Need help with career choice: MSW/LCSW MEd Special Ed or ABSN/MSN/Psych NP

Hi,

I need to make a career decision and would appreciate your feedback.

I am 31 year-old female, have a master's degree in counseling, and am working as a behavior specialist consultant in Philadelphia providing community-based behavioral health services to children with Autism and other behavioral and developmental disorders and their families.

After completing my master's, I realized that there is many limitations to my degree in the job market. The demand is low especially without license, and, even with a license (LPC), the license is not easily, if at all, transferrable in other states. The experience and skills I acquire from my current work is also not easily transferrable to other jobs in mental health field, and similar type of job is not available in many other states.

I am married to a graduate student who will be pursuing his studies for about next 10 years. During his studies, we are expected to move twice depending his choice of school and can really end up anywhere in the U.S. This puts me in a difficult position with a responsibility to make enough earnings to support our family (hopefully, we will have our first kid within next 2 years), but without a secure job prospect.

So, I am considering couple different options:
1) Get an MSW/LCSW to develop a career towards providing psychotherapy.
2) Get a MEd in Special Education with teaching certification to continue work with the population that I am currently serving.
3) Get Accelerated BSN and MSN to become a Psychiatric NP.

Important factors in making this decision are:

1) Job security
My husband will be pursuing PhD, Post-doc, and ultimately a faculty position for next 10+ years. It is very likely that we will be moving across the country for each transition depending on which school he gets into. Considering the current job climate for PhD's seeking faculty positions, this is a very uncertain and most likely unstable road in terms of job security and income. So, it is very important that I will be able to find a job wherever I am and will be making a decent income for a family.

2) Investment vs. output
I already have loans on my master's degree. And, my income really do not justify the loan I had taken out. So, I am a bit scared to take out more loans, and, if I do, I want to make sure that I make an investment that economically makes sense.

3) Job satisfaction
I am an artist at heart, but I wanted to help people, so I transferred out from a prestigious art school and got myself into counseling, which is something I've always interested in as well. But, I have realized that even within the scope of helping others, some type of work may not be a good fit for me, like my current job. In my current job, I like the aspect of working with children and providing counseling, but do not like the heavy focus on behaviors, hours spent on road driving to client's homes and schools, being on my own and not getting supports from co-workers and supervisors.

4) Work/life balance and flexibility
Family is very important for me. I consider being a wife and mom a calling and want to invest as much as possible in my time with family.

It seems to me, nursing is the best option from its face-value. But, there are few things that concerns me about the choice.
- I am not sure how I well I will handle the direct care part of training. I think I can handle bodily fluids, but not sure about sticking a needle (and anything worse) to a person.
- I am not really physically fit and have tendency to get anxious. My understanding is that I need floor experience to become an NP, which can be exhausting physically and mentally.
Can someone like me survive through it?

At the end, I wish to make a career that will be meaningful and enjoyable (despite the hardships that comes with it) for next 10-20 years of my life, while meeting the needs of my family.

I would really appreciate your input if you've had similar experience and concerns when making your own career choice, if you have useful information on developing a career towards psychiatric NP, or if you have a good reasons to advice for or against any of my options.

Thank you for your comments ahead of time!
First things first - Have you completed the 'basic science' prerequisites & is your GPA within the competitive range for entry to a nursing school? If not, this may be a primary limitation for you. Although nursing programs may differ slightly, there core requirements are pretty standard. These courses normally begin to 'expire' after 5 years. There could be several routes for completion of your BSN, but if you also have to finish pre-requisites, even the quickest (most expensive) route will take at least 2 years. It is worth noting that it is highly unlikely that you would be able to continue to work while in an accelerated program. Afterward, you would need to gain clinical experience in psych in order to qualify for admission to the NP program. Depending on the program, this may be another 2 years - if you are lucky enough to be able to land a psych job right after licensure. So - minimum of 4 years to achieve your goal. You can't really transfer between clinical programs, so you wouldn't be able to relocate while you are actively involved in either one (BSN & MSN). It is true that a nursing license is probably more 'portable' than many other professions, but early-career nursing will involve direct care practice in order to achieve your goal. This means working nights, weekends & holidays on a very rigid schedule... may not be an ideal situation for starting a family & ongoing support for your student hubby. Most people find nursing to be a very stressful & physically taxing career, particularly since 12 hour shifts are the norm. If you have serious doubts, based on your own appraisal of personal strengths and weaknesses - would encourage you to move in a different direction.
Quote from HouTxThere could be several routes for completion of your BSN, but if you also have to finish pre-requisites, even the quickest (most expensive) route will take at least 2 years. It is worth noting that it is highly unlikely that you would be able to continue to work while in an accelerated program. Afterward, you would need to gain clinical experience in psych in order to qualify for admission to the NP program. Depending on the program, this may be another 2 years - if you are lucky enough to be able to land a psych job right after licensure. So - minimum of 4 years to achieve your goal. You can't really transfer between clinical programs, so you wouldn't be able to relocate while you are actively involved in either one (BSN & MSN). It is true that a nursing license is probably more 'portable' than many other professions, but early-career nursing will involve direct care practice in order to achieve your goal. This means working nights, weekends & holidays on a very rigid schedule... may not be an ideal situation for starting a family & ongoing support for your student hubby. Most people find nursing to be a very stressful & physically taxing career, particularly since 12 hour shifts are the norm. If you have serious doubts, based on your own appraisal of personal strengths and weaknesses - would encourage you to move in a different direction.