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Everybody is looking for that special something or turning point that changes their life for the better. It could be an event, or it could be meeting somebody special; it could take place in a faraway location, or it could happen a little closer to home. One uniquely life-changing experience is a career change.
Giving up the job you have no investment in, are uninterested and uninspired by, and taking no emotional reward from, and beginning your training in a truly gratifying profession is exciting. A profession that provides this excitement and satisfaction is the medical professional and, with online FNP programs, becoming a family nurse practitioner is easier than you might think.
Difficult 2020
It has been a remarkably difficult year for so many, putting stress on lives, relationships, and entire industries, which also places a strain on 2021 to be an improved 12 months. While the Coronavirus pandemic will fluctuate and adjust and is unlikely to disappear entirely, it is hoped that the human ability to adapt to the new world will improve – allowing the job market to recover and families to see each other more freely.
Anybody who is considering a career change, then, might see the current climate as an excuse not to – to remain in their comfort zone instead. On the contrary, 2021 should provide a perfect platform to make the changes to your life that you desire to.
Training to become an FNP is an excellent way to do this while also contributing to medicine’s effort to get through this struggle and create a better, and much safer world.
What are Online FNP Programs?
To begin the process of entering a new career as a family nurse practitioner, it is first necessary to become a registered nurse. It is possible to specialize in general nurse practitioners, gerontological nurse practitioners, pediatric nurse practitioners, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and, of course, family nurse practitioners.
If you have already gained your qualifications as a registered nurse, enrolling in online FNP programs could be the best option for you. These programs often offer 1-on-1 support, and some will allow you to continue working full time while you study. You will graduate with a Master of Science in Nursing degree and be fully qualified – and have some vital experience under your belt – to begin helping families in a focused and professional manner.
With the best online courses, you will still receive fantastic clinical placements. At certain universities, these placements will be organized for you to remove the stress of finding your own. The courses are more flexible than many “traditional” non-online programs, as you can log in to your portal at any time and from any location.
January 2021 Start
For those who are already qualified as a registered nurse, spring classes start in 2021 for the best online FNP programs. With a two-and-a-half-year course length, this will see you qualified in your new, higher-paying position by the middle of 2023. In the meantime, you will have been able to continue working as normal, doing what you do best.
For those looking to become a family nurse practitioner from scratch – for instance, without any prior medical experience – this process will take a little longer. To become a registered nurse, you must graduate with qualifications such as a nursing diploma, a bachelor’s degree, or an associate degree. These courses can take between two and four years to complete.
No matter how you are getting into nursing, a key step on the path is to obtain a state license. These vary, and although states in the Nursing Licensure Compact will allow you to practice in any of the member states, it is always important to check requirements in advance of applying.
Top Quality Placements
As with any program, placements are incredibly important.
As only 26% of working adults in the USA strongly agree that their higher education is relevant to their work and day-to-day life, studying on a program that teaches genuinely valuable career and personal skills and provides adults with respected work placements is critical to making it worth the cost.
It is on placement where students are truly exposed to the nature of the profession that they are training in, gaining practical experience that will serve them well once they enter the industry full-time at the end of their course. One of the benefits of the very best online programs is that they offer student support throughout placements, coordinating new ones, and helping you navigate your way through to graduation.
A graduate in nursing – already qualified as a registered nurse – will undoubtedly have some placement experience, but guidance is always helpful when moving up to a higher level of study.
Flexibility of an Online Course
As mentioned, online courses are extremely flexible and provide students with an adaptable schedule that they can fit around their existing work and personal commitments. This makes online FNP programs ideal for those with children, full-time jobs, or caring responsibilities.
The main ways in which online courses are flexible and versatile are location, attendance, and diversity of course mates. This goes for any type of online degree, not just for nursing.
· Location
While you will still be registered with a particular university – which, naturally, has a geographical location and identity – you will be able to complete your course from anywhere. Certain courses may have state restrictions, especially for medical courses due to the varying nature of licenses, but generally speaking, location is flexible.
This allows you to study from home, in a café, or even outdoors, meaning you can learn and complete your degree when and where it suits you. This is ideal for those continuing to work full-time who have a long commute, as research material and online lectures can be poured over even while sitting on a busy bus or train.
· Attendance
This flexible attitude to location extends into time and schedule, too. With many of the online lectures available to watch when it suits you, online courses permit you to work to the timetable you set yourself.
