Career as a Nurse Practitioner

Dear Lisa,

Hi, I was writing a paper on Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and I was wondering besides the joy of working with children what are other reasons why you became a PNP?

“Future PNP”

Dear “Future PNP”,

I have to say that my career has always been a work in progress. I did not know that I was going to be a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) when I was in High School deciding upon a career path. A matter of fact, I didn’t even know I wanted to become a PNP when I entered college. The one thing that I did know was that I wanted to work in the health field because it always amazed me how the human body worked. I was always interested in Anatomy and Physiology and medicine. I excelled in Math and Sciences and my school counselors and parents encouraged me to become a pharmacist. Initially this was the path that I took. I decided to learn more about being a pharmacist, so I got a job as a pharmacy technician when I was a senior in High School. By the time I finished my freshman year in college I figured out that pharmacy was not for me.

I realized that I wanted to be more involved with patient care and at that point in my life enjoyed the excitement and challenge of working in a hospital. I changed my major to nursing after talking to a few nurses who inspired me and explained what nurses really do. During undergraduate nursing school I worked in a doctor’s office and as an EKG technician in a major medical center where I was exposed to all types of nursing. That’s when I knew that I would become a pediatric nurse.

Pediatric nursing always interested me because of the wide variety of health conditions and all of the different developmental stages of childhood. What amazed me the most was how resilient children are. A child could go through a major operation and have multiple dressings, tubes and IV lines and all you have to do is mention the playroom and they would hobble there if they had to, with a big smile on their face. I also enjoyed the teaching aspect of nursing and found in pediatrics, parents are always willing to learn how to better take care of their children.

After working in the hospital for years I found myself at a point in my life where I needed to learn more and have more responsibility. I decided to go back to school for my masters degree with the intentions of going into teaching. When I met with one of my previous professors, she told me that I wanted to become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. I wasn’t even sure what a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner was at the time. I remember telling her, "no I want to teach" and she said, "no, you want to become a Nurse Practitioner". She was right!

The problem was, in 1989 the role of the Nurse Practitioner was not well recognized in New Jersey and I didn’t have many role models to look to. The more I learned about the role of the Nurse Practitioner, the more I realized that my professor was right. Even by the time I graduated with my masters degree four years later, the role of the Nurse Practitioner was still not fully understood or accepted. I remember Pediatricians telling me that I would never get a job and others questioning if what I was doing was against the law! They were wrong.

Luckily, the role of the Nurse Practitioner is much more recognized and understood today. Now, I meet young high school girls who tell me that when they grow up they want to become a Nurse Practitioner. That just puts a smile on my face because I know that it is a wonderful career and an honor to be able to take care of patients in the capacity of a Nurse Practitioner.

I wish you much success in your career. You have made a good choice.

Lisa-ann Kelly R.N., P.N.P.,C.
Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

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