Psych Nurse Practitioner Travel or Conferencing Negotiations?

[KayFuryPsychRN]

Hey all,

I have a question to Psych NPs and new graduate Psych NPs. I have been to a couple of psychiatric nurse conferences in my career as an RN, and I absolutely love them. They tend to re-charge my whole core for psych nursing. I am currently in school for Psych NP, and I am wondering if any Psych NPs HAVE or PLAN to negotiate time to attend conferences/continuing education in their contract for hire with a hospital/company etc.

What do you think is reasonable to ask? Company to pay all expenses and cover time off? Company to cover only travel and time off but not other costs? How often is reasonable per year to ask for conference/continuing ed time? I know I could grab CEUs online, but being in a whole convention center full of people who share your passion is unlike anything else!!

I have a friend who negotiated 2 conferences per year completely paid with time off upon her hire with her privately owned system. I feel like "I need my batteries re-charged" at least three times per year! Any input is appreciated!

[elizabethpsych]

I think 2 conferences per year completely paid with time off is very reasonable, but if you feel like you need 3, why not ask? The worst they can say is no. Negotiation doesn't mean you're demanding anything, if they want to hire you they aren't going to change their minds because you asked for 3 conferences per year - they should be happy that you're interested in staying up-to-date and current in your continuing education.