Graduating from your nurse practitioner program is a bittersweet accomplishment. On one hand you’re beyond excited to finally be done with school and eager to start your new profession as an NP. On the other hand, you may also feel overwhelmed and stressed about the uncertainty of your future now that school is over and it’s time to put what you’ve learned into practice.

I distinctly recall learning about the stages of grief during a psychiatric rotation in my nursing program. Having experienced the recent death of a family member, I identified with the content, and was impressed that the textbook outline of the grieving process was so spot on. The emotional stages of a new grad nurse practitioner are much different than those of the grief process (thank goodness!), however, for most NPs, new grad emotions come in a somewhat predictable pattern.