What is the main differences between these 3 jobs?

lilwill27330 · Aug 18, 2005

Mental Health NP
Masters in Social Work
Masters in Psychology?
I want to do one of the three, but i'm having trouble choosing. I know social workers make around 30,000 if lucky, but what would the other two make? (in a small city) What are the main differences in all three jobs?

my aunt has her msw. she says if u want to eat, dont get a msw. she was the director of the county mental health for approx 5 years, and has worked there for approximately 20 years. yes, she made 6 figures, but the job ended this summer when the state came in and revamped the system. the state is phasing out mental facilities faster than u can count to 3. my godmother is in social work at unc, and she's doing 2-3 ppl's jobs because they have drastically reduced staff. masters in psychology.....i have a friend that has his masters, and a girlfriend and a sister that just finished up their phd. with a masters, you will definitely be working for someone, and your options will be limited. my girlfriend is teaching at two universities, while pursuing her phd. i guess it all depends on what you want to do with your degree rather this would b a good fix for u. as far as the psych nursing or np goes, they're trying to pass a law to permit the nurses ability to disperse medication to patients once u finish a few classes. if you have prior experience in this, you would probably be of value. thats my 2 cents. good luck on ur decision

INFJ · Aug 19, 2005

I would run like hell from a Masters in Psychology.

Just my opinion. I have a Masters in Counseling, which is fairly close and they are WAAAYYYYY underpaid. I live in Alabama, but starting out I was being offered $24,000 nearly everywhere I was offered a job. Plus, I was going to have to pay someone to supervise me after I passed the licensure exam so I could receive my LPC (licensed professional counselor) certification. Psych wise, you really can't do very much without your PhD. Obviously, you see where I am! I'm back in school getting my BSN. So, my push would be for Psych NP. Nursing is SO wide open, too - so if something happened you hated psych, you would still be an RN and could do lots more. I am not planning on doing anything Psych related in nursing, but I can say that I have used my psych skills almost every day that I am in clinical!

This is totally one sided and just my opinion, but I am now paying the price for not going with my gut instinct several years ago when I wanted to change my major to nursing! So, anytime I can share my story, I do.

Good luck in your decision! Let me know if I can be of any help!

Amy:)