Miss.Jersey

I think the first question to answer for yourself is, do you have a passion for mental health care? Have you considered opening your own practice as an FNP? Then you can set your own schedule and visit length. Also, you might make more money with cutting out the middle man. There's a group on facebook called the elite nurse practitioner group. They could give you some direction, and ideas of how to pick a niche and work for yourself. I think they even offer courses that people seem to like. I work for myself as a pmhnp. I opened my practice using Headway. Check out my page, Arisew.org, if you want to see what it looks like to be a 1099 with Headway. In March of 2022, and gave notice in August of 2022 to my employer. As of November 2022, when I left my hospital job, I met my financial goals. And I'm getting ready to expand and hire more apns. Financially, it's been extremely lucrative. I work from home, I have tax write-offs, I can change my work hours anytime I feel like it, I generally do 30 minute follow-ups, and 60 minutes intakes. Seeing how great my work life/balances is, and how lucrative the practice is, I have APNs coming to me asking to work for me. It's been wonderful. So I'm beginning the process to expand into a group. Someone had commented that as psych nurse practitioner graduates increase, that the market will be saturated, and pay will decrease. This may be true from a supply and demand perspective, when you work for someone else. There are still plenty of areas in this country with very limited access to mental health care. Some of them even offer incentives to work there and allow for practice. Depends on what people want to do and are willing to do. But if you work for yourself, and are taking insurance for example, they're not going to likely start reimbursing less than a currently do for mental health services. For those who are inclined, you can even set your own cash rate. But in general, at least here in New jersey, you can expect to make at least $200 an hour working for yourself through Headway. They're also very upfront with the reimbursement rates, which seem to match or exceed private credentialed rates in New Jersey at least, and you don't have to pay a cut to a biller, as Headway takes care of it.

It sound like you had a trauma and have developed anxiety from it. If so, therapy and/or meds could be helpful.

Insurance reimbursement rates don't go down because of 'saturation', why not just open a private practice?

Congrats on passing your board! facebook has some really helpful message boards for psychiatric nurse practitioners that I find enlightening about different topics such as whether or not Cerebral is a good choice. My short version is, I would probably not pursue Cerebral. With the pandemic, even typical brick and mortar positions have a lot of telehealth involved right now. Whether I'm working from home or in the office I might see one patient a week in person right now. Just research any company you want to apply to, especially if it is all remote and hiring new grads.

The benefits and drawbacks of getting your APN very greatly by circumstance. Working in the ER during covid was super high risk and stressful, especially before the vaccine, a lot of pressure. I had no control over my assignment or load/acuity, regardless of the safety to the patient or myself, I got whatever patients I got. Even when I had an active stroke and somebody came in with chest pain, while having two other patients monitored d/t chest pain. The weight and sense of responsibility and liability was high. As a staff nurse, I was averaging about $38 an hour, but Plus benefits. Yes, you can get a lot of money traveling as a nurse right now due to the pandemic. Those rates are not going to stay that way, and it comes with long hours, challenging working conditions, and a lot of stress. And of course it has its benefits as well. You don't have to spend six figures to get your apn. I did it for $30,000. My rise in income alone could pay that off this year. If you prefer bedside nursing, that's great. It's a very much needed profession. If you prefer expanding your scope, making your own diagnosis and treatment plans, and possibly running your own private practice, doing things your way, getting the APN might be for you. I wanted to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner because I saw a need in my own family go unmet, due to the lack of providers available. I wanted to be the one making decisions instead of deferring to a doctor, and believed that I could learn to do it well, with passion, and bring a holistic piece to mental health care beyond pills as well. I want people to be heard, and feel respected. I have plans to create a nurturing and healing environment of my own, as a private practice. Incorporating therapist, meditation and yoga instructors, life coaches, nutritionist, anyone who wants to join my cause. This is my passion. It also will pay extremely well. I might continue on to a PhD. I love the idea of teaching, and seem to have naturally fallen into that role in my new position as an apn. Teaching patients, and the many therapists on staff, regarding the medical aspects of care, whenever the opportunity arises. Everyone seems to enjoy it, and benefit from it. Since working as a nurse practitioner, I no longer answer to people like I did before. The care I provide is at my discretion, while welcoming and respecting input from others. When I advocate for what I need, such as how frequently I need to see a patient or how much time I need for a patient, it happens. I don't deal with any drama from pushback when I delegate, like I did as a nurse on the floor. I basically work as a one woman show, and collaborate with peers and colleagues to reach a unified goal as needed. At least for psychiatric nurse practitioners in my area, the need is great. That means I command good pay, and flexibility in my working terms. I make $73 an hour, and require 30 minutes with each patient for a follow-up, and an hour for new patients. On 12-hour days, which was my request, I have an hour of administration time at the end of the day, an hour-long lunch break as well. I use that time to eat lunch but also catch up on charting so that I don't work past my designated time. I don't take unfinished work home with me. For me, the new role of APN is somehow less stressful than previous roles. I did not anticipate this, I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm excited, eager to learn new things, planning for a healing practice of my own, with a lot of options for income producing opportunities if I choose. Some of those opportunities could be $100 or more an hour, but for now I'm content to have a good work life balance. And take time to learn my craft more. I know this is a long spiel, I just wanted to put my experience/perspective out there if it's helpful.

