RN356

Hmmm, didn't realize this would be such a polarizing topic. I don't know why my years of critical care experience are considered starting from "zero". We treat psychiatric emergencies in the ER all the time, and when I am in the psych pod that is all I take care of. If the only reason to be a psych RN is to see if I can handle psych patients, well, I've seen plenty of head-banging, feces-eating, hole-shoving folks in the ER and it hasn't scared me away yet I'm also quite familiar with medical issues that can masquerade as or complicate psychiatric diagnoses. I've had plenty of suicide attempts, grief/palliative care conversations, addicts of all flavors, as well as TBI and dementia patients in the ICU. However, since I have never worked as a specifically psych RN, I don't know what I don't know and I can acknowledge that. What specific skills or knowledge might I gain from being a psych RN that I need to fulfill the APRN role that I am unable to gain from my current positions? As pro-student said, the roles of RN and APRN are pretty different. I have a couple of main points of interest in the psych realm, which are my reasons for heading that direction in the first place. The patient populations I am most interested in are Veterans/PTSD/addiction/pain management, and I take care of these populations on a daily basis. I see the huge need for practitioners in these areas and I would love to fill a need. This would most likely put me in outpatient versus inpatient psych settings. I'm still on the lookout for possible psych RN opportunities, but like I said none seem to be available that wouldn't put me in a very different financial situation, and no PRN jobs are around to be had (yet there are plenty of PMHNP openings!). Volunteering is a good idea, though, and I will look into that. When I started out as a new grad in the ICU various people told me that it was a horrible idea and even that I would be dangerous to my patients. However, I think the opposite turned out to be true. I went into the position thinking critically from the get-go, and I am thankful I took the path I did because it made me a stronger nurse. I wonder if this is a similar situation to that? Either way, thanks to all who took time to give me their thoughts.

Hello All, I am very interested in pursuing a PMHNP and am currently looking to enroll in programs. I enjoy working with psych patients and I see how bad the need is for more mental health professionals, especially in my area. However, my current experience as an RN has only been in ER and ICU, with no "specific" psych RN experience. I obviously work with psych patients every day in both of these specialties, and volunteer to work in the "psych pod" whenever possible when I work ER. I am wondering how important it is for me to work as a specifically psych RN before NP school? I have been looking at opportunities at different psych facilities in my area, but flexible jobs are few right now and they pay literally 15 dollars less an hour than what I make now in critical care where I can completely dictate my own schedule. I'm not in it for the money, but at the same time I gotta pay my mortgage and that's a huge pay drop! I also want to keep my job flexibility during school/clinicals. Do you think my experience plus the experience I will gain from NP school will be sufficient to make me an effective practitioner? I would appreciate thoughts :)