-39/nurs-6003c-39/nrse-6003c-39-foundations for graduate study- | -39/NURS-6003C-39/NRSE-6003C-39-Foundations for Graduate Study- | Walden University

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During nursing school, I remember thinking how proud I was of making the decision to become a nurse. I wanted to become a nurse not only to help people, but I loved how flexible nursing was, and how many different career options came with the nursing field. Currently, I am on track to become a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. I came upon this decision because psychology has always one of my favorite areas to study. I find the mind very fascinating, so I started researching PMHNPs and their career field and instantly felt a drive to become part of it. Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners can work as generalists, or can choose to specialize in geriatric, forensic, psychotherapy, or child and adolescent psych (nurse.org, 2020). This statement was a deciding factor for me to choose this career because I can work in numerous places with all kinds of people groups.

           One difficulty I faced while making my decision was cost. I personally do not like having any debt, so the thought of attending graduate school with all of the expenses was very intimidating for me. Then, I started thinking of how financially stable I will hopefully be once I work for a few years as a PMHNP. According to an article by Dr. Don Martin with U.S.News, United States graduate degree holders with a master’s degree or higher earn an average salary of $55,242, versus bachelor’s degree holders at $42,877. While this on average may not seem like much, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Nurse Practitioners make over $100,000 per year with varying salaries depending on location of practice. These statistics influenced me to go ahead and make the jump, because even though school is expensive, I will see financial gain in the long run.

           One professional organization related to PMHNP is the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. This association is great for networking, trainings, and just keeping up with current practices. This organization has more than 14,500 members and commits themselves to health and wellness promotion through identifying mental health issues, preventing mental health problems, and offering care and resources to treatment of persons with mental