Are my high ambitions practical?

[Asinda, BSN, RN]

Hello everyone! I am new to the community and honestly in awe of all the amazing and knowledgeable people I have seen on this site. I was wondering if you would be able to provide me on some advice regarding my ultimate career goals. I am a nursing student with very little background as of yet in the medical field, so I have a lot to learn about how the health system structure works. But I have a very specific idea of what I ultimately would like to do in the field, and would like to know if it is truly practical.

My intended path pretty much is as follows: right now I am pursuing my BSN in the state of MN. Depending on the job situation at my time of graduation (2014) I will either look for a job within state to get experience and then move out to CA, or move straight out to CA after graduation. After practicing as a nurse for 2-3 years I would like to return to school to become a NP or PA. And after gaining experience as an NP/PA, I would like to return to school again to become certified as a mental health counselor.

The end product being that I would like to be able to provide broad-range and detailed support to people that suffer from mild to moderate mental illness and disabilities. As a NP/PA I would be able to prescribe their medications under supervision while also providing their outpatient counseling, giving me an enlarged window to be able to observe how the medication is truly affecting them. As a person who has witnessed mental health care through both my own and my families experiences (Two of my sisters and I have ADHD, my mom suffers from depression and my father ADHD w/comorbid bipolar disorder) I found the lack of continuity between care to be distressing. I felt extremely frustrated that the person who was prescribing me my medication didn't know me as a person and really didn't see how it impacted my functioning in the 5-10 minute window I saw them. And my counselor didn't really understand how the medication worked in my system and I felt couldn't adequately evaluate the results either. I know there are lines of communication, but I just felt there was a gap (though I am sure it was not intentional and they truly did care about my overall health, no offense to any psychiatrists or counselors out there!).

But getting back to my original point, can anyone give me an idea to wether or not this is actually practical? On one hand I feel like it would save insurance companies a lot of money and make me more employable, but on the other I wonder if this is too specific and if it would even be desired? I know I have along way to go before I make any serious decisions, but I know myself... once I get my mind set on something I am pretty incorrigable and determined. I just want to make sure I set my sights on something that is attainable!

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance to all that answer!

[elkpark]

What you are describing is basically the psych NP role. You might want to look into that further. Best wishes!

[Asinda, BSN, RN]

Thank you elkpark! I didn't realize that psych NPs took on the role of counselor too, in speaking with some of my advisors I had gotten the impression that they filled more of a low key psychiatrist role... not a lot of prolonged contact with single patients unless they worked in a ward. I'll have to look into that, that would be much easier (and less expensive!).