Apn Stress

APN’s and PMHNP students have frequently experienced stress. Preparing to make the endeavor to participate in the APN program is in itself stressful. Deciding how to balance work, family, life, with school brings anxiety and many stressors. Raising funds or figuring out how to pay for school is an additional major stress factor. APN schools can cost on average $15,000 to 40,000 per year. This difficult endeavor can take up to 2 to 3 years out of one’s life to complete the APN programs. Many schools do not adequately prepare APN students on how much time and energy will be needed to complete the required program. For most APN students they will need to spend a minimum of between 30 to 60 hours or more a week on schooling. That adds

Stress can be something that causes strong feelings of worry or anxiety. “Stress can be a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation” (Merriam-Webster, 2014) A person experiences stress “when a demand exceeds that person’s coping abilities, resulting in reactions such as disturbances of cognition, emotion and behavior” (Huether & McCance, 2012, p. 208) Stress is “a reaction to stressful situations at work that leads to a physiological response manifested by psychosomatic symptoms such as hypertension and headache” (Toh, Ang, & Devi, 2012, p. 127). Stress occurs when the situational demands outpace the individual’s ability to

They are often expected to come out of school and work and function effectively. Failure to start the transition from RN to APN during the graduate education process is a set up for role confusion and fearfulness (Poronsky, 2013). In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed. This allowed millions of Americans who previously did not qualify for insurance to now be eligible for coverage. The ACA has now opened the gateway for treatment. Approximately 62.5 million Americans with mental health needs are now eligible for that care. Affordable healthcare or universal healthcare for all now begged the question, whose going to care for these people? The shortage of primary healthcare and mental health providers added to the burden of who would care for all these newly eligible individuals. Pearlman (2013) says, “there will be a decrease of mental health providers by 18% to 21% in 2014” (p.332). The one exception to this is the increase of advanced practice psychiatric nurses (APPNs). Implementing a team-based approach to patient care supported reducing some of the burdens and stressors brought by the new ACA felt by healthcare workers (Zamosky,