and takes all his/her college prerequisites and then they apply to enter the nursing program for that school (usually the last 2 years of college for a BSN, sometimes longer). Many schools have limited spots in their nursing program though. The students with the highest GPA from their prerequisites fill the spots first. Sometimes schools have other criteria too. For instance, one school I considered placed transfer students at an immediate disadvantage. They were all second tier to students who completed all prerequisites at the school.

 

That's why I was suggesting that she look for a school that accepts everyone who meets the minimum standards for the school into their program.

Edited July 26, 2011 by mandymom

[*lifeoftheparty*]

I wasn't going to post this, but I think it's good to hear negatives too, so here goes....

 

My mother, 3 aunts, 1 sister and 1 cousin are all nurses. Between them, 2 work in Georgia, 2 in Louisiana, 1 in South Carolina and 1 in Pennsylvania. To be fair, they all got into it for the job security and good money, though they are very compassionate and good at what they do.

 

My mom and aunts ALL do Dialysis now. They H-A-T-E it and are starting to really hate certain types of people. They see, all day, the tons and tons of WASTE that is going on with medicare, medicaid, etc.

 

ALL of them HATE working with women. Women are catty and tend to behave like they are back in high school when they are the majority in the working environment. There is SO MUCH drama it's ridiculous. I have to hear about it constantly. :glare:

 

Hearing about the type of people who are "techs" and how much the nurses are overworked and how the doctors don't listen/care, and how things are usually so screwed up b/c of all the catty drama, I am SCARED TO DEATH to EVER end up in a hospital, LOL. ESPECIALLY in a poor part of the country. I think I would rather suffer than go to most hospitals in Georgia or Louisiana.

 

Now, my old Army friend became a nurse and works in Labor and Delivery. Because her hubby is still Army, she mostly works on military bases (Hawaii right now), and she LOVES it. But still agrees that working with women can suck the life out of you. Luckily for her, there are quite a few more male nurses in military hospitals.

 

My OTHER Army buddy also became a nurse in California. She likes it. She started out in Med-Surg (sp?) and just switched to Hospice, which she really likes. She also notices the sheer waste and stupidity/redundancy in healthcare today, and it's very interesting to read her blog.

 

I have come in contact with a few other nurses.... from what I have gathered, working in poor (LOTS of people getting free care courtesy of Uncle Sam), sparsely populated areas is horrible.... but working in more affluent areas is better.

 

Make sure she is prepared to deal with women who act like backstabbing teenagers and to trust NONE of them.

[Medstudent]

For obvious reasons, I have to ask...why not medicine? Obviously the road is longer and more competitive (and more expensive!) but i'm just wondering why she's not considering it?

 

Also, she should look into PA programs. Midlevel providers are the primary care of the future.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Thank you for all the advice! it certainly gives us a lot to think about and look into.

 

Some of this makes me a bit worried though. I didn't realize it was so hard to get into nursing programs. She would be going for a bachelor's at least' date=' and probably a masters. She has a GPA somewhere around 3.8, and makes A's and B's, but it sounds like it is still very tough. I would hate to see her apply and be rejected everywhere.[/quote']

 

I think the problem is a lack of teachers and facilities to teach everyone who wants to be a nurse from what I understand. Hence the waiting lists at some places:(.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

For obvious reasons, I have to ask...why not medicine? Obviously the road is longer and more competitive (and more expensive!) but i'm just wondering why she's not considering it?

 

Also, she should look into PA programs. Midlevel providers are the primary care of the future.

 

True but nurse practitioners can fit this bill of the need for PAs as well from what I understand;) Nurse practitioners also have more autonomy in many cases last time I heard but I would research this thoroughly since things can always change.

[Medstudent]

True but nurse practitioners can fit this bill of the need for PAs as well from what I understand;) Nurse practitioners also have more autonomy in many cases last time I heard but I would research this thoroughly since things can always change.

 

oh yeah! Sorry if it came off strangely. PA's and nurse practitioners are roughly the same in my mind in terms of scopes of practice (where I am there's a NP program so I work alongside them pretty often). I was just suggesting PA school as yet another option (that would allow her to officially choose her career after college), not a "better" one.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I wasn't going to post this, but I think it's good to hear negatives too, so here goes....

 

My mother, 3 aunts, 1 sister and 1 cousin are all nurses. Between them, 2 work in Georgia, 2 in Louisiana, 1 in South Carolina and 1 in Pennsylvania. To be fair, they all got into it for the job security and good money, though they are very compassionate and good at what they do.

 

My mom and aunts ALL do Dialysis now. They H-A-T-E it and are starting to really hate certain types of people. They see, all day, the tons and tons of WASTE that is going on with medicare, medicaid, etc.

