need info psych RN and CNS/NP

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hello all. i am new to this website. i am thinking about psych nursing as a career. i will start nursing school next year and currently volunteer at a mental health clinic. i heard psych nurses outside of hospitals get paid really poorly, and i'd eventually like to get out of a rotation schedule at a hospital. i just need to be able to pay back my student loans. what's your take?

also, i've considered eventually doing this program that will get me a CNS and an NP in psych nursing, but i'm having a really hard time finding information on what kind of jobs there are out there. it seems the only way to make money (again, just to pay off loans, not in it to get rich) is to have a private or group practice, but i may be way into the security of working for someone else to do that.

psych nursing is my passion (at least, i think it will be), but i am seriously considering going into a different field of nursing to get better pay and better hours.

help, please. advice is very welcome, especially if you are a psych RN or CNS.

thanks so much!

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

I was a psych RN for 7 years and am a psych CNS now (for 8 years). Here's how I have worked as a CNS. I taught at a university, part time and full time. I taught psych clinical and theory and took my students into a variety of psych and chemical dependency treatment settings. I also worked with a group of psychiatrists. I was "one of them" and saw my own patients in the office. I did not go into a psych hospital and was not on call. The NPs that worked with this group of psychiatrists saw patients in the psych hospital and only did physicals and monitored and treated medical problems. They did not treat psych problems. They were on call 24/7 for their patients, but just for medical issues.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Psych.

I've learned to do my own investigation, as I've repeatedly found others tell me incorrect data. Psych nursing outside hospitals sometimes pays better than the local hospitals. And you may find that you can work out a schedule you really like at your workplace as a nurse. Good luck to you!

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I've said this before but I started out making $15 an hour more at a private psych facility than my fellow students that did the med-surge orientation program thingy through hospitals. No way did I want to do med surge or work for that wage. :) Definitely do your own leg work and some of the facilities' web sites will offer a salary range. Good luck.

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Thank you all.

Whispera, the program I am looking at is a dual program CNS/NP, but it sounds like you are suggesting the CNS alone is the best if you want to do counseling. Would a group practice not hire a CNS/NP to do the work similar to a psychiatrist? Or, is your point that if I have the NP and work at a hospital then I will not get to do much counseling. Also, so you, as a CNS without the NP, counsel patients in a group practice??? Do you make enough to cover student loans and malpractice and medical insurance and all that? A group practice sounds ideal, but I am not sure if the benefits are there.

Thanks again so very much and sorry for all of the questions.

Sincerely,

usedbrain

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Jules, thanks a bunch, thanks to all of you. I will continue my research. It is just the nurses I've been able to call that work in a non-hospital setting have all said the pay is much worse than in a hospital. But, you give me hope!

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

Hi Usedbrain. I don't see a way to send you private email and am not sure everyone would be interested in all my story here, so I'd be glad to talk to you through private message

I'll tell you what my experience has been. We could talk by phone too, if you like.

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Hi Usedbrain. I don't see a way to send you private email and am not sure everyone would be interested in all my story here, so I'd be glad to talk to you through email private message.

I'll tell you what my experience has been. We could talk by phone too, if you like.

I can't speak for everyone else, but I would love to hear your story. I'll graduate from an ADN program in August. I have a BS in psych as well. I'm interested in starting in Psych. So, I've been following the threads here to learn more abouth the specialty.

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Specializes in Psych.

I'd like to hear it too. Feel free to change the names to protect the innocent! I am a new RN with one year of Med-Surg and I have just started working per diem at a state psych hospital. I enjoy this, think I would actually enjoy it more if I had a more responsible role, so I'm looking into PMHNP programs. I don't care about the pay to be honest, I care about feeling fufilled at work and making a difference.

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Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.
Hi Usedbrain. I don't see a way to send you private email and am not sure everyone would be interested in all my story here, so I'd be glad to talk to you through private message

I'll tell you what my experience has been. We could talk by phone too, if you like.

I would be intrested in your story as Psych is one of the specialities I am most interested in.

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

I'm kind of at a loss as to what to tell you...it's a longggg, complicated story. Do you have specific questions? I was a psych floor nurse for several years while working on my MSN (I'm a CNS). I've taught for 10 years and had my own in-the-office practice with a group of psychiatrists. They considered me one of them. My patients were MY patients, not theirs at all. I did everything they did except I didn't do ECTs, wasn't on call, didn't go to the hospitals, and didn't get paid what they did.

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Specializes in Psych.

Do you feel it was worth it to get your MSN? Did you find a pretty good choice of new avenues open to you when you did it?

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