NP Certification Q&A

Preparing For Success

• Fitzgerald Health Education Associates • Season 1 • Episode 127

Share episode

Voiceover: Welcome to NP Certification QA, presented by Fitzgerald Health Education Associates. This podcast is for NP students studying to pass their NP certification exam. Getting to the correct test answers means breaking down the exam questions themselves. Leading NP expert Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald shares her knowledge and experience to help you dissect the anatomy of a test question so you can better understand how to arrive at the correct test answer. 


So if you're ready, let's jump right in.


Margaret Fitzgerald: This podcast is a bit different than my typical Q&A podcast and I want to take a few moments and talk to you about taking time for reflection as you launch your NP career.

I've been a nurse practitioner now for more than three and a half decades. I had a wonderful career in critical care prior to becoming a nurse practitioner, and I practiced in primary care my entire career, which ended up being exactly where I wanted to be. When I decided to become a nurse practitioner, one of the things I wanted to do was really keep people out of the ICU. I think I've been really quite successful at that. 


At the same time, I'm talking to you today. You are no doubt either wrapping up your NP studies, getting ready for boards, and or launching your NP career. So I want to encourage you to take a bit of time for reflection on this incredibly wonderful professional milestone you are hitting. The wide variety of practice opportunities, the NP job market, it particularly robust. You'll hear people say it isn't, but it is. At the same time, the new graduate NP might find the search for that first NP position and launching the next step in your career quite daunting. Here are some tips on how to prepare for this important professional journey. Because it's not just about graduating and passing boards. There's a lot more to think of. 
Set some time aside for reflection. Oh, it could be so tempting to say this like, oh, I don't have the time, I'm too busy, I'm getting ready for graduation, I'm reconnecting with family and loved ones, I'm getting ready for boards. You're flying in a thousand different directions. However, at the same time, remember you have devoted tremendous energy, resources, and have sacrificed much to become a nurse practitioner. You likely feel emotionally, intellectually, and sometimes quite often, financially exhausted at this point. You owe it to yourself and those who have supported you in your professional and personal development in investing this time. 


During this time of reflection, I want you to literally write down some answers. You know, put it in your phone. Get a nice notebook with a really, really great pen. Write it down, do whatever. And you can use this as your guide as you look for your NP position. 


First question I want you to ask yourself is why did I decide to become a nurse practitioner? You might be at the whose big idea was this part of nurse practitioner preparation. In particular, I was a perfectly fine RN. I loved my RN role. You might be newer to nursing and wonder why you didn't do a different career path. But there was something in you that inspired you to further your education and expand your RN practice. Sit down, dig through your mind and your soul, and figure that out. 


Another is how does a nurse practitioner profession enhance the delivery of health care? You might sound, well, that's you might say to yourself, well, that sounds like a pretty high-level question. But you know what? This is also not an uncommon question to be asked during interview. Clearly articulating the role for what both what it is and what it is not is a crucial skill. A well-developed frame of reference that will help you in communicating your vision of the NP role. It will help develop you personally and as you interview for NP positions. If you're saying to yourself, where do I even start with that? Go to the AANP's website, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners website at AANP.org and read their statements on NP role as well as the NP Profession's contribution to the nation's health. This is a great place to start. 


Another is what have I achieved professionally to date in my career? One comment I often hear from people becoming nurse practitioners is something to the effect of I'm just a med surge nurse, or I'm just a fill-in-the-blank nurse. Hey folks, there's no such thing as a just a nurse because we literally save people's lives and we help alleviate suffering. I could go on for another hour saying what we do as RNs as well as nurse practitioner's. But what I want you to do is really drill down and think what have you done so far professionally. Most new grad NPs have been professionally successful whether you are new to nursing or a seasoned nursing clinician.  

Draw up an inventory of your professional history, highlighting the high and low points. Identify what you've learned from both the good and the bad. I strongly maintain that there are two kinds of role models. Those we aspire to be like, and those we know we will not ever be like. Right, think this through. We learned from both the positive and negative role models. Identify what you have learned from the good and the bad. 


Well you might hear that there are few transferrable skills from the RN to the NP role. There are actually many, and these are both in clinical and in healthcare leadership. So, what could these include? These include supervising the work of others. You have no idea what an important role that is out there in the marketplace, and you have done that as an RN. How about dealing with families in crisis? You are expert at that. Developing rapport with other health professionals. And you might say, Oh, I don't think I've done that. Hey, have you ever talked to an attending physician, a resident, a pharmacist, a social worker? You have developed rapport with other healthcare professionals. You have also learned how to work in interdisciplinary teams. Okay, this just scratches the surface of what you bring from the RN to the NP role. 


