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I do not believe that where you get your BSN will matter - as long as you have it, you should be good. Just make sure the BSN program is accredited by either the ACEN or the CCNE - the Grand Canyon website says it is accredited by CCNE. I do not believe that attendance in an online program at any level is going to affect your ability to become certified or practice as a PMHNP. As long as the school is accredited, it doesn't make a difference. Online is pretty much equivalent to classroom style learning now. There are quite a number of online PMHNP programs - they would not exist if they didn't graduate students that were successful. Personally I don't know of many actual classroom-only PMHNP programs - everyone now has online components. I went to Rush University and it was online - I think it is the number one in the country for PMHNPs - maybe Vanderbilt beat it this year though. No-one has ever given me any negative comments about going to an online school.

Have you tried nursingcas.org? I don't have anything to do with the website - I used it for my Post Master's Certificate and DNP as it does list a lot of programs. I believe it does not cost anything to search.

The Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (2nd Edition), p. 7 states: "Whether practicing under the title of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) or NP, Psychiatric Mental Health Advanced Practice Registered Nurses share the same core competencies of clinical and professional practice." This standard is supported by the ANA (although the ANCC is technically a separate organization it is really part of the ANA) and sold by the ANA. So it appears to me that the ANCC is basically not following the guidance provided in not allowing your CNS hours. And to comment on what some of the other posters stated, the college where I went will not accept any CNS courses for NP courses "because the CNS is different." So they must not have read the standard either. CNS was fun, but now is pretty much considered unneeded. In talking several years ago when I was just finishing my CNS, my professor (a long-time CNS) told me that the NP organizations tried to get CNS's removed as APRNs from the LACE document. Sometimes I think the nursing profession is its own "worse enemy."

Don't ever sell yourself short. If you put in the effort, you are "smart enough" to take on any DNP program. You got your MSN - many DNP programs are BSN to DNP. So you are halfway there. And I don't think that GPA is a great indicator of how smart you are, and as you state, colleges look at you as a whole person. For many colleges, what you want to do once you get your degree is usually more important than your GPA. Look at the mission of the college you want to attend - is it interested in research, rural health care, urban health care, or substance? Make your application match the mission. And apply to several colleges - give yourself a choice. Also don't leave out the online colleges - they can be very good. The nursingcas.org website lists all sorts of online programs from very respectable colleges. Most do have a couple of "residencies" that bring you to campus, especially for courses like health assessment where the faculty want to watch you and provide guidance.

I have educated in both ADN and BSN classes for a number of years. The ADN path is an excellent path for an individual who wants to become a nurse. Yes, there is a large push to get RNs with an ADN to continue forward to get his or her BSN. Like any profession, the more education you have, theoretically the better you will be prepared to handle whatever comes along. Just like when a car repair shop sends a professional mechanic to additional training to be able to handle more work. For RNs, that additional training is the BSN. ADNs will never become obsolete. It is the less expensive path to becoming a RN, and with college costs so dang' high, it is sometimes the only way to become an RN. But you can probably count on most facilities wanting you to get your BSN within a couple of years after you get hired. It is expected by the number of reports and studies that other posters have cited. There are a zillion ADN to BSN programs out there, as you know, so it isn't a big deal. Many facilities will even reimburse you the costs of the transition. And it usually only takes a year, part-time. And the courses aren't near as hard as the original RN courses.

Like many of the other posters, I am also a CNS. I think that it all depends on where you want to work and what you want to do - that is the way all careers should be chosen. But I would be cautious on going into the CNS role - I just don't see a great future for the profession. The only university in Idaho that offered the CNS certificate recently stopped doing so because no-one had applied for several years. I remember my professor telling me that originally when the Consensus Model was being developed that CNS's were not even going to be included as APRNs. I also believe the CNS role has been diluted by the Clinical Nurse Leader role - NP's have the political clout - CNS's, like educators (which I also do), have no political clout. I think if you work in a large enough hospital that can appreciate the differences in roles between a CNS and a NP, then a CNS is a viable option. But I will wager in a budget crunch CNS's will also probably be the first practitioners let go - a CNS's outcomes, while related to research and quality, often fall to the wayside when a NP's outcomes more closely align with dollar signs.

I would definitely look around - I am a recent Adult CNS and I am attending Rush University to get my PMHNP. Rush took many of my CNS classes towards my PMHNP. I went through nursingcas.org (I think that is the correct URL) and looked at the programs listed there until I found one that met my criteria. Looking at your posting you are about as old as me - yes it sucks going back to school. But there are a lot of programs out there - one will hopefully fit your schedule.

I teach in Practical Nursing and Associate Degree Registered Nursing programs in Idaho and we highly encourage individuals wanting to become nurses but are still in high school to take dual credit classes (you receive both high school and college credits at the same time). I have had several students graduate high school and be able to go directly into our Practical Nursing program because of the dual credit classes he or she has completed. Another advantage is that dual credit classes in high school are often significantly less expensive than college courses. I believe you live in Kentucky based on your posting - the Kentucky Department of Education has a website that talks about dual credit - Kentucky Department of Education : Dual Credit What you may consider is to look up the prerequisites for the college nursing programs you would like to attend - for example, I just googled Kentucky nursing programs and went to the University of Kentucky's nursing program and they have a web page for high school students looking to get in their program - Home Print the information off so you have it available. (Just a note, apply to as many nursing programs as you can to give you choices - don't forget community colleges, and even though you want to be a registered nurse, look at becoming a practical nurse then going to a registered nursing program - again, you always want to look at choices because sometimes life, and money, can get in the way). Although high school guidance counselors can be scary (it is part of their job description), take the counselor the information you printed off and just tell them to help you get as many prerequisites done in high school as possible. That way the counselor has something to work with and can't mess with you. If you really don't like the counselor, you may try to see if a teacher will help you - it isn't hard to find dual credit courses. Look at scholarships too - I often have students that don't apply for scholarships when he or she would qualify and sometimes the scholarship money doesn't get used because no-one applied! Good luck - you will not need it if you just work towards your goals!

