Career Opportunities for Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs)

Obtaining your MSN-FNP will open the door to several different jobs within the healthcare field. You will need to have your BSN to obtain this credential, but once you do, there are endless opportunities for you to pursue based on your specific passions and interests.

Becoming an FNP doesn’t mean just working alongside a family doctor in a general health facility.

The demand for trained FNPs is growing in almost every industry you can imagine, meaning that pursuing this career path will offer you a lot of job security.

In general, FNPs provide care for patients of all demographics, including the treatment and management of any health conditions.

If you’re interested in working with a specific demographic, you can choose to work solely with them. If you’re interested in becoming an FNP and curious about the opportunities available to you, look no further.

What skills/qualities do you require to be a Family Nurse Practitioner?

Regardless of the job role you pursue in your nursing career, there are a few skills and qualities that all nurses should have.

Nurses should be compassionate and patient. You will be dealing with people who are in crisis situations, as well as family and friends of the patients. Compassion and understanding are vital to being able to communicate effectively with everyone you work with.

Organization and multi-tasking skills will also be an asset in your nursing career. You will have to be able to think on your feet and prioritize tasks as they come up.

Being able to stay organized is essential since you’ll be dealing with high-stress situations and be working in environments that can sometimes become chaotic. Keeping a level head and being able to multi-task will help you deliver the best care possible to your patients.

Many of these are soft skills that you can develop during your years of education, obtaining your MSN-FNP. Once you finish your BSN, you can get your Marymount MSN degree online.

If this sounds like you and you’re looking to start your career as an FNP, here are some of the many job opportunities you can choose from.

• Foreign Health Practitioner

A foreign or international health practitioner is a unique job opportunity for those who have an MSN-FNP degree. If you love to travel as much as you like to help others, working overseas as a foreign health practitioner would be a fulfilling career.

They work for the U.S. Department of State and provide vital healthcare to patients all over the globe. Typically, you will work in remote or underdeveloped countries to manage preventative medicine programs, including identifying local medical resources and implementing new medical systems.

It’s a career path that isn’t for the faint of heart, as you’ll likely need to forgo many of your daily comforts while working onsite.

On the flip side, you’ll be making an impact on the lives of people globally, and it comes with an average annual salary of around $102,841.

• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

Pediatric nurse practitioners offer specialized care for children from when they are born up to 21 in some cases. Depending on each child’s unique needs, they may continue seeing a pediatric nurse practitioner until they are comfortable moving on.

A pediatric nurse job is perfect for anyone who loves working with children and is passionate about their health and well-being. You can break this role down even further by choosing to work in a clinical environment or intensive care.

You will advocate for the health of children and help educate them and their families on how to maintain healthy habits as the child gets older. You will also help children access the treatment that they need. The average salary for a pediatric nurse practitioner is $122,579.

• Neonatal Nurse Practitioner

Where pediatric nurses work with children of all ages, a neonatal nurse works solely with newborn babies.

Specifically, as a neonatal nurse, you will be dealing with newborns who experience health complications, including genetic disorders, fetal alcohol syndrome, premature birth, etc. You may also assist in the delivery of infants, mainly when complications are predetermined.

Once delivered, a neonatal nurse will supervise and assist in all the infants’ treatment until they are deemed well enough for release. You can find neonatal nurse practitioners working in delivery rooms, specialty clinics, intensive care units, and emergency rooms.

There has never been a better time to pursue a career as a neonatal nurse, as the demand for qualified professionals is projected to increase by 17% in the next few years. Neonatal nurses can make an average annual salary of up to $107,550.

• School Nurse

For FNPs who lean towards a more structured work environment and love working with kids, you may want to consider working as a school nurse. School nurses will work both one-on-one with students who are sick or injured and large groups hosting seminars or screenings.

They get to help establish systems within the school that encourage good health in students, such as what is served in the cafeteria and liaison with parents to ensure students stay healthy.

School nurses will administer treatment to any injured students and refer them to specialists if their needs are more severe.

Working as a school nurse means you work school hours. Each state has specific licensing requirements to work as a school nurse, but as long as you have your MSN-FNP, you should have no problem securing a position. The average salary for a school nurse is about $50,740.

• Nurse Anesthetist

Nurse Anesthetists are the highest-paid FNPs. They are the nurses who administer anesthesia before patients going into surgery.

They help manage patient care in the operating room and monitor their vitals throughout their operation. Once the surgery is complete, the nurse anesthetists help oversee patient recovery and manage their pain once they wake up. The job has a lot of pressure, and anesthesia administered incorrectly can lead to disastrous results.

That is why you are required to complete a minimum of two years as a registered nurse and obtain your MSN-FNP before being considered for a position as a nurse anesthetist.

The good news is that there is a high demand for nurse anesthetists, with the field projected to grow by 22% within the coming years. They also make the highest salary of any FNP at around $154,000 annually.

