Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

What is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner?

Nursing is an ever-growing field that changes and expands each year. There are dozens of different types of nurses and different fields that current nurses can pursue in an effort to specialize their skills and become a better nurse. For those nurses that want to pursue a career in the mental health field, becoming a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner is a great career to pursue that can truly help to expand a nurse’s skill set and make a huge difference in the world around them.

So what does a psychiatric nurse practitioner do? A Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner is a licensed nurse practitioner that works in the field of mental health. These nurses not only take on the responsibility of a nurse, but also of a mental health professional. They help to address mental health issues and work to create treatment plans that include medication, therapy and more to help promote the psychiatric well-being of each and every patient that they work with.

A psychiatric nurse practitioner might work in a hospital or a mental health facility. They may work with children, the elderly, or with those that are struggling with substance abuse. The horizons for a psychiatric nurse practitioner are broad and employment options are vast.

Psychiatric nurse practitioners have a range of different responsibilities that set them apart from other medical professionals. Psychiatric nurse practitioners work to help create outpatient or home-based care for those that have issues with mental health that might not be able to get to a hospital or other medical facility. They may also work as consultants for larger medical groups or corporations and work to create treatment plans, prescribe medication as needed, and perform patient assessments that allow a patient to move forward in their treatment plan.

These professionals might also work with doctors to help create patient referrals, help other professionals to conduct research or author scholarly articles, help to evaluate the effectiveness of specific treatments, or educate patients about the challenges that mental health presents. This is a much-diversified field where those pursuant can find the niche that fits not only their desires but also their specific skill sets so they can make the biggest difference possible.

For starters, a psychiatric nurse practitioner is important because they work as a liaison between the family and the patient, helping to explain the treatment that is needed and help those involved feel like they know what is going on. A psychiatric nurse practitioner works to create viable plans that will help the patient grow and get better, or at the very least, to improve their overall mental state and their mental well-being.

Psychiatric nurse practitioners fill a unique role. They are not only mental health professionals that can perform mental health checks, mental health assessments, and mental health treatment, but they can also perform other basic health assessments and treatments as well. They fill the role of a nurse practitioner and a mental health professional so that those under their care can look to one familiar face for their needs and through the duration of their treatment.

On top of that, they can also fill the role of a researcher, a consultant and much more.

Becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner takes time, effort, and immense dedication to becoming better and following your goals and dreams. There is a range of different classes and certifications that are needed in order to be a fully certified psychiatric nurse practitioner.

There are a few different prerequisite courses that students are expected to have before they can be admitted to any psychiatric nurse practitioner program. For the most part, many people that pursue the psychiatric nurse practitioner degree are already a nurse of some sort with a degree from a university that is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.

Students will often first take this degree path to lay a foundation for their continuing education.

Some classes you may take in the degree program for a nurse before entering the nurse practitioner program is integratedpathophysiology, scientific inquiry for evidence based practice, nursing and women, leadership and more. For those that are planning on becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner, it is important to then take elective courses that are focused on mental health like psychiatry and psychology.

There is a range of different programs to choose from when it comes to getting your nurse practitioner degree. If you already have a traditional four-year nursing degree and are working as a nurse, it may be best to pursue a psychiatric nurse practitioner degree online. The online format…