The Steps to NP Success  

Posted by: Terry South, FNP-C in


As a NP student the time is now to begin preparing for your future position.  
Prepare to apply for the certification exam, did you know that you can register to take the national NP certification exam before you graduate? The certifying organization and the time of receiving the letter of your testing date can be a lengthy process.


Visit your state's board of nursing for information on applying for licensure.


Update and revamp your resume, make sure that your resume will impress a potential employer.


Begin applying for the position you desire. Prepare your cover letter, make sure you change each cover letter for each employer you are applying to.  Remember to ask potential employers questions during the interview to determine if the position is the right fit for you, inquire about the number of patients to be seen per hour, per day, inquire about call time, working holiday's, bonuses, CME's, and other information that will be essential in determining if this is the position for you and your lifestyle.


Once a job offer comes in you will want to negotiate the details of the position and write out an employment agreement.  A collaborative practice agreement which describes your duties of your new NP practice needs to be completed.


NP students - keep a clinical journal.  The purpose of the clinical journal is to help you develop assessment skills to perfection, enhance critical thinking skills in the diagnosis and management of your patients, will aid in discriminating between differential diagnosis, demonstrate practice application, and will help you as a student to learn to adequately and accurately organize and document your patient encounters, and use your writing to reflect your feelings about your practice, role, challenges, and rewards that relate to your clinical situations.
The journal also allows you to address ethical and professional issues related to your practice sites and will promote self-discovery.  


Journaling adds to both your personal and professional development through self-reflection, and allows you to validate your learning experiences.


The clinical journal will also assist you with proper documentation reflecting your thoughts and actions related to the clinical encounters.  The ability to apply evidence-based literature to clinical action is further enhanced through the journal, giving you the opportunity to think through your patient's cases, and allows you to critically evaluate the management plan, and to educate yourself toward the best plan of action.  This enhances life-long learning, NP students learn the dynamic process of improving the quality of patient care through reflection, review of literature, and professional critiquing of practice issues.