ThePMHNP

I've had multiple psychiatrists advise me not to make medication changes over the phone. I used to do it sometimes in the beginning but I would get so burned out with all the constant phone calls in between appointments that I didn't have time to constantly be taking. It's easier to just to have a rule of no medication changes over the phone, if they want a change they need to come in. Im sure you're busy and don't have time to do free phone sessions for patients that don't wanna come in...

Not sure if your a PMHNP, but we see a lot of drug seeking for stimulants in practice for people that don't meet qualifications for ADHD. It's growing more common to refer all patients for psychological testing for adult ADHD, its just another hoop to go through and they get formal testing. You could always do that. You can always write for Strattera or Wellbutrin, nonstimulants that are FDA approved for ADHD instead. It's also DSM 5 criteria for ADHD to have symptoms prior to age 12. Hope this helps.

Hello! My husband and I are considering becoming foster parents. I am debating on whether to be a general foster parent or a medical foster parent. I've worked in child psychiatry as both a nurse and now as a Psychiatric NP and have had quite a lot of exposure to foster children. I was wondering if anyone has experience in medical foster care and what the most common illnesses are? Since I have a background in mostly psychiatry (worked for a year in med surg after nursing school) I would not feel comfortable with cases that require high level skills such as managing a tracheotomy, but would be more comfortable managing illness such as HIV or diabetes. What are some of the most common conditions you seen? Just deciding which track to go. Thank you!! :)

I currently practice as a PMHNP and I would say your background as a pharmacist would make you so invaluable and would definitely make you more competitive compared to other new grads. Me and my fellow physician and NP colleagues rely so much on pharmacist input on patients. My last PMHNP job there was a long acting injectable clinic managed by pharmacists and they would collaborate with the PMHNPs and MDs on patient cases. When I worked as an inpatient psych nurse we had a pharmacist that specialized in psych sit in on biweekly rounds and give recommendations. You also want to keep in mind that with a lot of psych NP jobs you are being hired by physicians and with my previous RN experience I find that MDs tend to respect pharmacists over RNs, so youre pharmacy experience will be viewed favorable. Also I do therapy and medication management so yes, you can absolutely do both.

Yeah it was pretty bad. It was in the South where there were 2 PA schools in the area and 1 NP school, so the competition was pretty fierce. What made matters worse was the psychiatry facility I worked for was mostly hiring PAs in psychiatry and didn't think much about me having a psych certification as an NP, it was outpatient and I was actually replacing a PA. When I got my supervision agreement they wrote for me they initially wrote FNP as my credentials, in fact I had a psychiatrist ask if I could even prescribe medication on an interview! I now am about to start a new position making $70 per hour, seeing 1 patient an hour (doing med management and therapy) much better arrangement!

Just left my last job after having a baby but here it is: New grad PMHNP in the South with previous psych RN experience $86k 8-5pm weekdays No paid holidays No CME No bonuses Had to pay 90 dollars every month for parking

Hello! So sorry you are having a tough time in the job market. Im a psychiatric nurse practitioner and the last two jobs I got werent even advertised. The first one I emailed one of the directors at the clinic site, the second through a recruiter. I would try contacting clinics and practices directly to see if they need any help. A PNP I used to know had to move around a lot because her husband was military and would just email clinics with her resume and she would find jobs so much quicker! I know with a lot of job postings sometimes your application doesnt even get looked at by an actual person, it just gets screened by a computer algorithm. If pediatrics is your passion don't give up!! Best of luck!

Congrats on the new baby!! Im a psych NP and I would say don't worry too much about the gap. For NP jobs most employers don't want you to start until you are credentialed which takes about 3 months. So if you're looking to start in Feb, realistically you'd look for jobs in Nov, which would narrow your unemployment gap. With COVID I'd say more employers would be more understanding about gaps. Also remember you have your whole life to work but time with your baby is limited and precious! Best of luck! :)

I'm a psych NP with my DNP. A majority of psych nps I've worked with go by "doctor" in the clinical setting and introduce their role (nurse practitioner). Working in mental health is a little bit different than other areas of medicine since we have so many psychologists with PsyD's and PhDs and therapists with PhDs that go by "doctor", therefore in mental health it is not a physician only title. I also don't believe psychologists that go by "doctor" are superior to psychiatric nps and are any more worthy of that title. The attending I work with encouraged me to use the doctor title, especially since we have so many non physicians that use it. Hope this helps!