If I like working in a hospital setting and plan to become an NP, which NP credentialing should I pursue?

Acute care NP. AANC offers this certification and many facilities require this credential to be a hospital based nurse practitioner.

The only answer in todays market is an acute care NP. Gone are the days where an FNP can work anywhere. Many hospitals now require Acute care certification in my area and in many other areas. I live in Atlanta. Goodluck!

You should do the family nurse practitioner tract. This way you were able to do anything. If you only do adult or pediatric then you are stuck in that area and have to go back to school if you want to work in a different area with a different age group.

Acute care NP certification is recommended

You should credential through AANC, American Nurses Credentialing Center. This is who you will take your boards with.

I am an old dinosaur of an FNP and we do/did everything. These days we have gone the physician/over specilization / certification route - so we fit into a broken payment system -- route so you will need to add an acute np on top of an fop if you want to truly care for the ENTIRE patient not just a tiny part of the person

In the inpatient setting, most hospitals prefer NPs with a certification in acute care. However, for those who want to work in the outpatient setting and to have their own practice in the future, the family NP track is recommended or the adult NP track. I am speaking for Florida. I do not know about other states.

FNP gives you a well balanced NP category that opens many areas.

ANCC is most often requested.