If I get my Bachelor's in nursing, can I become a child therapist later?

Nurses General Nursing

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I want to do nursing in pediatrics to establish a career, but I would eventually like to be a child therapist. Does a Bachelor's degree in nursing still leave open room to continue my education with graduate school as a child therapist (or do I have to get another Bachelor's, but in Psychology)? I have been looking online, but I haven't seen anything about anyone going into child therapy with already being an RN.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

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I would contact a school and inquire as to their admission requirements. At most, you should only have to take a few courses and most likely you will be able to complete those courses along with the major. In general, you can pursue any other career you qualify for after obtaining a BSN. It depends upon the program you would be entering as to how many, if any, extra prerequisite courses you would have to take before applying to the new program. Good luck with your future plans.

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Specializes in pediatrics, public health.

You could become a psychiatric nurse practitioner, specializing in child psych. Becoming an NP requires going back to school for 2-3 years post BSN-RN to get an MSN.

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Specializes in critical care.

Look into nursing masters degrees to become a psych clinical nurse specialist. You can specialize as a child/adolescent CNS. Family psychiatric nurse practitioners can do therapy with children too, but historically, the CNS has been more geared toward therapy while the NP was more geared toward medication. (I may be oversimplifying this a bit.)

Alternatively, a BSN would also prepare you for a master's in counseling. Your nursing program will almost certainly require intro psych and probably life span development, too. Make sure you take abnormal psych and statistics as electives, if they aren't required. These courses will get you into most programs, but of course, YMMV. If you are interested in a specific program, check their admissions requirement.

Good luck!

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I want to do nursing in pediatrics to establish a career, but I would eventually like to be a child therapist. Does a Bachelor's degree in nursing still leave open room to continue my education with graduate school as a child therapist (or do I have to get another Bachelor's, but in Psychology)? I have been looking online, but I haven't seen anything about anyone going into child therapy with already being an RN.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

In a lot of places, you can take a MS for a mental therapist degree, or if you want, you could do a masters in psych to go for your clinical or counseling psych doctorate.

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Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

Other members have given some great suggestions as to the direction you could take to further your education. My opinion is that a background in nursing is an excellent foundation for a career in therapy if that's where you'd like to end up. There is so much you learn as a nurse about human nature that you cannot learn anywhere else. This is what I value most about nursing -- the insight and life experience you get from working with people at their most vulnerable.

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Hi Sincerebliss,

I have both a bachelor's in both nursing & psychology and I'm working in pediatrics as an RN, so hopefully I can be of some help. Here are my thoughts on this...you can definitely work with children and provide therapy as a nurse at a master's level (Psychiatric NP, as everyone else has been saying) but I feel it isn't the most direct way to reach your goal. Completing a Bachelor's in psychology and then completing either a master's or a PHD in a clinical psychology program with a concentration in child psychology would be the best/most direct route IMO. As a Psychiatric NP, you should get to provide some therapy and group sessions but in my experience they also do a lot of administrative type stuff as well as nursing stuff (overseeing the patient's getting their meds., making sure the floor runs smoothly, paperwork, ect). Whereas a Clinical Psychologist is going to be almost exclusively providing therapy to the population they are working with.

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Hi. Good for you that you want to work in pediatrics! Here is more food for thought on your career planning: (1)explore roles--- I agree with the other writer that you may want to explore the differences between the roles of clinical psychologists and psychiatric nurse practitioners;(2)explore job market---two people I know who have degrees in psychology say that the counseling job market is tough for clinical psychologists unless you have earned a doctorate degree; (3)prioritize goals---if your first goal is to "do nursing in pediatrics and establish a career", talk with nursing faculty advisors at your desired university about job expectations of pediatric nurses and steps to earn your degree in nursing. I earned both a Bachelor's and a Master's in Nursing, and I earned certification as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. I worked on a hospital pediatric unit and in a pediatric clinic for several years and really enjoyed both jobs! Best wishes in your career planning!

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Just to put it out there too......comparing peds NP to a child therapist there may be a big difference in pay. NPs prescribe meds and do medical too--so if you really only like the therapy/psych part......something to think about. I am an RN/BSN and want to go back for my LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor) via a Masters in Mental Health Counseling. I have tried to get a job that is more a counseling role then nursing in psych but they have made it really had here in NY and are only using LCSW/LMSW and LMHCs here for counseling-- or of course a psychologitst. Psychiatrists are not even getting paid here to do therapy any more. They do med management only and the counseling is done by the therapist. So if you want to get right to the counseling.....like another poster said......doing the nursing thing is not the most direct route. Unless you want to do the Child Psych NP route. But look at the pay differences in your area for different roles/degrees if pay matters to you.

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I appreciate everyone's input. I am looking for the quickest route spending the least amount of money as possible. I am going to be calling some schools in my area to figure out the exact route I need to go. I like to plan ahead. I am just glad to know this is possible and i appreciate all of your responses!:yeah:

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Also, find out from your state who can sign an Emergency Certificate

for involuntary hospitalization. In the 2 states I worked the certificate

will get the child/adolescent/adult to the hospital to be evaluated for

admission. In one state I worked, an MD, psychologist, RN (who is certified by

the state),social worker, police officer where individuals able to sign.

In the other state, all of the above except RNs were able to.

This is important depending upon the type of cases and work you are doing.

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did you decide to go back for

LMHC or Psych NP or CNS?

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