Long story short: I have so many interests. I would be happy being an accountant (for the FBI, investigating white-colar crime, of course), nurse (NICU, psych), psychologist (clinical, research, organizational even), and maybe a few others. I'm starting college in September and I've been considering double majoring in Nursing & Psychology, just to have my bases covered (you know what they say about having a degree in psych). I can see myself working as either a psych nurse, then going on to be a NP or something. I can also see myself becoming a psychologist, PhD and everything. Right now, it's a tough decision, so I'm going to double major and see how I feel after graduating. But I was just curious if anyone else was in the same boat? Did anyone consider becoming a psychologist before becoming a psych nurse?
Yes and if things don't work out with getting into a nursing program, I will probably finish my degree in Psychology. If things do work out with nursing, I would really like to be a R.N. in a psych hospital or unit. That's my ultimate goal.
Long story short: I have so many interests. I would be happy being an accountant (for the FBI, investigating white-colar crime, of course), nurse (NICU, psych), psychologist (clinical, research, organizational even), and maybe a few others. I'm starting college in September and I've been considering double majoring in Nursing & Psychology, just to have my bases covered (you know what they say about having a degree in psych). I can see myself working as either a psych nurse, then going on to be a NP or something. I can also see myself becoming a psychologist, PhD and everything. Right now, it's a tough decision, so I'm going to double major and see how I feel after graduating. But I was just curious if anyone else was in the same boat? Did anyone consider becoming a psychologist before becoming a psych nurse?
Thats kinda sad about the openings, and the fact that it pays poorly in comparison to nursing. A classmate of mine was working in psychology and got to the Bachelor level and began working in a "emergency placement" for children who had recently been taken from their homes r/t abuse.
Psychology can pay well, but the expectation is at the doctoral level, and for the amount of time we put in.....it still doesn't pay well unless you work in certain areas. The flexibility is excellent though. There are MA/MS level therapists, though that is a much different scope than the doctoral level.
As for competitiveness....most decent programs accept between 2-10% of applicants, though others have higher rates (10-25%+). Some programs get 500+ applications, but most just get a couple hundred....though they tend to fight for
All and all it is a great field....but it is a long road and you can make a good living, but people usually don't do it for the money.
I have a bachelors in psychology, but then went to nursing school after that. I originally wanted to be a psychologist and sometimes wish I would have pursued it.
I have the same question...I have a BA in psychology but am now in nursing school in my first semester of an associates degree program. I have an attraction for counseling...if I become a psychiatric NP, will I be able to do much therapy, or is it simply medication management?
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
I have a bachelors in psychology, but then went to nursing school after that. I originally wanted to be a psychologist and sometimes wish I would have pursued it.
I have the same background. However, I quickly learned that all my BA qualified me for was a low-paying dead-end desk job, or a job as an aide on a mental health unit. With no options to get a postgraduate degree, I eventually found my way into nursing.
One interesting aside: On the first mental health unit I worked on there was an aide who believed she ought to be supervising everyone else because she had "more education" than anyone there (meaning the nurses). She had a bachelor's in psychology. One day I finally got a gut full of her spouting this to everyone within earshot, and I explained to her that (1) the people she believed she should lead were licensed to practice their professions while she was not, and (2) if she wanted to compare transcripts I was more than ready for it.
She was eventually fired for conducting unauthorized counseling sessions with patients and for giving an unauthorized referral to an outside agency that the patient's insurance did not pay for. She blamed me for her firing.
I'm exactly where you were, Orca (at the crossroads between nursing and facing the job market armed with only a BA in Psych) so I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me more about the impetus behind your decision to become a nurse. Did you have a budding interest in the direct care aspect of nursing, or the science, or was it more of a calculated decision -- you went into nursing because you wanted a wider range of career options with more room for upward mobility, or a mixture of all of the above?
