Love&Care

I still have not found anything! I've torn apart Google looking for this kind of information, but I'm afraid you're right. Nurses in Pittsburgh don't talk. lol. From what I've heard from friends and such, the NPs in Pittsburgh they know make "really good money." That's all I get from people. "Good money" can mean anything depending on the person! ha. But I'm no sure about RNs. I have a family member who has been an RN for a long, long time...and she's never told me but I would say she's making between 85000-90,000. Definitely close to six figures, but I don't know how true this is for other nurses. I'm more interested in knowing the starting rate for RNs. I know UPMC doesn't pay well at all, but I know the West Penn Allegheny system is known for nursing excellence, with AGH nurses being in unions. So I've always assumed pay in that system would be a lot better for nurses than UPMC. But I am not sure. Do you currently work at West Penn or do you work at another Pittsburgh hospital?

I meant to say, what is the difference between psych NP and a psychiatrist. I was still thinking about the psychologist topic when I typed that.

Sorry for a late reply, school has been busy. Great information and advice here. Thanks so much everybody. For those of you who are PMHNPs or are in the process of becoming one, what does a typical day for a PMHNP look like? Also, what is the big difference between the psych NP and a prescribing psychologist? I would assume that in general, they can both treat the patient in the same way: med and/or psychotherapy. Also, how important is experience went entering the mental health field as a nurse? What other kinds of research can they engaged in? Can they specialize in say, neuropsychiatry and work along neurologists and with patients with epiliepsy and other neurologyical disorders? I'm mostly interested in the mental health of medically ill patients either in oncology, neuro, nephrology, etc. I'm also very interested in the biological aspects (and research) of things, which is why I'm choosing the NP route. However, how much "biology" is even in psychiatry? Also, can PMHNPs also help manage coexisting physical conditions with physical assessment, differential diagnosis, and drug assessment? Or are they stritly tied down to psychiatric patients? Tried to stay away from this question but I'm curious: What's the salary like for psych NPs? I know reimbursment for psychiatrists isn't the greatest and they are one of the lowest paid physicians.

Hi, I'm wondering where I can find salary information for nurses AND NPs at west penn hospital? I've searched the best I could and I haven't found anything.

Hey everyone, thank you so much for all of the info. Very helpful! Now, I'll be graduating soon to get my RN and I plan on going straight to NP school afterwards because my whole reason for going to nursing school was to become an NP. But I'm probably going to work for a few months first. So my question is, how do I go abou getting an RN job in a cardiac unit to get experience? Also, how would working in a cardiac unit mesh with going to school and having a family? I plan on getting married soon and having a family. Will all of this be possible? How busy/intense is it to work in a cardiac unit as an RN while going to school and having a family? If I do my clinicals in NP all in cardiology, will this be seen as "experience" by employers?

Thank you for your responses! Smoothjams, I was hearing that psychologists could have right within the next 10-15 years, but then again that's just what I've heard. Do you agree with this? Do you think this will happen? I'm trying to keep an open mind about this. Also, I love pharmacology and I know that a lot of PMHNPs do medication management for psychitric patients. However, are they able to do med management for other kind of patients with medical issues as well? Like for example, can a PMHNP do pain management medicine and manage meds for patients with chronic pain or with other medical condition? Do they need a special certification for that?

Thank you so much. Your post was so helpful! Adult cardiology is my area of interest and I know by going ACNP I can only see adults. However, if by chance I ever wanted to do children with an ACNP certification, how could I make that work? You mentioned interventional vs electrophysiology. I've looked into both of these and have done my research about what they are. If I want to choose one of these fields to focus on, how would I do that? Would I just do the ACNP programs with a broad focus in cardiology or would I narrow my studies down to either interventional or electrophysiology. Or is there some kind of certification I have to get after obtaining my degree?

Hi! Very cool. What area do you live in and how many years of experience does she have? I'm curious because I'm looking for NPs to shadow in cardiology right now. As an ACNP, is she allowed to do outpatient work as well? Or is ACNP limited to hospital work? I would think ACNP would be better education and depth wise in cardiology. Also, do you know how long she worked as an RN before going to NP school?

Hi, I have two areas of NP interest right now: cardiology and psych. I'm a little more skeptical about Psych for one reason. If clinical psychologists gain more prescriptive rights in the future, what could this mean for PMHNPs (and psychiatrists for that matter)? Will there still continue to be a higher demand for the psych NP over the prescribing psychologist? Like I said, I'm undecided between both right now and I've always had a love for psych. I didn't have an interest in cardiology until nursing school. However, I don't want to spend tons of money on schooling if I won't be able to find a job. Do you think prescribing psychologists could possibly phase out PMHNPs (and psychiatrists) since there are so many psychologists? Or do you think PMHNPs will be more preferred over psychologists due to their medical/nursing background? I know psychologists do mostly therapy and research while PMHNPs will do more med management like a psychiatrist, but they can do therapy. However, if psychologists are given prescription rights, would there really be any difference between the PMHNP and psychologist? I know there is a HUGE shortage of psychiatrists and there will continue to be, so this may open up more opportunities for the Psych NP. However, it leaves me wondering if psychologists will use this as an excuse to gain more prescription rights. So can anybody give me any insight into this so called "turf war" in the mental health field? Also, would you recommend me pursuing this field, given the turf going on?

Thank you for your reply! How does an NP get a job doing both clinic/outpatient care as well as rounds? Are they employed by separate employers (kind of like 2 different jobs) or is it usually within the same employer? This is the kind of work I'm more interested in: mostly outpatient with hospital rounds as well so I'm curious as to how this works. Also, would FNP be the way to go with this then?

Hi, I'm just wondering if anybody here is a nurse practitioner with a specialization in cardiology or know anything about the position? What kind of duties do these kind of NPs have? Where can they work? I heard they are one of the higher paid NPs, what does a typical salary look like for this specialty? Also, is ACNP or FNP more appropriate for cardiology?