 

ALL of them HATE working with women. Women are catty and tend to behave like they are back in high school when they are the majority in the working environment. There is SO MUCH drama it's ridiculous. I have to hear about it constantly. :glare:

 

Hearing about the type of people who are "techs" and how much the nurses are overworked and how the doctors don't listen/care, and how things are usually so screwed up b/c of all the catty drama, I am SCARED TO DEATH to EVER end up in a hospital, LOL. ESPECIALLY in a poor part of the country. I think I would rather suffer than go to most hospitals in Georgia or Louisiana.

 

Now, my old Army friend became a nurse and works in Labor and Delivery. Because her hubby is still Army, she mostly works on military bases (Hawaii right now), and she LOVES it. But still agrees that working with women can suck the life out of you. Luckily for her, there are quite a few more male nurses in military hospitals.

 

My OTHER Army buddy also became a nurse in California. She likes it. She started out in Med-Surg (sp?) and just switched to Hospice, which she really likes. She also notices the sheer waste and stupidity/redundancy in healthcare today, and it's very interesting to read her blog.

 

I have come in contact with a few other nurses.... from what I have gathered, working in poor (LOTS of people getting free care courtesy of Uncle Sam), sparsely populated areas is horrible.... but working in more affluent areas is better.

 

Make sure she is prepared to deal with women who act like backstabbing teenagers and to trust NONE of them.

I disagree that working with women is awful. Of course, I ran into my fair share of back stabbers but I also had the pleasure of working with many great women. I think some of the behavior can be attributed to poor working conditions versus a woman thing. I am sure that there are plenty of men who behave badly as well.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

I disagree that working with women is awful. Of course, I ran into my fair share of back stabbers but I also had the pleasure of working with many great women. I think some of the behavior can be attributed to poor working conditions versus a woman thing. I am sure that there are plenty of men who behave badly as well.

 

I am willing to accept that possibility. However, I have heard WAY too many awful stories, from WAY too many people.... from all ages, walks of life and geographical regions.

 

The only experience I have with being in an all female environment was staying in barracks during basic training. Never. Ending. Drama. And fist fights.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I am willing to accept that possibility. However, I have heard WAY too many awful stories, from WAY too many people.... from all ages, walks of life and geographical regions.

 

The only experience I have with being in an all female environment was staying in barracks during basic training. Never. Ending. Drama. And fist fights.

 

:svengo: in regards to the fist fights. I have never experienced that.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

oh yeah! Sorry if it came off strangely. PA's and nurse practitioners are roughly the same in my mind in terms of scopes of practice (where I am there's a NP program so I work alongside them pretty often). I was just suggesting PA school as yet another option (that would allow her to officially choose her career after college), not a "better" one.

 

No problem. I am biased in favor of nursing since nurses were always the traditional assistants to doctors:).

[ocelotmom]

I graduated from nursing school in April 2010 and got a job so recently that I don't feel qualified to comment on it yet :)

 

If it's what she wants to do (and it sounds like she does)... go for it. It's a very diverse field with so many different possible paths to take. I do think volunteering or getting an entry level CNA/MA/tech type job is an excellent idea (and will help her with admission to many nursing schools), and it is a good idea to look at other allied health options to see if something else is a better match for her interests.

 

It is NOT a particularly good way to get an easy job at the moment. Yes, several years ago you could basically walk into a job in your area of choice after graduation. That isn't true anymore, at least not for new grads in most of the US. New grad nurses are having a really hard time right now. I think most people from my graduating class (ie. over a year ago) have a job now, but it took a while. I think maybe 10 of the 50 had a job within 3 months of graduation, and many ended up working long term care, flu vaccine clinics, and things like that to start out.

 

That said, it's still probably easier to get a good paying job after graduation than it is for graduates with standard liberal arts degrees. But it's by no means easy.

 

But she should know that (at least where I went to school) prerequisite classes tend to be difficult to get into because of all the people thinking RN is a quick well-paying job. Once you've finished prereqs, nursing schools are even more difficult to get into. The school itself is tough... and then jobs are hard to find after graduation. And it's a physically and mentally tough job with overwhelming responsibility, even while still in school. It's not an easy path.

 

Look at what is required to get into nursing schools she is interested in. This varies depending on the individual school and where in the country you live. Some admit directly from high school based on GPA/standardized test scores (this seems more common in the midwest and parts of the east coast). Others require you to complete prerequisites and then apply. If the latter is the case at schools you're interested in, I strongly encourage looking at community college for the prereqs - admission to the university where the nursing program takes place does not guarantee admission into the nursing program, and taking prerequisites at the college usually provides little or no advantage in the admissions process for the nursing program. The usual tactic these days is to take prerequisites at a community college and then apply to every nursing school you're willing to attend.