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
Pretty much a mixture. My late mother was an RN, and my sister is a nursing supervisor in the ER of a major teaching hospital, so I had a lot of exposure to nursing before deciding on it as a career. I was disgusted with my career prospects with the degree I had, and I decided to try nursing - in part because if I wound up in something I totally hated, I could move on to something else without the time and expense of additional schooling. I have seen quite enough of the inside of a classroom. Thirteen years after graduation I made it to the DON level, and my earnings and advancement far outstrip what I could have achieved had I done nothing else educationally. I also possess that pathological gene that makes me care about helping others. :)
Bachelor's degrees in social sciences are a dime a dozen. The available jobs don't pay much and there is a lot of competition for them.
Your story sounds just like mine I changed my major every semester until i got into nursing school. I really want to do psych nursing when i finish, but i did want to be a psychologist/ phd but the chem/calc classes kicked my but .
I am a master's level mental health therapist and am in the process of applying to nursing programs. I am not sure if I will go to an ARNP program (there's a nursing immersion program where non-nurses with a Bachelor's degree can get a Master's in nursing) or do an AA program first and slowly work toward a graduate degree in nursing. I eventually want to be a psychiatric ARNP.
I sometimes wish I had gone into nursing first, but I have always wanted to be a mental health therapist, so that's the route I went. Unfortunately, AA level nurses make more money than master's level therapists (at least in the Pacific NW where I live) so I want to combine disciplines and be a psych nurse. Hopefully master's level.
I know that I am resurrecting an old thread here but I figured that other people might find this the same way I did.
I currently have my MA in psychology and it is not a degree that I would recommend to people unless they really wanted to open a private practice, at least in the Pacific Northwest. The only real thing that a MA level therapist can do is work in community mental health with the chronically mentally ill and people on state assistance or in a private practice because everywhere else requires an MSW. I am almost done with my required classes for nursing school and wish I had gone that route first. MA therapists do not get paid for their degree level and it is very difficult to pay back the loans FYI. I say this just because I wish someone had told me this because I would have gone a different route. But if people want to do it, with all this knowledge, then by all means, do it.
I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately because, yeah I did. Nurisng was totally out of the question, because my mom had give me considerable pressure( she was an LPN and i was 18) and I frankly just thought it was gross.
When I was about to graduate high school I looked at different branches of the military to get the GI bill to cover schooling costs of becoming a psychologist. It got down to all of the nitty gritty numbers and they said, "we'll provide all of this, but you will have to be trained to be a nurse prior to any additional psych schooling." I said, "nope, absolutely not" and walked away from the deal. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise since Sept 11 happened about the time I was schedulled to finish basic training. It retrospect i would have ended up being a field medic during the gruesome initial stages of the war only to go home and be trained to treat the internal battle scars. Blessings in disguise, blessings in disguise....
Since i didn't have money for college i bumbled around for several years after high school doing childcare and working for the local school district before I came to the conclusion, "if i'm going to be wiping noses and butts all day i might as well be able to support myself with a single job". During nursing school I wanted to do anything mom/baby and interned in the NICU, but when i graduated the only hospital hiring was a psych hospital(conviently within walking distance to my house-pay check, exercise and no commute costs in one!). I had completely forgotten that i had wanted to be a psychologist until recently.
It's always great to make plans, but be mindful of the blessings in disguise and that nothing is certain when you're making plans for college and career.
At this point in time I am just a pre-nursing student, however I was seriously considering going down the mental health counselor or social work path. I originally began looking into nursing because the salaries in those previously mentioned professions are ridiculous when you consider the amount of time spent in school and, for me personally, the student loan payments I would have to be making afterwards. I thought, there has to be another way for me to be involved in helping people and fulfilling my strong interest in psychology that doesn't require being in school forever or living paycheck to paycheck. Enter psychiatric nursing. I'm aware that I may change my mind one day if something else just absolutely captivates me during clinicals(I am interested in OR and Emergency Med as well), but just the prospect of being a psychiatric nurse really excites me.
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reinvent
23 Posts
Yes and if things don't work out with getting into a nursing program, I will probably finish my degree in Psychology. If things do work out with nursing, I would really like to be a R.N. in a psych hospital or unit. That's my ultimate goal.