I did not participate in a "consensus" program per se, but I did share a number of courses with the NPs. Specifically all non-clinical and introductory classes were shared - for example, health assessment, patho, pharm, research, roles, etc. were shared. I also attended all of the specific, intensive sessions on suturing, casting, EKG interpretation, etc. The clinical and the "disease process" courses were exclusive to the CNS and NP programs. Our program director required that 75% of all rotations with a CNS. There are only 2 CNSs within about 100 miles of the University, so I did most of my clinical in a local ICU and cardiology practice. That said, my clinical was very informative and learned a great deal - my preceptors were extremely knowledgeable. The CNS in the ICU served as a direct provider and coordinator for the intensivist. The CNS in the cardiology practice was a direct provider in an informal heart failure clinic.

I took my test yesterday and passed. As the previous poster mentioned, you will probably take the Adult Gerontological CNS exam if you are just starting - I took the Adult CNS exam so our exams will be slightly different. I went overboard on studying. I studied two of the latest NP prep texts, bought the Mometrix study guide, attended the ANCC online review class, bought the audio CDs from Amazon, and ordered all 25 prep tests on NP Prep (online). Although all these resources will make me a better CNS, to pass my test I probably could have just read the Mometrix study guide and my Advanced Practice Nursing An Integrative Approach (by Hamric) textbook. Most of my questions were how to be a consultant, how to educate, how to work in interdisciplinary teams, and how to budget - very few questions related to direct care. i believe the ANCC will make the Adult Gerontology exam based more on direct care, but I have just heard that - no solid knowledge there. Good luck

Blackfoot is the smaller of the three locations you listed. I know friends with children requiring specialized education and both Idaho Falls and Pocatello do have schools that provide that education - I imagine Blackfoot does as well but Idaho Falls and Pocatello may have more resources due to their sizes. Maybe this website can help you - Idaho State Department of Education - Special Education. It describes Idaho's special education programs. Pocatello does have the University - Idaho State University - so it may have slightly more resources than Idaho Falls. But I will bet in most other areas they are pretty equivalent. Idaho Falls probably has a slightly higher fraction of higher technology jobs because of the Idaho National Laboratory headquarters there, but Pocatello has several industrial facilities as well. I think both cities have very similar populations.

I teach at Idaho State University on the southeastern side of Idaho, but we have several students who come from the Boise area each year to participate in our ADRN program. Those students have nothing but good things to say about the Boise area - it still has that small town attitude but many of the advantages of a large town. The two major hospitals over there are St. Lukes (St. Luke's - Idaho Health System) and St. Alphonsus (Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center | Boise, Idaho). You can look at those websites and see the facility's job openings. There is also Intermountain Hospital at - Intermountain Hospital. Wages vary greatly throughout Idaho, so hopefully a Boise nurse will respond to your posting, but in southeastern Idaho I know my graduating students are getting about $24.16 per hour before shift differential. As to education in Idaho - you could get some really varied answers on that one! Opinions seem to go to the extremes when talking about Idaho educational funding and priorities. But regardless of the opinions, kids still learn and graduate.

"According to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the average salary of a nurse practitioner, across settings and specialties, is $ $91,310. By contrast, AACN reported in March 2011 that master's prepared faculty earned an annual average salary of $72,028." http://nurse-practitioners.advanceweb.com and http://www.aacn.nche.edu/research-data I currently work as an educator in a ADN program, where we only get paid for 40 hours/week but the average work week is around 62 hours (as is with many salaried/contract positions). My students graduate today - most are starting at a higher hourly wage than I receive, plus they get paid for every hour they work. My MS is in Nursing Education, but my director, who is a NP, makes only slightly more than I do, and the students will end-up with higher hourly wages than her as well. It is often said that if you want to teach in nursing, you better do it for the love of teaching, because there is no way you are doing it for the money!

Searching at Clinical Nurse Specialist Programs | Find Accredited CNS Degrees showed several Pediatric CNS programs, including Post-Masters Programs. I know when I was searching for online programs it was critical to make sure that the Post-Masters programs you look at recognize the MS in Nursing Education - some programs allow only students with a APN MS to enroll in their Post-Masters programs.

I will certainly confirm what several others have stated - don't do it for the money. I work at a state unversity in an Associate Degree Registered Nursing Program. Often my student graduates start at a higher wage than I earn. And on average we work about 62 hours per week for 11 months per year, with 24/7 hour cell phone availability for our clinical students. Educators in a BSN program probably work about the same number of hours. That stated, however, it is a good career with a lot of job satisfaction. Most of the educators at local hospitals make more, with pay commensurate with experience and certifications, but dealing with eager, young, and energetic nursing students can make a university more attractive. To teach RNs in classrooms, a MS is usually required. Clinical preceptors may just need a BSN, but that can be highly variable. Personally (and certainly I do not want to upset anyone), as you look at MS programs, I would not choose an education option - I would choose a CNS or NP option. Once you get that MS, you can teach, and the advantage of being a Advanced Practice Nurse provides you more opportunity. BSN's can teach Practical Nursing students most places - that may give you an opportunity to see how you like education.