Learning versus Doing

[PG2018]

Is it more important to learn or do? Ok, so this is all a bit vague. I entered nursing only to become a PMHNP, and in May I'll finally graduate. It will have been a five year process with me having worked as a RN the last three years (BSN/RN 2 years, MSN/PMHNP 3 years).

I'm finding that I really enjoy, at this point, performing a complete psych evaluation, and I really enjoy med management. I also like drawing my own inferences about why behavior is what it is or how that person came to have his or her problem.

My first undergrad degree led me to take around 10 behavioral studies (psych, soc, criminology) classes, and I enjoyed them although I never went on to pursue grad study in those areas. Since I've been studying the specialty psych coursework in the MSN program I've been reading other areas of behavioral study, outside of psychopathology and psychopharmacology both of which I love, and I've been reading about neuroscience, social psychology (very intriguing!), and cognitive psychology.

All said, I'm really getting a lot more personal satisfaction form learning over doing. Learning doesn't pay the bills, and I've found myself looking over the local state university experimental psychology MS/PhD program. I even have a research interest that I've developed over the MSN program, and I could further study it with that route or even a nursing PhD program. I'm not at all certain I want to pursue doctoral study because it sounds like a HUGE amount of formal work and not just in writing the dissertation.

Basically I'm just bouncing ideas around. Sure, I'm going to graduate, pass the national board certification exam, obtain prescriptive privileges, and work as a PMHNP. I've got to if for no other reason than to reimburse myself the lost expenses. However, I'm really starting to think I'd rather make a career (and need a PhD) in behavioral study or academics. Let me say, I don't care beans about fundamental nursing. I didn't pursue the APRN route because it's nursing. Rather, it was a way I could provide comprehensive mental health care through therapy and medication without having to play the med school games and rotate through a lot of stuff I don't care about. I have limited interests you might say. That said, I don't think I could join nursing school faculty as I know next to nothing about wounds and general nursing stuff.

So have any of you found after pursuing an endeavor of rather lengthy undertaking that you instead found that although you like the field you'd rather do something else with it? And how did that play out for you?