What are the positives of being a male nurse?

Nurse Practitioner or Psychologist?

• First, and foremost, I commend all the nurses out there! Nursing is a tough job physically and emotionally, and it definitely takes a smart and strong individual to be a good nurse. With that being said, I am currently a registered nurse but unfortunately I do not think that this profession is for me. I get super nervous when it's up to me to assess someone and "diagnose"/recognize immediately what is going wrong, so that I can correspond with the Doctors correctly and make suggestions. Everyone, including Doctors, tell me that I am a great nurse and that I do my job extremely well. Many people have even recommended me becoming a doctor or at least a PA. For some odd reason though, I do not feel confident nor comfortable in my current position as a registered nurse...with the responsibility that comes with it. I am now at the crossroads of either a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner or Psychologist. During my undergrad degree, I wanted to study psychology and get a masters in Psychology, but was unfortunately not able to do so at that time (long story short: I had strict parents). Anyway, I am now to the point where I would like to pursue something that I enjoy. I'm into psychology and how the mind works/is influenced-causing people to act the way they do, etc. Since this is my interest, I would think that a psychologist would be my future career. On the other hand, many people are saying that since I am a nurse already I should become a Psychiatric Nurse practitioner. (People are also saying that being a Nurse Practitioner is better/ "easier" than bedside nursing...IS this true?) I am unsure if I want that responsibility of prescribing meds and I think that I may be more interested in psychotherapy and research. I researched and saw that the Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners make a nice sum of money (over $100,000/year). The Psychologists, on the other hand showed random figures for yearly income (Anywhere from $35,000-approx a little over $100,000. More averaging in the $70,000 area) So basically I am at a crossroads of which track to choose. I think my heart will be happy with the Psychology track, but I am looking at the Psych NP track...which one is best? IS there a true difference between Psych NP and Psychologist pther than degree and prescribing? Do Psych NPs do psychotherapy? OR are they more med management? Will I be able to get a job with a master's in Psychology? With a good salary? Any advice on this will be more than appreciated!!!! Thank you!!!

• Answer:

  there is MORE responsibility with those positions--if you are not comfortable where you are....it doesn't make sense to go further a NP will usually only handle meds---psychologists due to therapies.. maybe something like a licensed counselor---that is a masters level program and you don't diagnose at all.. a masters in psychology won't get you into counseling---you may be able to manage a social service program at most.. to do actual counseling you would need to be a licensed professional counselor or possibly a LCSW...although the LCSW seems to have more responsibility