Common Nursing Complaints & Psych NP's - Not As Bad?

Specialties NP

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Hello All!

I am an aspiring Psych NP currently taking my prerequisite classes. I have been reading and searching through this board for many months now (and will continue to) in order to try and prepare myself and get a grasp of the realities of the field. I am an adult student and a career changer and have learned not to go into anything blindly. I'm quite confident that Psych and the NP role are a great fit for me...so far...

I have become aware of several trends or general concerns such as:

-The not real nursing shortage

-New grads having increased difficulty finding jobs

-Weird NP politics with doctors and regular nurses

-Differing opinions on direct entry grads (which I plan on being someday soon)

-General first job horror stories

I'm starting to get the impression that a lot of the more negative or potentially discouraging things I am reading/hearing are mainly concerns for RNs, BSNs, LPNs, and the like and revolve more around bedside nursing. I currently work in a hospital and this is also based on speaking with the NPs here.

My questions for all you Psych NPs (and other experienced NPs) are:

Is Psych, especially starting out as a Psych NP, a little different?

Is the job market for Psych and Psych NP not as bad as it for the other more popular specialties?

What's being a Psych NP really like? What should I be aware of or prepared for?

Am I correct in assuming that Psych NPs don't have to deal with as many of the trials and frustrations of bedside nursing?

Based on what Zenman and a couple other Psych NPs out there have posted, the Psych NP role sounds like a really good deal compared to other specialties and bedside nursing. I'm just trying to get a better perspective and test my naive assumptions.

Thanks so much in advance for any and all opinions and thoughts. Your wisdom and guidance are greatly appreciated.

ok.. I will try not to be a part of conspiracy designed to reduce market saturation for Psych NPs. LOL!! I am just telling you about how I feel.

I am graduating from a psych NP program in a few days. As I posted earlier, I live in a Southeastern state.

I speculate that the job opportunities are not equal around the countries.

But the truth of the matter is there are lots more jobs nationally or at least locally for family nurse practitioners.

PMHNP is kind of a new kid on the block here in this state. The employers and patients still don't know about it and psychiatrists

are utilized more for inpatient settings here. Sadly, some psychiatrists don't even know what PMHNP can do.

Yes, as of "now", I believe that we still can find a job if we are flexible about moving around the state. But here is my opinion on the job market. It's "not" because there are "more job openings or greater mobility" for PMHNP. In fact, there are significantly "less" job openings for PMHNP here than many other NP specialties. It's just because in the past recent years there are not many graduates in this state. They plan to increase the enrollment and more people apply so I expect that the supply could meet the demand soon "if" new job opportunities are not created here. I am planning to go back for post-master in FNP or etc soon for better job mobility and expanding my horizon.

I will keep you guys posted when I actually enter the job market.

Most of my classmates already settled for jobs starting at low $80,000. A job at a state organization starts at mid $70,000.

I know it's not bad but that's far 6 figures. RN can still make that much.

The salary may be higher somewhere else but the fact is that it's not like that everywhere around the country.

I will keep you guys posted about the job market as I am now entering into it.

I qualified for 100% loan repayment.

How long after working before you get that repayment back?

Hello! Oh, and there are TONS of jobs. I had four different job offers before I left school and that's out here in Idaho

How many years ago? Nope, not "tons" at least here locally. Just graduated. Not that many offers locally for me. Maybe market is a little worse coz more people graduating nationwide in recent years. Anyway, I live in a "backward" state for NPs and this probably would not apply to other states, I guess. I would be fine if I am willing to "move" around. job searching now. :-)

Just got a another job offer this morning. Telemed position.

"Must be licensed in either Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, or South Dakota, but can live anywhere."

Interesting... does anyone know how difficult/easy it is to get licensed in another state? Does it depend on the state? I'm going to school in CA and will likely be licensed to practice there, but I'm ultimately interested in practicing in OR or WA, and I'm wondering how the license transfers.

If it's a compact state your basic RN license transfer without any problem, i.e., I have TX RN license and working in NM with NM CNP license. In any case you fill out the BON paperwork, get fingerprints, strip searched, and cough up money.

I have some questions. For psych world, will the skills in outpatient psych transfer to inpatient psych and vice versa. I am thinking about a job as a new grad. Most of the jobs are outpatient. Can I start out as outpatient provider as a new grad and the move on to inpatient later? Which one do you prefer?

I actually like outpatient better (walking wounded) but it is good experience even if you want inpatient as you'll have that knowledge of patients and what they go through on the outside. I get lot's of experience since I now do inpatient, outpatient and consult work. Sure glad I had a lot of medical background!

I have heard 6 figure salary quotes from almost everyone I've spoken with about the career, but I don't know if that's just because I live in an independent practice state (I'll be going to school in another state, though). Also, I don't know if new grad PMHNPs can expect to make that much when they're just starting out. I heard someone say that if a PMHNP takes a salary below 90k they're being taken advantage of…

Here is the survey for 2011. National Salary Report 2011 on ADVANCE for NPs & PAs

Don't know how reliable it is but, from the webpage, PMHNP is really NOT in the top-paying specialties at all. The pay dropped from last year.

Here is the survey for 2011. National Salary Report 2011 on ADVANCE for NPs & PAs

Don't know how reliable it is but, from the webpage, PMHNP is really NOT in the top-paying specialties at all. The pay dropped from last year.

'

... according to that exact survey, NPs in mental health are the highest paid hourly specialty (64$/hr) for part-time, and PAs who work in psych are very well paid as well... interesting that it dropped for full-time NPs. Why would it stay so high for part-time? Still, seems like psych pay is strong. I'd be interested in how they're defining "mental health setting" and what the data actually look like.

'

..

according to that exact survey,

nps in mental health are the highest paid hourly specialty (64$/hr) for part-time.

i see what you mean. i don't believe it. from what i am asking around, the pay is a lot lower than that (even for locumtenens) i know i live in the south but that should at least reduce the national average.

i think they skewed the rate by including only the locum tenens rate or per-diem rate (without benefits) from the high-paying state, not the regular part-time job. from researching around i see big gap in hourly rate without benefit (locum tenens) and full-time job.

Well, have you looked nationally at all? Because it seems like pay is lower in the south across the board. In my area, specialist NPs (includes psych) make 106k on average, according to WA state employment. I also think independent practice is a huge factor, as well.

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