I'm current high school student in dire need of some advice/ tips...

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Oct 17, 2013

I a current high school student and am very interested in pursuing a career in psychiatric nursing and then ultimately psychiatric nurse practitioner, but don't know where to begin I am currently taking AP Psychology and AP English, and am also taking pre-cal-don't know if that helps any. I'm a junior, so I need all the help I can get and fast. I live in Fullerton, California-once again, don't know if that helps any. I would like to know things like: what universities should I think about attending? How difficult is it academically speaking to pursue this career? What steps am I to take? I've done the research, I'm just hoping someone with prior experience and knowledge might be able to help. Thanks so much.

Selecting a school is a personal choice, and it depends in large part upon where you are able to get in. One does not specialize in nursing school. That comes later, once you enter the workplace. Schools of nursing give you a variety of clinical experiences in a number of different environments. In nursing school I was exposed to long term care, pediatrics, medical-surgical, operating room, emergency medicine, outpatient surgery clinic, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, orthopedics and oncology.

Nursing is a difficult and challenging course of study. It will consume a lot of your time and there is a lot to learn, both in prerequisite courses and in the nursing arena itself.

I never had to use calculus, which is a good thing because I was never any good at it.

LisalaRN99, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2013

God bless you future psych nurse! You are on the right path! Just keep doing well in school. Focus on sciences, the liberal arts, of course. There will be math courses, but nothing in the realm of calculus...mainly the college algebras. Go for a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing to start. If you are able to, get into a tech program first so you may get a parttime job as a certified nurse's aide or patient care attendant/technician. That way, you could get a job in a hospital as a nurse's aide and get a jump on the skills you will need initially as a nurse. Perhaps get a job in a psych facility as a mental health tech. This would get you in psych from the beginning. Many psych programs want nurses who have at least a year of medical-surgical nursing experience first. This is good because it gives you experience as a generalist. You see more things than you might on the psych unit, but if you do see it on psych, it will not be a new experience. Psych patients are human beings and have the same issues as "normal" people...high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc. You will see all sorts of things that have nothing to do with the mind! Nursing is a great profession! Keep learning and advancing yourself! Who knows? You may be a future Nurse Theorist!