1. This statement is disturbing. He said that she wasn't knowledgeable. She presented herself to patients and parents' knowledgeable. And parents would believe her because how she presented herself. There's a saying that says people have confidence in those who have confidence in themselves, and that is true. False confidence and pride is dangerous. 2. During clinical I sometimes felt the pressure to behave as if I was an expert and knowledgeable like an experienced practitioner like my preceptor. Eventually I learned to be truthful with my patients. I started telling them "you know, I'm still learning. We're going to get the answers for you. Give me a minute to research our best option." The patience respected that, and it also gave my patients permission not to pretend to be perfect themselves. It made me approachable, and showed humility. But it also showed confidence tha in another way. Not in pretending I knew everything but that I was confident that I could get any answer we need. And that I'm committed to truth and informed decision making. When I would come back to my patients in a minute I would tell them exactly what I came up with, explain it to them so that they understood and were comfortable as well. Sometimes people like to *** patients, so the patient thinks that they know everything. A lot of times patients can see through that and it erodes confidence. 3. This doctor's not supportive. He can't see you as a provider because somebody who lacked knowledge but faked it till she make it is more his speed. Even after acknowledging that you were knowledgeable. What an unsupportive jerk. He is totally not on the same page as you. I would totally move on I'm glad to read at the end that you did move on. What is your plan? How are you going to find a better fit?

Whether you're a nurse practitioner, a PA, or a physician, we get more proficient and confident as we go. Should this doctor be expecting more of you after a few hours in your new role? I don't know, I find it a bit unrealistic. But if his expectations are unrealistic for YOU, it's probably not the right fit. It takes a lot of confidence to begin in your new role, and this doctor is undermining that confidence. He is not supportive it sounds like it all. Really seems like a bad start. I wouldn't want to work there. Good luck to you!good luck to you! As a new grad, I look forward to beginning work with my former preceptor. She knows me, she's confident enough in me after observing me to feel I would do a good job. I already asked her, can I collaborate with you and the answer was of course! That's the type of support I want. Could you find a job with a nurse practitioner?

I would explore other avenues of nursing, based on your likes and dislikes. One to home home health with babies or seniors, you can have one patient all day. There are a number of positions that can offer more autonomy, one to one or one at a time patient care, non-direct patient care, even MDS coordinator, insurance company work, school nurse. Without knowing your particular preferences it's hard to suggest possible options. What are your likes/dislikes?

Sounds like your anxiety is out of control. Im glad you'll have insurance that covers counseling next month. When I had insurance issues and wanted to seek counseling I was able to find a counselor who gave Uninsured patients a discounted fee ($20 a visit) with a master's educated counselor who was getting her clinical hours in. I think it was a great move. I would call around and ask if I were you. Sounds like CBT is in order. Anxiety can be so debilitating. Best of luck to you!

I'm sorry you're having a hard time. In addition to talking to a counselor, which sounds like it could be really helpful, Why not Orient to another case? It doesn't mean you have to take another case, But if you see that there are much easier cases that would be much less stressful, perhaps that anxiety will diminish and you can move on to a case in an environment that better suits you. I find overnight, stable, pediatric feeding tube patients to be pretty low stress, usually.

I looked at multiple programs. If your current GPA is under 3.0 I would consider another school, unfortunately. Minimum GPA for graduate schools (I would assume) are 3.0 at least. I think it was Northern Arizona University I was also looking at for my BSN. If I recall, it was also a pass fail with an option to show mastery with an extra project to achieve an A? I can't find details with a quick google search, but it's worth looking further into. WGU was more responsive than the other school I was looking at and I went with them. Good luck!

From what I gather Aspen is not regionally accredited, where WGU is. Also, WGU is flexible , working at your own pace, and you can accelerate as quickly as you like through your program. With that in mind, you may be able to complete your MSN at a lower cost, depending on the pace you go. Semesters at WGU are 6 months, you complete as much as you can for a flat fee. I completed my BSN, 36 credits, in 10 months at WGU. That's about $7,500 total cost. And if I had been applying myself I could have been done in one semester, which means I would have had my BSN for about $3,800. I recommend WGU. I was able to take that BSN and get into the MSN primary mental health nurse practitioner program I wanted at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania. I was also offered a competitive job that I had been turned down for twice before completing my degree. Good luck!

WGU offers alumni assistance with resumes, including shaping a resume for a specific job you are applying to. They also offer interviewing assistance and will help with polishing your Linked In page. Definately take advantage of this. It's a great perk of being a student or grad of WGU.

No clinical hours. A capstone project at the end required 65 hours of self paced community leadership related activities. I did my BSN with WGU in 10 months, at a rather slow pace actually. I highly recommend it. They're supportive while you're in the program and offer alumni resume and interview assistance forever. I was also able to get into the psych nurse practitioner program I wanted after graduation, at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania.