Post Secret PNP

I really wish that I were the author of this postsecret, but alas I am not. But I couldn't have put it better myself. It speaks to how I feel regarding the next 7 months of my life but it fails to address the part where people ask, "What are you going to do when you're done?" and I just smile and shrug my shoulders... Never fear, there will certainly be another post about this in the not-too-distant future... most likely including a poll.

Now is as good a time as any to answer the question that I get at least once weekly from my family and friends, so I'd like to help everyone understand, "What does a nurse practitioner do?" I'll try to map it out--

Finish undergrad: Graduate with a BSN (bachelors of science in nursing)
Take a test: Earn an RN
I'm now a bedside nurse.
Finish grad school: Graduate with a MSN (masters of science in nursing)
Take a test: Earn an NP (I'll have a PNP since I'm specialized in pediatrics)
I'll be a nurse practitioner.

As a PNP, I am an advanced practitioner in the clinical science of nursing. My scope of practice is to assess, diagnose, treat, and manage pediatric patients. Nurse Practitioners are generally licensed through nursing boards rather than medical boards.
Here's what NAPNAP has to say about us.

But I still get the question: What's the difference between a physician's assistant and an NP?
I encourage you to read the American Academy of Pediatrics' Policy Statement on The Role of Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants if you want the most accurate description.
As for an opinion, this is not the place for it. I'll just say that I have been overjoyed to be at the bedside since I was 20 years old, spending countless hours in clinical practice as a nurse, and now advancing the role as an NP.

I wrote this to try to educate my friends and family so that you can go out and be advocates of nurse practitioners and further educate the American public on the gross misconceptions of nursing and NP's.