cheesepizza

My sister in law is in her 2nd year of med school and is doing exceedingly well. She always knew her draw was more towards medicine, but finished her BSN and after about two years on a cardiac floor decided to go back. She of course worked her ass off finishing prereqs and studying for MCAT. It can be an incredibly grueling route. I am five years into nursing and on her same path. Nursing has been a flexible and interesting career, but medicine has always been my desired route. My husband and I are not having kids, and I'm not getting younger. It's hard to lose the paycheck though (in the midst of the process, of course), and juggle postbacc classes and the nursing gig. If you're serious about coming a physician, I strongly recommend using Student Doctor Network as your forum from now on, not this one. Start exploring! Many nurses have gone on to become successful physicians. I personally have taken years to weigh it all out and needed to. Let me know if you have questions. Good luck OP!

Your responses and the time you took to write them are all very appreciated.

More dialogue, I suppose. If I had to choose a question, it would be do current PMHNP find their work fulfilling, what are the pros and cons for them, etc.

Hi all! I have been an RN for 5+ years, and after about 4 years of serious contemplation, I am now really considering pursuing my MSN and becoming a Psych NP. I have no doubts it would be beneficial for my life personally, and I originally started my nursing career with intentions to become a practitioner. I already have my plan for school and there shouldn't be too many problems executing it. However, I am a bit of a curmudgeon with the current healthcare system (shocker), and I know the creation of the PMHNP role is to prescribe/adjust meds (revolving door type patient care) to help address the deficit of MDs pursuing a psychiatric residency. Which I believe, like all things, there are pros and cons to. My personal beliefs tend to stray against this, and I could see myself getting easily morally worn if this is primarily what I'd be doing. I'm not sure if it's worth in it that case. I did meet a PMHNP last year though and when I asked her, she held the same beliefs as me but had a different perception: "It's still primarily Rx focused, but at least I can come in and try to take them from 6 meds to 3, see what's really working and use a new approach, etc.". I praise her positive outlook, but not sure how long my cynical butt would see things that way. Like many, I see most treatment we're doing in Western medicine as bandaids, not getting to the real issue. All in all though, I strongly believe I would be an effective PMHNP, and I'd love to teach academic nursing as well. The program I'm looking at is respected and affordable, about 30K. At the worst if I get tired within a few years, I could pay back my education, and then go full-time teaching (which I know I enjoy). I also know a lot of nurses that got fatigued very quickly at the RN level, but going to graduate school really helped renewed their spirits and appreciate the nursing profession more - that sounds nice... Finally, a lot of days I think about sacking nursing completely and finally opening my own coffee shop/cafe or working part-time selling my homemade soap, being a yoga instructor, and working at a library. Sigh...

Thanks so much GoVeg - great idea.

Hi all! I am curious about the possibility of PRN and temporary work in the NYC area. I am looking at moving there in September, but would be leaving around December or January. I've been a nurse for 4+ years with a wide variety of experience. I know my timing points to a classic 13-week travel assignment, but I do not have the recent acute care/ hospital experience for this. Most of my clinical expertise is in LTC/hospice, home health, psychiatry/corrections. If I was in this predicament anywhere else, my first thought would be to sign on with multiple staffing agencies and take open assignments, this is what I did when I moved to San Francisco and multiple other places without work and it worked quite well. However, I'm not sure of the availability or if this is realistic in the NYC area (I prefer work in the city or close areas of neighboring boroughs). I'll be an 1.5 hours from the city this summer and there's the possibility of interviewing and trying to line up a position then. My sister also lives in Brooklyn so her apartment is available for me to crash in if needed. I appreciate your two cents!

Agree with most above posters...you're in a more emotional than logical place, which is totally understandable, but you may make your employment reconcile easier than you would have thought. I feel for your feelings though, I was in a very similar place two months before I graduated. However, even my now ex-partner who turned out to be pretty selfish and not supportive, stayed with me cross country for two years of school and encouraged me! I can't imagine having been threatened during that time...blergh. I took my first job away from him, in a less than ideal location, did about a year. Good experience but would never do it again. Got my second nursing job off Craigslist/virtual nurse friends I made and cyberstalked while I was in school and freaking out. Best job I've ever had. Look outside of the box and try and let your stress be productive, if it's going to be there (sounds like it). As far as your relationship, no one can make those decisions but you. I am a firm believer that a lifelong partner should be the one that makes you feel eternally safe and comfortable when ya walk in the door from a stressful day though! Good luck. I'm very sorry you're feeling all of the feelings, but it definitely sounds like you're capable and I'm actually excited for your future. I flipped my last part of school and would have never guessed I'd be where I am now.