• Telemedicine

Telemedicine is the future of nursing. While nurses will always be needed onsite, more patients opt to use telemedicine options for their appointments. Telemedicine aims to make patient healthcare more convenient, allowing them to have clinical meetings from home. Platforms can connect FNPs to patients via voice chat, video chat, or simply via text.

Providers can work from a home office or choose hours that suit them to log on and make appointments. It’s incredibly flexible for both the patient and the nurse, meaning that patients can schedule appointments on their lunch breaks or evenings after they finish work when clinics are typically closed.

Working as an FNP in telemedicine means you’ll predominantly be dealing with patients with minor ailments, chronic conditions, or who need prescriptions. Any serious injuries or illnesses would need in-person treatment, and therefore you wouldn’t have to deal with those extreme cases.

It’s an ever-growing job opportunity that pays an average of $67,000 per year, with the potential to make quite a bit more depending on how much experience you have.

• Oncology Nurse Practitioner

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with 1.8 million new cancer cases estimated in the United States this year. With more patients needing treatment now than ever, there is a considerable demand for oncology nurse practitioners.

Pursuing a career in oncology offers many opportunities to impact patients’ lives, both now and in the future. The field is always evolving with new research, drugs, and treatments being tested and perfected.

Oncology nurses provide physical support for cancer patients, but they are also there for psychological support. Psychological support is significant as patients come to terms with their disease. You will need to educate both patients and their families on cancer and its treatments, so they know what to expect.

Oncology nurse practitioner jobs are projected to increase by 20% within the next two years, meaning there has never been a better time to get started. On average, oncology nurse practitioners make $112,601 annually.

• Cruise Ship Nurse

Another opportunity for FNPs who don’t want to stay in one place is getting a job as a cruise ship nurse. Cruise ships are often out at sea for weeks and require an FNP on board to take care of the passengers should they become sick or get injured.

The workload can vary, as you’ll only need to treat patients as illnesses or injuries arise so that you could go days without an incident. That said, you’ll still need to be on call 24/7 in case anything happens.

Those who embark on cruises are typically in good health, or they would have chosen to stay home. For that reason, the main situations you’ll encounter as a cruise ship nurse are injuries due to slips and trips due to the movement of the boat, and people become unstable.

You may need to perform X-rays and transport the patient to a healthcare facility at the next docking port. Other common incidents include general first aid (cuts, scrapes), bad sunburns, seasickness though you may encounter more severe injuries or cardiac arrest.

A cruise ship nurse’s salary is less than that of a clinical or emergency nurse as cruise lines hire nurses on contract. Contracts are typically 6 months at a time, and during your contract, you’ll have your accommodation and meals covered.

Most cruise ship nurses earn somewhere between $4,200 and $4,900 per month, and although it’s less than other FNP careers, you won’t have many expenses while you’re onboard.

• Correctional Care Nurse

Correctional care nurses work for either government-run, or private detention centers, prisons, jails, and temporary holding facilities.

FNPs oversee the health of inmates and treating any of their injuries or ailments. You need to be a specific person to thrive as a correctional care nurse since you’ll interact with inmates daily. Some patients may have chronic conditions and acute illnesses, while others may have medical emergencies that you need to respond to.

Detainees may have pre-existing conditions that require treatment such as seizures, diabetes, or high blood pressure.

Correctional facilities are often the site of broken bones and stabbings when fights break out among inmates, so you must prepare to handle those types of situations as well. Each day is entirely different, and you never know what kind of situation you may face when you go into work.

Although correctional care nurses treat criminals, including those who have committed terrible crimes, they need to treat every patient objectively.

Both compassion and assertiveness are required in this field as you are dealing with patients who are troubled and may not be as receptive to treatment as a typical patient.

A correctional care nurse makes, on average, $73,017 a year.

• Legal Consultancy Nurse

Pursuing a career as a legal consultancy nurse is an excellent option for those interested in law and helping patients seek justice in the case of medical malpractice or other medical-related lawsuits.

They assist legal professionals within insurance companies, government offices, and law firms by analyzing clinical practices, healthcare facts, and patient outcomes to help in lawsuits. To become a legal consultancy nurse, you must have experience as an R.N., have an MSN-FNP, and be proficient in the legal rights of patients and physicians.

Legal consultants can provide advice on medical malpractice lawsuits, product liability, personal and workplace injury, toxic torts, and more.

They can operate as private contractors, with earning potential up to $211,399 at the top end. Alternatively, they can work for law firms, government agencies, insurance companies, or within the legal departments of healthcare organizations and other businesses. Being employed as a legal consultancy nurse, you can expect a yearly salary of around $87.403. 

Health Administration

With the demand for doctors and nurses at its peak, healthcare systems also need more administrators. This career path is great for those who are passionate about improving the healthcare industry and have some managerial skills to bring to the table.

As a nurse, you’ll already have some ideas on how a well-managed system is vital to bringing better care to patients and enabling practitioners to do their job better. There are certificates in health administration designed specifically for nurses, and they will provide you with the skills you need to manage any kind of health facility.

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