Which NP specialty is most in demand?

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I'm a non-traditional student that is about to change careers completely and start nursing school - my goal is to become a NP and eventually achieve a Ph.D or DNP. Anyhow, what do you all perceive as the most in-demand nurse practitioner specialty? I, of course, am at least 3 years away from having to make any decisions about which NP path to pursue, but I would love to get some outside opinions.

Specializes in Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Nursing.
My personal subjective view is simple, if person really likes what he does and this is his "flow" - he will be sucsessful and needed all the time.In positive psychology, flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.(Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

Nursing profession is dynamic and it is important to be updated all the time. So if the nursing field is your "flow" it will take some time to find the best match, but no worries FNP, ANP,Geriatric, PMHNP all will find the job.

Wow, I remember reading Mihaly's flow book years ago. Good book. Now if you quote Daniel Golman's Emotional Intelligence next I think I am gonna fall out of my chair.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.

I'm reading an emotional intelligence book right now because my wife says I don't have any, lol.

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Specializes in Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Nursing.
I'm reading an emotional intelligence book right now because my wife says I don't have any, lol.

Lol, yea, I made the mistake of marrying a woman with high emotional intelligence and now I end up being in the wrong even with my response being total silence.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.
Lol, yea, I made the mistake of marrying a woman with high emotional intelligence and now I end up being in the wrong even with my response being total silence.

This. I can empathize, use psychotherapy mumbo jumbo, be silent, be avoidant, argue, etc. Never matters. When momma ain't happy I'm sure as bells not, LOL.

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I think we could be long lost twins with your wife. Except I'm a slow reader and may be I will read Emotional Intelligence (1995, Bantam Books) in the future. I hope these include:Mishnah , Transcendental Meditation, Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali, an Indian Tantra and kundalini yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen teachings of Gurdjieff and the teachings of Krishnamurti and Talmud.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.
I think we could be long lost twins with your wife. Except I'm a slow reader and may be I will read Emotional Intelligence (1995, Bantam Books) in the future. I hope these include:Mishnah , Transcendental Meditation, Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali, an Indian Tantra and kundalini yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen teachings of Gurdjieff and the teachings of Krishnamurti and Talmud.

I don't know anything about all of that, but I have read a book on meditation, the name of which eludes me, and I did yoga back when I did P90X. Yoga is the hardest workout I've ever done. I'm afraid of it.

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Geriatric because of the aging population and Acute Care gets my vote. HIGH need for them.

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While relatively new in the U.S., complementary and alternative medicine is a

fully accepted and integrated form of health care in many areas of the world and has

existed since antiquity. For Americans, CAM is one of the fastest growing fields in

healthcare and is more widely used today than ever before. Millions of Americans are

spending billions of out-of-pocket dollars on CAM therapies. Its widespread use has had

impact on users, practitioners, researchers and policy makers. CAM's growing influence

has been described as a hidden mainstream in American medicine.”

The recent increase in the interest and growth of complementary and alternative medicine

can be attributed to many reasons including technological, economic, cultural and social

trends. Its growth is also fueled by the rising dissatisfaction with the traditional health

care & delivery of medicine in the United States. Additionally, self-empowerment,

personal savings accounts and the internet are enabling greater access to alternative

medicine.

The Coming Third Health Care Revolution: Personal Empowerment,” Quality Management In Healthcare 2008

So per my understanding medicate/Medicare clients will be still treated by pills and conventional treatments and commercial insurance will consider to cover more "alternative "care , that works by regulations and evidence based research. The future demand will be : NP's with understanding and certification in both conventional and integrative nursing/therapy.

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Specializes in Psychiatric Nursing.

Yoga with its emphasis on the breath would lead to "emotional intelligence".

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.
Yoga with its emphasis on the breath would lead to "emotional intelligence".

Specifically mindfulness?

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Specializes in Psychiatric Nursing.

I would say Vinyasa yoga, restorative yoga, pranayama would lead toward "emotional intelligence". Yoga is mean to be the unity of mind-body-spirit and emotions are part of that. Mindfulness is meditation which is also part of yoga. Emotional intelligence as I understand it is paying attention to your emotions and trying to feel-sense the emotions of others. Attention to the breath helps. Deepening the breath also helps.

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My chakras are still blocked , I am ready to read about Yoga and tried "hot Yoga" is not for me yet.Fitness and Zumba dance work fine for me. As for meditation is really " the hardest brain workout I've ever done." in all my classes of meditation I just was so tiered , that I was nocked down to sleep.I tried biofeedback device to utilize my own awareness and monitoring . My be because I like numbers and prefer objective data summarized.

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