Ninjafluff

I got in for PMHNP!!! I'm still keeping fingers and toes crossed for everyone still waiting or waitlisted. :)

No_LiesJustLove, I just saw your PM and typed out a long response but got a notice that I haven't made enough posts yet to send PM's. :-( But I would love to chat with you more, so if you send a PM with your email, I'll email you my contact info.

I'm still keeping my fingers and toes crossed for all of us. In the meantime, I'd like to lend advice and support to any of you that might be moving to the Bay area. It's the social worker in me! I remember what it was like when I moved here in 2009. So if I can help just let me know.

I'm a social worker (MSW) that made the leap to apply to a PMHNP program recently. Since I am a PMHNP hopeful, until I am accepted into a program (knock on wood) I can only speak to what inspired me to pursue advanced practice nursing. I worked as a CNA before I even got into social work so I had the basic nursing fundamentals. My internship during my masters in social work allowed me the opportunity to work with underserved populations where I began to fully comprehend what it means to put the well-being of others above myself. After graduation, I continued to do medical social work and realized that I wanted to return to nursing to be able to practice both psychotherapy along with biological modalities to treat the whole person. In my experience, I believe applying to PMHNP programs was very similar to applying for MSW programs, both require a strong passion to serve others, and a firm grasp on what you plan to do in the profession. When I wrote my application essays, I wanted to demonstrate clinical experience with direct patient care, along with my passion for nursing. As far as student debt, neither profession is going to make student loans go away easily. A good masters-entry advanced nursing program will be close to 85-100K. You'll be doing an accelerated RN program to start and it is nearly impossible to do anything but that for your foundational/clinical year. It requires extreme dedication and once that is over, you begin your masters portion. It differs from a MSW program in that you have clinical hours from the start, unlike the year of internship time. It is a fast paced program like the MSW and just as challenging. However, if nursing is your passion, then go for it!

I am in a similar boat. UCSF is my dream school and I also have a hubby that works in the area and he can't leave his job. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I secure a spot in the PMHNP cohort & I am crossing my fingers for all of you too! Sides the world needs more nurses right? :-)