ACNP and Phmnp

Nursing Students NP Students

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I'm going to be graduating with my BSN shortly and have an interest in Acute Care Nurse Practitioner- Intensivist and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and I'm interested in being licensed with both boards but I'm not sure on which program I should go to first. Please note I would not practice these specialities together I plan on practicing each specialty independently in different settings, i.e ICU as my main focus and Mental Health on a part time basis/gig and vice versa.

I'm not one who is adamant about getting years of psych RN experience before PMHNP. However, I think your belief that the NP program will provide you with a solid base is perhaps misguided. NP programs don't do a good job preparing students, especially if you have zero experience in the specialty and/or you don't put in lots of extra effort into learning from materials outside of your curriculum. Some programs are better than others, but overall there aren't enough clinical hours.

No matter what, if you want both certifications, it only makes sense to go for ACNP first.

To be competent, you will likely need at least 2+ years of full-time experience in each specialty separately. Psych cases can be highly complex. There will be a large amount of learning and experience you will need to put into it even as a side gig.

Thank you so much your one of the first individuals who answered my question with appropriate and useful information. I do definitely understand what you mean when it comes to taking a large amount of learning and experience in which I am willing in order to do in order to be a competent provider. Again I really appreciate your advice.

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I understand your goal, which you have made v. clear. I was responding to your statement that double-boarding is "encouraged" in medicine. Not in my experience.

As to your goal, if I needed psychiatric services, I would definitely not want to receive them from an NP who is working in psych part-time as a side gig. How do you expect to become really competent and develop any real expertise in that scenario? At the least, it would take you much longer to do so than actually committing to practicing as a psych NP would. Since you mention working as a "crisis" psych NP, is your plan to work at some facility where people don't have a choice of provider, and you will have a "captive audience"? Those are the people who most need an expert clinician. Too bad for them, I guess.

My goal is to work in forensics such as a state prison in the crisis unit in which the inmate patients do and do not have a choice of their provider. If I am unable to work in that environment I would prefer to work in inner city crisis stabilization where I can get as much knowledge from my collaborating psychiatrist.

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.
My goal is to work in forensics such as a state prison in the crisis unit in which the inmate patients do and do not have a choice of their provider. If I am unable to work in that environment I would prefer to work in inner city crisis stabilization where I can get as much knowledge from my collaborating psychiatrist.

Just to give you a picture of crisis units...

I work in an inner city crisis stabilization unit. This might vary depending on the area, but CSUs in my area will not hire PMHNPs without at least a couple years of psych RN (or PMHNP) experience. Although the clients are typically not as acute as inpatient, they tend to be chronic and complex often with dual-diagnosis and multiple medical/psych co-morbidities.

The PMHNPs at my CSU don't get a lot of training, and the collaborating psychiatrists are rarely on site. The PMHNPs typically get a few weeks of orientation, if that, so in reality they operate pretty independently.

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Completly understood but I kinda thought of it as a person who is a ICU RN and does per diem ER on the side a couple days a week. In regards to Phmnp I don't believe I would require much floor Psych RN experience as I believe the program would definitely provide me with a solid base, however for ACNP I plan on working CVICU or ER for a year prior to applying to a program.

I highly recommend working or at least volunteering extensively in an acute inpatient and out patient psych units before signing up for a pmhnp degree program. Many jump into these programs without through experience with what they will be dealing with. Psych is absolutely not for every one. The border line patients can be extremely draining. I have seen many nurses come and go in 8 years in psych nursing. I have worked primarily in prison crisis units and acute inpatient lock up units. These people deserve qualified practitioners. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome and serotonin syndrome are life threatening conditions that floor psych nurses must know and prescribers must master. And then there are the clozaril patients....

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Assuming from how you talk that you are not an RN yet... (correct me if i am wrong)...I used to be you. Before I was an RN. While in school, planning my future. Yet, here I am, after working as a nurse for a few years, and guess what? I have completely different plans. Finish school, get a job, learn all you can. Take in what it means to be an RN. Then decide what to do. It might be the same plan, but it could be something you never considered.

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Not to be snide, but a whole bunch of inmate/malingerers are eagerly waiting at a prison near you.

Ok, it is a little snide.

Get some experience. We need more good psych providers. The knowledge is not found in a book, unfortunately.

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