21 y/o psych student and confused--please help me :(

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I apologize beforehand if this is confusing, long and/or not in the right forum.

Basically, I am a 21 year old senior majoring in psychology, and just recently decided that I wanted to pursue psychiatric nursing. I was initially interested in going to grad school for clinical psychology, but for the past year or so, I've come to the realization that I really don't like research and I don't want to be in school for another 7 years just to finally start my career in my 30's (also, not that I'm in it just for the money, but becoming a clinical psychologist doesn't exactly pay as well as you'd think a 7 year doctorate degree would....). I was also thinking about just getting a master's in counseling but the job opportunities for that are close to none--I know the economy is bad right now, but nursing at least provides SOME opportunities that are better than just regular counseling. I really enjoy psychology and helping others, but I'm also trying to look out for my future and supporting myself/possible family down the road, so financial opportunities definitely play a role in that. But I also want to do something I am passionate about, which would be working in the psych ward of a hospital. I know psychiatric nursing is a lot different than psychology as a whole.

My dilemma is that I'm almost done with my psychology undergrad degree and I've yet to take any nursing pre-reqs (since my psych degree didn't require any hard sciences), so I'm probably going to take another year to take those, making me be in college for 5 years. I know that's not a big deal anymore, but I still feel kind of like I'm too late to pursue nursing and that I should have decided on this path a while ago. My plan was to take another year to do pre-reqs, graduate with a BA in psych, apply to an ABSN program (and hopefully get in) and become a nurse that way. Is this the right path to be on? I have a 3.8 GPA right now and I'm hoping that these science courses won't drop that (I haven't taken hard sciences since high school).

Idk, I'm just at a crossroads because I feel like I'm too late in changing my career path, even though I am only 21. My aunt, who is an RN, keeps telling me that I am making a huge mistake by deciding to be a nurse, but I'm not sure why she keeps telling me this. She really wants me to stick with my plan of becoming a psychologist, but I really don't think that's what I want to do anymore, but by her being an RN and telling me NOT to become one, it really makes me keep flip-flopping on my plans. I just need some input that's NOT from family and friends to tell me if I'm actually making a mistake or not.

Sorry this is so long!!! Thanks for all your help :)

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What I always say is that you'll be thirty anyway. And believe me, when you're thirty, 21 will look like a really long time ago.

You can get your nursing degree and then consider being a psych nurse clinical specialist, a licensed psych nurse counselor with prescriptive authority, or any number of other choices. I'm not a psych nurse, but there are a whole lot of them in the Specialties area, in the yellow band up at the top of this page-- click on that and then go to Psychiatric. See if you have any more questions they can answer there. Good luck!

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Thanks for your help! I didn't actually know that any of those specialties existed. I've been lurking around this site for a couple months now, and only just now got the guts to post and I'm glad I did. I'll definitely post around in the psychiatric section and see what I can get from there.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Your plan sounds perfectly realistic. I don't see why anyone would tell you not to follow your dream of being a nurse.21 is certainly not old.I went to school at 38.Best of luck.

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Thanks :) That's exactly the kind of reassurance I've been looking for. I've always been interested in the healthcare field, whether that be in psychology or not, and I've always wanted to work in a hospital. Even if I were to become a clinical psychologist, I'm not interested in opening a private practice, but rather working in a hospital. It just seems that nursing will provide me with more opportunities, and I still want to do something involving psychology within nursing, like I said. I guess this is just providing me with the motivation I need to continue with my plan :)

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

That's the great thing about nursing, there are so many options and specialities.

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Specializes in Family Practice.

I graduated with a BA in psychology at the age of 22, and have been working in the field for 2.5 years. I realised I wanted something more hands on and completed my prerequisites in night school this past year. I start my BSN program in two weeks and should have it completed in 2 years.

Do what you will enjoy doing everyday for the rest of your life. No matter what others say. It's your life to live and its never to late to get educated.

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michelleh913--are you in an ABSN program or just a regular BSN? how does a non-accelerated BSN program work? (if you don't mind my asking)

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Specializes in Family Practice.

I'm doing a non- accelerated because we couldn't afford for the complete loss of income. I will be doing two courses every 8 weeks along with the corresponding clinicals/ labs. Other programs in my area are set up more traditionally, 13+ credit hours for 16 weeks. This just seemed more manageable in my life. If you want to continue to pursue nursing look around in your area at the different program types and see what works best for your life.

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