Mental health plays a fundamental role in our overall wellbeing, including our physical health.
Addie Snyder, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP), recognized this connection early in her career as a registered nurse, and it catalyzed her move into advanced practice nursing and psychiatric mental health nursing.
“I saw how the mental side of things could really affect someone's entire health and wellbeing, and I just love looking at that aspect of it and not just looking at treating physical symptoms,” she says.
Opportunity to Grow through Psychiatric Mental Health
Snyder always knew she wanted to work in healthcare. When she began pursuing her BSN, she thought she would practice as a labor and delivery nurse. Instead, she worked in telemetry, then as a PICC line nurse to create intravenous access to central veins near the heart.
But the position that proved most pivotal was her role at Vermilion Behavioral Health Systems.
“That was where I found what I enjoyed, and I knew I wanted to do psych,” Snyder says. “I think psych found me, in a sense.”
Snyder soon enrolled in the Master of Science in Nursing, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, degree program online at the University of ֱ at Lafayette.
She says the program allowed her to pursue her career goals with a full-time job and a family.
“I had one child at the time, but she was little. I was able to put her to bed then I’d work for hours at night on papers and whatever I had to do,” Snyder says. “So, it was definitely hard, but it was doable. I could still work. I still was able to balance things.”
Addressing Mental Health Care Access, Stigmas
Since graduating and obtaining her license as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP), Snyder has been practicing in numerous settings across Acadiana, including inpatient care, intensive outpatient care, and private practice. The PMHNP has worked with children and adults with needs from depression and anxiety to substance abuse.
Snyder says the need — and opportunities — for additional mental health providers is great, especially in more rural areas of the state.
“There's always a need for both medication management and therapy,” Snyder says. “Even more so in the rural areas. Our practice is in Carencro, so we get people from Opelousas and Ville Platte. In those areas, a lot of these people are just seeing their primary doctor for mental health services, because there aren’t mental health services available, and they don't have transportation to seek treatment.”
Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners are integral in improving access to mental health care services, as well as breaking through stigma and misconceptions surrounding mental health.
"When some people initially come here, they're really scared. You know, ‘psychiatry’ or ‘mental health,’ sometimes those words sound scary,” Snyder says. "Once they see this is normal place, there's normal people, and it's normal to talk about anxiety and depression, they leave feeling like, ‘OK, wow, this is normal to talk about these things.’”
Bringing Passion to Nursing Practice
Through the 48-credit-hour MSN – Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, students complete online advanced practice nursing coursework in theory, pharmacotherapeutics, evidence-based practice approaches, health policy, and primary care, as well as specific courses in psychiatric mental health advanced practice including diagnosis, psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy.
Students also must complete a minimum of 600 precepted, direct patient care clinical hours in ֱ.
For those interested in advancing their education to pursue licensure as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, Snyder says to bring your passion.
"If you're going into this field, it has to be something that you believe in and something that you truly want to do,” she says. “This field can be emotionally draining. You have to have that passion. And that's what makes it so rewarding.”