moving into Psychiatric work or wait for specialty?

[westcoastgirl]

would i be better off by going the fnp route and then try to obtain a certification in pmhnp

i saw this question from another poster and wanted to start a new thread because my question is a little different. i work as a fnp and enjoy the work, however could see myself eventually looking into specialty areas that interest me to grow skills/knowledge and for better pay. areas that interest me are psych, gi, derm.

during school both undergraduate and graduate i have always enjoyed psych and applied for a psych np (post master's certificate as i already have my msn). i have been accepted into the program and need to give them an answer before school starts.

i do not want to rush into getting the psych certificate only to find out i need to go back to school again for a dnp down the road! my family is pleading with me to work less hours. i am content to simply work as fnp for the next 5 years but worried about losing the opportunity to get into psych as a specialty. the only dnp program around here is vague in its details and seem to offer no area of specialty focus.

any suggestions?

[jer_sd]

The DNP is still new, if it takes off I am expecting transitional DNP degrees similar to what has happened in pharmacy, physical therapy and other fields that have experienced degree inflation.

It would be interesting to see if things change significantly in NP education such as what happened with DPMs, in many states the surgical privilages are limited by when they graduates, or what type of residency they took.

I am looking at this issue myself, is it worth getting a PMC now in yet another area, or if I wait untill after DNP deadine has happened it might take a DNP rather than a cert. I think thoes of us currently practicing will still be able to, there may be issues in moving between states. I have 20-30 years to practice so I may need to go back for a DNP eventualy.

My bias would be to go ahead now and take what ever program interests you rather than gamble and see how things change in the next 5-10 years.

[Smitty08]

The DNP is still new, if it takes off I am expecting transitional DNP degrees similar to what has happened in pharmacy, physical therapy and other fields that have experienced degree inflation.

It would be interesting to see if things change significantly in NP education such as what happened with DPMs, in many states the surgical privilages are limited by when they graduates, or what type of residency they took.

I am looking at this issue myself, is it worth getting a PMC now in yet another area, or if I wait untill after DNP deadine has happened it might take a DNP rather than a cert. I think thoes of us currently practicing will still be able to, there may be issues in moving between states. I have 20-30 years to practice so I may need to go back for a DNP eventualy.

My bias would be to go ahead now and take what ever program interests you rather than gamble and see how things change in the next 5-10 years.

I would agree with this approach. I would suggest getting into the new content area ASAP. I did notice a few DNP programs that offer a clinical psych. track, which would be another way to go. Most DNP programs at this time are more generic. AFterthought: your other areas of interest (GI and Derm) could fall under FNP certification, whereas the psych. area of interest does not!