Psychiatric nurse practioner-schooling

amother

Fri, Oct 13 2023, 12:17 am

so I'm thinking abt going to school to be a pnp (aka a pmhnp I believe? at least from what I gather on google) and wanted to hear from anyone who did it what the schooling journey is like.
as far as I understand you first go to nursing school to become a RN and then go through a pmhnp program to become a np. approx how long does all this take?

what skills do you think someone needs to succeed both in the schooling and actual job aspects?

I'm in the beginning stages of researching all this so I just really wanna hear wtvr info and experience you have to share. thanks!

amother

Thistle

Fri, Oct 13 2023, 12:35 am

First you get your bachelors in nursing. You can work as a nurse in psych or go straight for you psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner degree (graduate degree). The graduate degree often has the flexibility to be done mostly online. Of course internship/clinical work is in person. You can do it part time over about 3 years or full time over about 2 years.

You need to be somewhat intelligent to go through all the schooling. It's not that hard though. Mostly it takes effort and persistence. You need to have compassion and empathy when working with people who have mental illness. Patience, humility, diligence.

amother

Fri, Oct 13 2023, 1:07 am

amother Thistle wrote:

thanks for responding!
for the bsn, are some of the credits from general subjects or they're all from nursing? if I have credits already could they transfer over or its a totally different thing?

regarding the schooling; I have an easy time grasping complicated concepts and I love learning, but when it comes to memorizing long lists of names... aint my strongest point. is memorization a big part of it or manageable?
I was always fascinated by biology and science and have a real passion for helping ppl, which is why psychiatry piques my interest cause I think it combines both these things, but I'm wondering if thats the reality or if I'm romanticizing it in my mind. know what I mean?

also, are there any jewish pmhnp programs?

amother

Tuberose

Sun, Oct 15 2023, 2:00 am

I don't know of any Jewish programs for nursing.

If you have a BA, in anything, you can get the pre-requisites and do an intensive 1 year BA to BSN program. It's a LOT of work but it is worth the time savings. In theory you can go right to the MSN after that, but you'll be better prepared and a stronger candidate if you work as a nurse and get some experience. Also some universities are moving from the MSN to the DNP, so it would take 3 years.

Keep in mind that a PMNHP (my college roommate is one) is focused on more the disease side of things. If you are interested in therapy then I would recommend a different route like an LCSW.

amother

Thistle

Sun, Oct 15 2023, 10:28 pm

There are no frum programs for this. I dont think you can use any previous credits for your BSN. If you already have a tti kind of quick bachelors you can do an accelerated second degree program that is shorter (a year?) and comprised of only nursing classes and clinicals.
Of course you need to memorize to a certain extent. At the very least somewhat know the medications, what they're used for, how they act on the brain, side effects, serious effects, testing needed before starting. And the more knowledgeable you are, the better practitioner you will be able to be. There is also quite a bit of writing papers, treatment plans, focus on nursing research and nursing theories. Nursing is a holistic field so often there is at least one course to introduce you to various psychotherapists. There is emphasis on holistic treatments. Practically, psych NPs do little of this and are hired to prescribe.