What are my NP level clinical strengths and weaknesses? And what diagnoses do I handle the best? Folks, one, what I will hear from at least a third of the people that I counsel who have failed the NP boards is after counseling them, they realize they were thinking like an RN, because they're a smart RN and not an entry-level NP. You always, always, when you're practicing at the NP level, need to have that NP brain going and that concept of what the NP role is. So, the uh what I'd advise you to do is generate a list of the clinical problems you handle most proficiently. This can be a powerful marketing tool as you're interviewing, as well as a reminder of the skills you've gained during your studies and professional experiences, including clinical rotations. You know, you've probably developed most of your expertise in the areas that interest you the most. And whereas you might be just getting out of school and you're going, I have no idea what direction I want to go in as a nurse practitioner. Sometimes, if you look down this list here, you'll go, Oh, look, I am strongest in diabetes. I really, really do a great job with kids. You know, you there are a myriad of things that are going to come to the surface, and that might help direct you in your next steps. 


What do I believe will be my personal contribution to NP practice? It's really important to verbalize what you can do to add to NP practice. What will be your special contribution? What skill, passion, and experience do you carry from your education, professional, and personal experience? Where do I envision myself professionally, personally, in one year, five years, and ten years? Long-term professional goals might be hard to consider right now. Like your short-term professional goal might be to get the darn boards behind me. That's it, I'll be happy. But what you really do need to do is think futuristically about your contribution to the NP practice and NP profession. So this will really help set your stage for practice transition. 


Now, here's something that's a little stickier. How will holding a graduate degree influence the salary I'm offered? Well, you bare minimum, you have a master's degree now, correct? Many of you have a post-graduate certificate, i.e., you already had a master's degree or maybe a doctoral degree. More of you are coming out of school with a doctor, uh doctoral degree. And you might think that your salary offered should reflect that educational achievement. Unfortunately, the marketplace usually views your graduate studies, doctoral studies, as simply a vehicle for NP preparation. If you want to monetize your degree, what you have to do is identify what is specific from your graduate studies, apart from your NP role preparation, that are marketable valuable skills. And these could include things like grant writing and program proposal development skills. That's super helpful, particularly if you are in a federally qualified health center or other nonprofit. And you might say to yourself, whoa, whoa, whoa, we did not take a grant writing course in my graduate program. Hey, but did you do a capstone project? Did you do a final scholarly paper? Do you know how to write a soap note? Guess what? If you've done all those those things, you know how to write a grant. Teaching skills, really important and valued in the marketplace. Design and development of community and patient education programs and materials, all skills that you are carrying from your NP education, even if you don't realize that you did that. 
What do I know about the state's requirement for NP practice? The educational preparation needed for entry into the NP role, scope of practice, and prescriptive authority, of course, is determined at the state level. Prior to applying for any position, be prepared to answer questions about your state's requirement for NP practice. And it will also help inform you on obtaining an NPI, national provider identification, DEA, your license, and a variety of other important issues. Once again, AANP is great at providing information like this, but I also will say go to your state NP association and they will help you out as well. You know, more and more people now are practicing in more than one state, particularly bolstered by telehealth. So you might need to investigate multiple state NP associations. But the  your state level NP association can be incredibly helpful with this. 


If you are currently a student, this is one of my strong recommendations to you as you transition to the NP role. Join AANP now, get the student rate. They also do have a discounted membership rate for when you first get out of practice, too. And join your state level NP association. Again, particularly if you're still a student, take advantage of the student rate. Um, maintaining membership in these important groups who advocate for our profession every single day, to my thought, is a professional obligation. I don't expect the state of Massachusetts, which is where I practice, to give me my RN and NP licenses for free. I don't. I expect that every two years I need to update them and I need to pay a fee. I also anticipate that every year I need to renew my AANP membership and my state level NP Association membership. I treat it a professional obligation like renewing my license or renewing my certification. We really do need to take it that seriously. 

By asking yourself these questions and taking some time for reflection and preparation, you can successfully launch your career. By recognizing obstacles and preparing yourself with the necessary resources to overcome these, you could feel confident in your future. All of us at Fitzgerald Health Education Associates wish you great success.


Voiceover: Thank you for listening to NP Certification Q&A, presented by Fitzgerald Health Education Associates. Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast. And for more NP resources, visit FHEA.com.