(Mental Health vs Adult Gero)-unable to decide

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Hi Everyone,

I am in need of sound advice or personal opinions of anyone who is interested in sharing their experience and choices.

I currently have 1.5 years of nursing experience (actively working full time) on the pulmonary/med-surg unit in a teaching hospital (NJ). I am greatly interested in pursuing my Masters in Nursing in order to further my career in this rewarding profession but cannot seem to make a final decision on the path I want to take.

I know that I enjoy working with the adult/elderly population and initially thought becoming an Adult Gero NP would be the best option. As I am researching more I realize that Mental Health is also part of my interest list as I have always enjoyed psychology and am very empathetic/sensitive in nature.

Of course my priority is being able to make a difference in people's lives but I will not hesitate to say that job outlook/salary is also of importance (and I believe rightfully so).

If anyone can share their opinion of why one path would be more beneficial/satisfactory than the other I would greatly appreciate it as I seem to enter myself in a tunnel of what ifs. Thank you.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.

Well, the benefits, etc. of each field are going to be individual. I don't like doing physical things with patients so immediately that rules out anything outside of talking. Psych generally only requires looking and interviewing. You really don't even have to go through a therapeutic dialogue since you'll be hired to address the symptoms of mental illness more than any psychosocial causation.

A lot of the adult/geriatric practitioners take a course and rotation in geropsych so a lot of them end up in a neuropsych world which might be the best option for you. I generally refer out neuropsych problems because I don't want to properly evaluate them or manage them long-term.

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Thank you PsychGuy for your response. I read your replies to previous threads also and must say you have accomplished what many strive for in the advance nursing practice.

I did look into the option of a post masters certification after completing Adult Gero but am concerned if it would be limiting if I decide to do strictly psych as I heard employees favor a more focused initial study in mental health.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
As I am researching more I realize that Mental Health is also part of my interest list as I have always enjoyed psychology and am very empathetic/sensitive in nature.

I'm not in any way attempting to be snarky but keep in mind psychiatry and psychology are very different. In my experience psych providers who are very empathetic/sensitive can do a disservice to a majority of psych patients because they aren't able to set reasonable boundaries, they believe patient's reports at face value and tend to get taken advantage of when it comes to prescribing controlled substances. Just something to think about and as always I highly recommend getting some actual RN experience in psych before attempting to prescribe meds.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.
Thank you PsychGuy for your response. I read your replies to previous threads also and must say you have accomplished what many strive for in the advance nursing practice.

I did look into the option of a post masters certification after completing Adult Gero but am concerned if it would be limiting if I decide to do strictly psych as I heard employees favor a more focused initial study in mental health.

I don't know if the latter is true. A post masters program will cover the same stuff. It's not like it's hard to beat our 750 hours of training, lol.

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I'm not in any way attempting to be snarky but keep in mind psychiatry and psychology are very different. In my experience psych providers who are very empathetic/sensitive can do a disservice to a majority of psych patients because they aren't able to set reasonable boundaries, they believe patient's reports at face value and tend to get taken advantage of when it comes to prescribing controlled substances. Just something to think about and as always I highly recommend getting some actual RN experience in psych before attempting to prescribe meds.

I definitely understand your point of being unable to set reasonable boundaries and becoming too emotionally invested which does of course concern me. I also do not have any experience other than nursing school rotations in mental health. I do know that I am willing to learn the art of setting boundaries and would like to have the ability to address the symptoms of mental illness many are dealing with.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

Have you attempted to shadow anyone yet? That may help you decide.

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Have you attempted to shadow anyone yet? That may help you decide.

That would be the logical next step. Thank you.

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