Major in nursing and minoring in Psychology?

LuckyinKY · Jul 6, 2011

A four year Psych degree doesn't really do much for you job wise unless you plan on getting a Masters degree in psych afterwards. The bachelors degree in Psych would at best qualify you to work as a mental health assistant. With your degree in nursing you can work as a psych nurse but the minor in psych would be superfluous but maybe helpful.

You would probably enjoy doing inpatient psychiatry within a hospital. I work as a mental health assistant in one now while I am earning my nursing degree. You get a wide variety of patients from pediatric to geriatric.

Kenanipel · Jul 6, 2011

Thank you greatly :) I just looked up Psychiatric aide and it actually does sound very interesting! It's definitely something for me to consider and add in. It would be nice to gain experience from and get started in.. course I will have to look into it a little more and find out the finer prints but it does hit on a lot of what I already love doing and adds in even more. And it will let me be around nurses more than I am now and get a better feel for things. :tku:

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Jul 7, 2011

I graduated with a Bachelor's in nursing (it's actually a BS, not a BA) and a minor in general psych. In my program, it was only a matter of taking two more classes.

That being said, I don't think it helped at all in finding a job. Most facilities aren't really going to care that you have a minor (maybe unless you are pursuing psych nursing) and it doesn't even appear on the diploma. So the only proof that I have it is because I say I do.

A minor in child psychology might be beneficial if you want to work with children. Actual experience working with children is much better though.

If you really want to be a nurse, the BSN is the way to go- it's worth the hard work.

Consider shadowing a nurse for a few days. Maybe even shadow a psych RN, a psychologist and a social worker as well, so you have some idea of what all your options entail.

Kenanipel · Jul 7, 2011

Ahh BS sorry and thank you :) I just think BA when I think Bachelor.

Also that helps.. I was just never certain on how much a minor in it would help.

I have shadowed my Aunt at a childrens hospital one shift and it was interesting.. not precisely what I was expecting but I'm pretty sure I missed different things since it was only one day. I'll look into shadowing a little more and perhaps different areas if possible!

Thank you greatly :up:

jjjoy, LPN · Jul 7, 2011

In many US universities, one doesn't just "major in"nursing, they enter the "nursing program" which is a very structured series of nursing courses and clinical experiences that each cohort of a very limited number of nursing students moves through together. If you fail a class or clinical, you generally are out of the program altogether immediately and you may have to apply for a spot in the next year's cohort and/or hope for someone to drop from the next year's class so that you can fill their spot. Courses and clinicals generally are at pre-set, non-negotiable times (eg Lecture MWF 8-12, clinical Tues Thur 7a-3p, skills lab MW 2-4) which can make taking other coursework rather difficult just logistically, even if you weren't overwhelmed by the workload. There is lots of required reading and projects that take a lot of time *outside* of class and clinical time as well.

At my uni, you'd be pre-nursing the first two years (taking gen ed, pre-req sciences) and then apply for the nursing program for junior year. The nursing program was then two years. If a pre-nursing major didn't get into one of the just 50 yearly spots, they'd either just have to wait a year and apply again or switch to a non-nursing major. Many majors, on the other hand, don't have such strict limits on the admission of students in the major or classes.

My uni's BSN program did count many psych courses as elective credit towards the nursing degree - courses such as developmental psych & abnormal psych. So you still may be able to get some extra psych under your belt as a straight BSN student.

There are lots of different majors that focus on how the body works. You can major in anatomy, physiology, psychobiology, human biology (or some variation therein) and learn about the body. Nursing school level science courses are not as in depth as the courses for other science majors. Nursing school is about gaining the foundation and qualifications to be able to start working as an RN after graduation. Some say the "real learning" starts then.

Just food for thought!

Kenanipel · Jul 15, 2011

Thank you :) this has given me much to thank about!

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2011

I don't think it'll actually help. When I got my first degree I had once declared as a psych major so I took seven courses (5 A's, 2 B's) before changing my major to something even less useful, lol.

That said, I've done nothing but work with the public (primarily in law enforcement), and I don't remember enough of the theory to actually apply it to anything I've dealt with on the streets. I certainly deal with my share of crazy people, and knowing some about mental disorders helped but the rest hasn't. I just never had time to stop, refresh myself on it, and apply it to a given situation. I'm in nursing school now, and you'd think those seven classes would've been helpful. I did make an A in mental health, but I couldn't remember squat about developmental stages and theories, etc. I'd say the mental health class was better than the abnormal psych class I took though. At least I now know something about the many psych drugs that I often find on people. They really didn't even cover that when I was in paramedic school.

BelleNscrubs04 · Jul 17, 2011

As JJJoy said at many universities a minor when doing nursing isn't even an option. There are some things you can do with a Psychology BS that might relate well with nursing though if you can do that in your program. Like others have mentioned there is always Psych nursing. My cousin worked in a Methodone clinic with her Psycology BS ( it didn't pay very well though) & they also employ nurses so I'm sure having both would be a big plus in similar places. I took many Psych classes when I was still undecided and I find them helpful

all the time in dealing with people. Good luck in whatever you pursue. I think it is great that you are putting such thought into it so early.