Edited July 26, 2011 by ocelotmom

[southcarolinamom]

My son spent his senior year trying to figure out which area of the health field he would like to enter. He "shadowed" (for day) a local sports medicine orthopaedic surgeon in knee/shoulder clinic, a family nurse practitioner in a family doctor's office, and a physical therapist. He knew immediately that he liked nursing the best - they saw the most varied types of people.

 

He is considering focusing on becoming nurse anesthetist, but again, he doesn't need to decide his specialty until after his 4 years of nursing - going for a B.S.N.

 

Your child might enjoy shadowing various medical personnel... (I counted those days as "school days" for my son this year. It was awesome! :D)

[*lifeoftheparty*]

:svengo: in regards to the fist fights. I have never experienced that.

 

REALLY?? Were you in the Army? Or Air Force, LOL? There were several all-out brawls (punching, slapping, hair pulling) in our barracks during the 9+ weeks of basic. There were lots of "telling offs" and verbal "fights" too, but it was a daily occurrence, and they stand out less.

[ChiMomNP]

Good for her!

 

I suggest she do her BSN and as soon as possible after that get her DNP as a nurse practitioner or CRNA.

 

I have been an RN for 7 years and I am completing my family psych nurse practitioner DNP. I love it. It is great field. Tough on new grads right now but nursing is very cyclical.

 

Best of luck to her!

[Medstudent]

I graduated from nursing school in April 2010 and got a job so recently that I don't feel qualified to comment on it yet :)

 

If it's what she wants to do (and it sounds like she does)... go for it. It's a very diverse field with so many different possible paths to take. I do think volunteering or getting an entry level CNA/MA/tech type job is an excellent idea (and will help her with admission to many nursing schools), and it is a good idea to look at other allied health options to see if something else is a better match for her interests.

 

It is NOT a particularly good way to get an easy job at the moment. Yes, several years ago you could basically walk into a job in your area of choice after graduation. That isn't true anymore, at least not for new grads in most of the US. New grad nurses are having a really hard time right now. I think most people from my graduating class (ie. over a year ago) have a job now, but it took a while. I think maybe 10 of the 50 had a job within 3 months of graduation, and many ended up working long term care, flu vaccine clinics, and things like that to start out.

 

That said, it's still probably easier to get a good paying job after graduation than it is for graduates with standard liberal arts degrees. But it's by no means easy.

 

But she should know that (at least where I went to school) prerequisite classes tend to be difficult to get into because of all the people thinking RN is a quick well-paying job. Once you've finished prereqs, nursing schools are even more difficult to get into. The school itself is tough... and then jobs are hard to find after graduation. And it's a physically and mentally tough job with overwhelming responsibility, even while still in school. It's not an easy path.

 

Look at what is required to get into nursing schools she is interested in. This varies depending on the individual school and where in the country you live. Some admit directly from high school based on GPA/standardized test scores (this seems more common in the midwest and parts of the east coast). Others require you to complete prerequisites and then apply. If the latter is the case at schools you're interested in, I strongly encourage looking at community college for the prereqs - admission to the university where the nursing program takes place does not guarantee admission into the nursing program, and taking prerequisites at the college usually provides little or no advantage in the admissions process for the nursing program. The usual tactic these days is to take prerequisites at a community college and then apply to every nursing school you're willing to attend.

 

I just wanted to mention something as an fyi. If your daughter is still not entirely sure about nursing and she's considering medicine, PA school, PT school, podiatry...what have you, I'd be careful about taking too many of the sciences at community colleges. Medicine and many other health professions frown upon prereqs taken at cc's and you often end up having to take the same classes twice just to give yourself a chance. If she's planning on going that route, make sure she does her research and really knows nursing is the way to go.

 

My son spent his senior year trying to figure out which area of the health field he would like to enter. He "shadowed" (for day) a local sports medicine orthopaedic surgeon in knee/shoulder clinic, a family nurse practitioner in a family doctor's office, and a physical therapist. He knew immediately that he liked nursing the best - they saw the most varied types of people.

 

He is considering focusing on becoming nurse anesthetist, but again, he doesn't need to decide his specialty until after his 4 years of nursing - going for a B.S.N.

 

Your child might enjoy shadowing various medical personnel... (I counted those days as "school days" for my son this year. It was awesome! :D)

 

Well, to be fair PT's are a very specialized bunch, and you don't get much more focused than sports ortho. If he's still interested in shadowing people and variety is what he's looking for, he can try an emergency medicine doc, or even a primary care doctor who'll likely see the same stuff as the family NP. Medical doctors and midlevels can really be as general or focused as they want to. NP's (and PA's) can work only in psychiatry, only in midwifery, they can be nurse anesthetists, they can do research on a very specific field just like any medical specialist might. That's sort of the appeal of nursing and NP school- you have a lot of the same options as medical school grads as far as how much to specialize, but it's not as long, expensive, or competitive a process.