psych NP program in 2013

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I'm graduating from a nursing school in NC this May. My plan after graduation was to work at a state psychiatric hospital, but it was suggested by a nurse, not psych nurse, that I wait and do a year of med-surg first. I don't know, what do you all think? Patients often stay for extended periods, and I'd assume that there would be some who needed med-surg care, as well as psych care. I'd love to go back to school as soon as possible to pursue a psych NP degree, and don't think that a year of med-surg would be most beneficial in getting into a program by the next year, 2013. Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

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Specializes in Psych, ICU,clinic supervis case manager,.

As a RN with 31 years experience that was the case at one time to do medical; however in this new mental health environment you'll find plenty of medical, geratric, SA, and even IV's so if your love is mental health go right for it. I started out that way, with diversity along the way medical, hospice, homecare, case management, CCU, now Ambulatory care....so just go with your heart.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

If you want to be a psych np having actual psych nurse experience like you will encounter at a state hospital will be more worthwhile than a year of med surge, imo. Good luck.

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I'm going to go the other way than the previous two posters.

I think that getting a good grounding in med/surg/tele, along with a little ER provides you a better base from which to approach an NP program. Patho and Advanced Assessment courses make a lot more sense when you've actually got experience. One of the weaknesses that many psych nurses have is on the medical side. Getting a couple of years in reading labs, ecg's and so on will really help you in the long run since a lot of Psych NP work involves doing just that.

Psych NP programs like solid med/surg/tele/ER/ICU experience - I know because every program I talked to really liked that I had all of that.

Finally, in the event (although I'm sure the odds are low) that psych doesn't turn out to be your thing, having med/surg/tele will give you a lot more flexibility in what is a really crummy job market.

My 2 cents.....

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Specializes in Psych, ICU,clinic supervis case manager,.

Once again I say that the current environment on mental health floors involve all of that and more, patients have the medical problems galore, insurances aren't willing to pay for the neurotic housewives anymore...the RNs on mental health are taught a varety of techniques, the eating disorder pts have PICC lines, the geriatric pts have a host of problems not to mention the etoh and SA have co-morbidities as well....because psych is such a rarity you will always be in demand not to mention all the soliders coming from the wars

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I think that really depends on the facility RNGO4IT. I work in Northern Calif and whenever there's a medical issue, the pt is transferred to an acute care environment. For instance, at the facility I currently work at, we have a standalone behavioral health facility that won't touch a pt unless they're medically cleared. At another facility I worked at, there was a mental health floor that again wouldn't touch a pt with piccs, iv's etc. I've worked throughout the region - CHW, Sutter, Kaiser, John Muir, Sacto County, Alameda County and San Joaquin County facilities - no one in behavioral will touch a non-medically cleared pt. PICC lines can end up looking like a crime scene in a behavioral setting! Maybe your location has different policies.

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Specializes in Psych, ICU,clinic supervis case manager,.

I/m in the Michigan area the facilities I'm referring to are not stand alone they are within full service hospital facilities....so as a part of the initial inservice the RN is trained like a RN in other general medical units.

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OldGuy

What is the market like for NP's in Northern California?

I actually left So Cal for Texas partly because there were no inpatient jobs.

Is becoming an NP the real solution to finding work in NoCal?

Or is the market just saturated?

Would a mental health specialization help? or is there more demand for med/surg?

Just an RN

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That sounds great RNGO4IT - out here there aren't a lot of training programs period. Facilities are looking for someone who can walk in and do a specific job - meaning they are looking for specific experience. If you don't have solid acute care experience it's virtually impossible to get hired in an acute care setting. Psych RNs don't get involved in the medical side. If the pt has a medical issue, they're shipped off to an acute care floor or facility where they're treated, cleared then transferred back to mental health. So, a new grad getting a job in psych would never see anything other than psych - which is ok but limiting for newbie imho.

Ellar, the market for NPs in Northern Calif sucks just as bad as in SoCal. The problem is who does the hiring. Many NPs are looking for "jobs" and not for independent practice. So who's going to hire? Docs? Well, yep, that's who ends up hiring a lot of NPs. So, it ends up being a who do you know kind of thing. Docs aren't going to want to pay too well cuz it's money out of their pocket. Hospitals don't see much need to hire NPs because NPs don't provide that much value to a hospital. If NPs in Calif were more demanding about establishing a real scope of practice, then NP run clinics, etc could offer a whole new avenue of opportunity - but alas CANP is useless.....

In terms of RN jobs, its ER/ICU baby!

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I'm a new grad working in a state hospital in GA, and while it's certainly not med-surg patients can have any number of medical issues. Additionally many state hospitals have infirmaries or med-psych units. If you are planning on returning to school in 2013 I would say go ahead and get the inpatient psych experience.

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