If, for example, you happen to be most productive at 6 am, then that is when you can complete your assignments and watch your online lectures. This promotes a positive attendance to lectures and your workplace, as theoretically, they should not get in the way of each other.
· Course mates
As the location is flexible, varied too is the nature and origin of your course mates. With enrollment possible around the country and sometimes even worldwide, those studying with you will be diverse and interesting. Given a chance, meeting up with them would enrich your life just as much as the studying itself, as making friends in an important part of a university.
While the traditional US college culture of team sports, fraternity and sorority organizations, and campus jobs are less possible, there is no reason why lasting relationships cannot be made with your course mates.
Benefits of Working in Primary Healthcare
Now that you know how online courses work, the benefits of studying online, and how to become a family nurse practitioner, understanding how training through online FNP programs could change your life, it is vital to know the benefits of working in the healthcare industry.
Firstly, working in healthcare will change your life, as you will be changing others’ lives. At the very core of human nature, it makes you feel good when you give something to somebody or help somebody in some way. In nursing, you are doing this daily. Working in healthcare improves others’ lives, helping them recover from illness, giving them a more pleasant life as an elderly citizen, or aiding in support of those with addiction, to name just a handful of examples.
This makes the job incredibly rewarding. Not only that, but it is also remarkably stimulating and keeps the brain active – every day is different, with a new problem to solve. Undoubtedly, as somebody considering training to become a family nurse practitioner, you are a highly compassionate and caring person. Through online FNP programs, you will have learned how to channel this into a professional manner and conduct yourself with grace and decorum in the face of stressful or adverse circumstances. This brings calmness, hope, and happiness to those you are caring for, which is absolutely invaluable.
There are almost endless reasons why working in healthcare is valuable, but a factor that should be mentioned for those looking to specialize as a nurse practitioner is the salary. Depending on which certification you opt for, pay will vary, but all are likely to be higher than the average registered nurse.
Generally, psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioners are paid the highest, followed by pediatric and neonatal. While nobody should go into medicine for the money, it is reassuring to know that those who choose to provide lifesaving and life-changing service to the country are well paid for doing so.
Studying with Professors Who Care
An important final note of advice on studying online FNP programs to become a Master of Science in Nursing is that you should be choosing a course that offers you the support of professors who care.
Students are more likely to succeed in achieving the results and end goals that they desire if they have professors and support staff who truly care about them and their success. In a profession as hands-on and skilled as nursing, professors should regularly check in on their students to ensure they progress as they would like. With the very best online FNP programs, this is a given.
Around two-thirds of students – 64% – in the United States work while studying, while around a quarter are parenting. This means that staff to student support is central to the student’s success and well-being. While certain faculties find it difficult to adapt to their students’ changing needs, the best universities will recognize this and be versatile and accommodating in the way they look after their students.
Tips on Changing Career
If you have read this far, you are more than likely very interested in studying a higher education course online, particularly one that allows you to specialize in a particular form of nursing. That in itself is a huge achievement and a large step on the path to changing your life. The realization that you want to progress and develop in your career is an important one, so reading up on as many tips and tricks as possible about moving into a different field, training on courses such as online FNP programs, and leaving your old life behind you will be crucial.
A successful career change or development takes time, particularly when you consider that online FNP programs generally take over two years to complete. Therefore, it is incredibly important that you remain patient and continually remind yourself why it is that you have taken this course of action.
Mentally, you may question why you have taken this extra step. Self-reassurance and support from others are critical to quashing these concerns and pushing you on to the next stage in your career. Finding what motivates you is also essential, especially when studying online.
Summary
This will not be a walk in the park. Deciding to train as a nurse from the beginning – perhaps you are just leaving high school or looking for a complete change of career – and choosing to train as a nurse practitioner from being a registered nurse are both huge undertakings.
However, they are also incredibly rewarding choices. Choosing online FNP courses as your method of progression will allow you to be flexible in the way you continue to work while studying, while also providing you with top-quality educational and emotional support.
It has been a crushing year for so many, with opportunities whipped from underneath students’ and workers’ feet alike. With determination, skill, good tutorage, and a caring attitude, 2021 can be a new start for you in the health care profession.
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This content is brought to you by Wahab Ullah.
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