Hi future nurse!
I don't know if you'd even want my advice, for disclaimers sake I'm just now applying to nursing school. I did, however, come from a similar place as you. I decided to go for psych NP as opposed to Psy.D my junior year of college. Two more semesters and I would have had my bachelors in psychology.
You have two options: either a basic BSN or an accelerated BSN. This part has to be at a brick and mortar school, sorry. The accelerated is for people who already have a degree like you, and it cuts the program of study back by a semester. In my area it's also harder to get into, so id apply to both. Do you have your pre-reqs done? If you haven't started, you may have a good two semesters ahead of you just taking those because some pre-reqs have pre-reqs. From talking with people in the medical field it seems like the consensus is that you'll want to work as a RN for about five years before applying to NP school. Some schools don't require this, but I've been told it makes for a better practitioner and schools that don't require it are pumping professionals out too fast. After this you can apply to an online school (and employers have no stigma about this) for your masters or doctorate.
I dont know how far you've gone with your research and I hope this doesn't sound patronizing, but going this route I think you've got to fall in love with nursing as a whole. Psych is my favorite, but I'm also finding myself reading med-surg books, or neonatal. I earned my CNA and have been working as one for a few months now, so I'm finding love in the "dirty" parts of nursing we'll be exposed to. I don't think I can personally get through nursing school without a love for nursing outside of psych, but that's just me.
Good luck, I hope you find a nice home in the nursing community! :)
