Combining Careers

[Complex_Brotha]

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Hello all,

I am a single 35 yo gay male who will be finishing his PhD in clinical psychology this year. I am thinking about going back to school to become a FNP or Psychiatric NP. During my clinical internship I had a lot of conversations with patients and psychiatrists about the lack of behavioral healthcare, especially in prescribing medicine. There are only a few states that allow for psychologists to prescribe and as of now I can't commit to living that far away from my parents due to them aging.

I am also interested in working with the LGBT community (there is a lack of practitioners who are culturally sensitive with this population). With all this being said...

What are your thoughts about someone with a PhD re-entering into another healthcare field?

What challenges do you think I face?

Also, I have 2 bachelor's degrees (Biology and Psychology). I would have to start over with courses that would allow me to even apply to nursing school. What are your thoughts on getting my RN and then pursuing a BSN-MSN program?

Additionally, I have maxed out my loans so as for now I would have to either pay out of pocket or work to pay for school. Has anyone worked and gotten their ASN and then continued on in school while working?

I know I have a lot of questions but I have been contemplating this a lot lately.

 

[TheEarDoc]

Hello all,

I am a single 35 yo gay male who will be finishing his PhD in clinical psychology this year. I am thinking about going back to school to become a FNP or Psychiatric NP. During my clinical internship I had a lot of conversations with patients and psychiatrists about the lack of behavioral healthcare, especially in prescribing medicine. There are only a few states that allow for psychologists to prescribe and as of now I can't commit to living that far away from my parents due to them aging.

I am also interested in working with the LGBT community (there is a lack of practitioners who are culturally sensitive with this population). With all this being said...

What are your thoughts about someone with a PhD re-entering into another healthcare field?

What challenges do you think I face?

Also, I have 2 bachelor's degrees (Biology and Psychology). I would have to start over with courses that would allow me to even apply to nursing school. What are your thoughts on getting my RN and then pursuing a BSN-MSN program?

Additionally, I have maxed out my loans so as for now I would have to either pay out of pocket or work to pay for school. Has anyone worked and gotten their ASN and then continued on in school while working?

I know I have a lot of questions but I have been contemplating this a lot lately.

You sound about like me. I have a clinical doctorate and went back for my RN associate's degree. I find it makes you an amazing nurse and just more in tune with the healthcare process. I was always light years ahead of my classmates.

After completing a Bio and Psych degree (I had both too) you will find nursing school easy. I basically just had to take the nursing courses. All my other credits transferred including anatomy. I would have then had to take like 4 courses from the RN - BSN bridge and then I could have applied to the MSN program for this university and been accepted without having the BSN since I had two bachelor degrees and a clinical doctorate.

The biggest challenge you will face is balancing work load for a job and nursing courses/clinicals.

The hospital I worked at had a great tuition reimbursement program so I only had to pay for text books and general fees for the school and they were good about letting me work a compressed schedule and change it each quarter for school. I would have had to stay 3 years after I received my degree or pay the money back. I ended up getting too good of a federal job to pass up (and would be making more than I would starting out as an FNP) so I took the job and left nursing school after being half way through with my RN. I sometimes regret not finishing it, but then again I love working in the VA.

Check with your HR department and see if your current employer has a tuition reimbursement program for staff to improve their education. The VA has a wonderful one by the way.