Looking for insight from Psych NPs

[PCTerrific]

Hi guys!

I'm really interested in getting a Psych NP (for lots of reasons) when I head back to school for nursing next year. I currently work as a CNA in critical care, and in my inner-city hospital at least a third of our patients are struggling with mental illness at any given time. I've been lucky to have great MSNs to talk to about my path, but none are in psych nursing. Could anyone here give me some insight? Fulfilling? Nightmarish? What does a typical day look like for you? Is this a recipe for burn out? Rewarding?

Thanks for anything you can offer. I'm weighing lots of different programs for my second BSN (a whole different thread-- and this DNP thing in 2015 only makes it more confusing!), and the more information I have, the better.

thanks so much

:)

[zenman]

It's the best job ever! You don't have to wear a white coat or have an office full of equipment. You can make money challenging other NP's to practice with the electricity turned off or to walk nearly naked in the jungle and see which one of you can do the most good! You get to listen to crazy stuff that people do, try to figure out how their brain is working, then give them meds that we know little about, and see what happens. Or you can even have fun with therapy. It's never boring. How's that for insight?

[ktliz]

It's the best job ever! You don't have to wear a white coat or have an office full of equipment. You can make money challenging other NP's to practice with the electricity turned off or to walk nearly naked in the jungle and see which one of you can do the most good! You get to listen to crazy stuff that people do, try to figure out how their brain is working, then give them meds that we know little about, and see what happens. Or you can even have fun with therapy. It's never boring. How's that for insight?

Zenman, I am going to print this out and save it for inspiration as I follow my path toward psych NP!!

If you remember the admissions essay I asked you to read awhile ago-- I was rejected from the accelerated BSN program I had written the essay for due to some bad grades in my past. The admissions committee was concerned I wouldn't be able to handle the accelerated course load, but they offered me an interview for the slower-paced, combined BSN/MSN program instead. Never mind the fact that my essay was about how I want to become a PMHNP and the school didn't offer that specialty... not sure what they were thinking there! I turned down that interview and I accepted a spot in an accelerated BSN program at a different school. :)

I look forward to future responses to this thread. I always love hearing about the ups and downs of psych NP-hood!