National Nurse Practitioner Week 2025 - Two voices, One mission: A Q+A with 2 NPs
National Nurse Practitioner Week 2025 runs from November 9 - 15. This week-long period is dedicated to celebrating one of healthcare’s most vital and rapidly growing professions, the nurse practitioner (NP). This week was established to recognize the exceptional contributions of these highly trained providers over the more than five decades since the NP role first emerged in 1965.
Rigorous training and extensive education must be completed in order to become an NP. You must first earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and become a licensed Registered Nurse (RN), passing all necessary exams. Next, you need to complete an accredited graduate program, such as a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), followed by passing a national NP certification exam. Finally, you must obtain your state's license to practice as an NP.
NPs bridge the art of nursing with the science of medicine. They diagnose, treat, and manage acute and chronic conditions, emphasizing education, prevention, and holistic wellness. Often serving as the first point of contact for patients, NPs deliver care that combines deep medical expertise with the empathy and listening skills that define nursing at its best.
Elena Geiger-Simpson, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, PHN, a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB), and Megan Voss, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, a PMHNP at the M Health Fairview Riverside Psychiatry Clinic, were asked a series of questions to give us insight into what brought them to this vital role, advice for those interested in becoming an NP, and the challenges and rewards that keep them inspired. Although they both have various other roles and titles, we will focus on their expertise and experience as NPs.
Elena Geiger-Simpson (L) and Megan Voss (R)
1) When did you realize that you wanted to become a Nurse Practitioner? Did someone/something inspire you?
Elena: “I realized I wanted to become an NP when I was working as a nursing supervisor in an intensive residential treatment services program (IRTS). At that point, I had been working as an RN in community mental health settings for several years. In my role as an RN, I spent time getting to know my clients and listening to their concerns about symptoms, medications, side effects, and various ways that their mental health treatment was impacting their lives. I attended psychiatric appointments with my clients and spent time on the phone with providers advocating on my clients’ behalf to make changes to either minimize treatment burden or improve quality of life. After several PMHNP DNP students from the University of Minnesota completed their community mental health rotations at the IRTS where I was working, I was inspired to pursue a role that offered greater autonomy in making treatment decisions collaboratively with individuals living with mental health challenges.”
Megan: “I realized I wanted to be an NP when I was working in the pediatric blood and marrow transplant (BMT) program at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. I was inspired by my patients. My first DNP was in Integrative Health and I was working with patients who were going through blood and marrow transplants - offering integrative therapies to help palliate their symptoms. I realized that a lot of patients were coming for integrative consults and integrative therapies, when they also needed mental health support. I felt inspired by wanting to help these young adults who were really struggling with the mental and emotional impacts of cancer treatment.”
2) Can you describe a particularly memorable patient or experience that has stayed with you?
Elena: “One story I come back to often is a young man I’ve worked with for many years. When we first met, he was 13 or 14 and was angry, guarded, and exhausted from what felt like an endless cycle of medications and providers who didn’t really hear him. He’d been through so many medication trials that he’d lost trust in the process and the people trying to help him. I knew that before anything else, I needed to build trust and rapport. So I took my time and listened, really listened, to what he wanted, what he was afraid of, and what he hoped his life could look like. Over time, we built a therapeutic alliance and worked together to simplify his medication regimen to something that truly supported him rather than weighed him down. Today, he’s in his early 20s, thriving in college and living a life that feels like his own. He’s on two well-tolerated and effective medications and often tells me how grateful he is for the path we’ve walked together. Watching his transformation from a discouraged teenager to a confident, flourishing young adult reminds me of why I do this work. It’s a privilege to witness that kind of growth and to know that careful, collaborative care can help people reclaim their sense of self and possibility.”
Megan: “I remember a pivotal moment when I was working in the Journey Clinic. I was seeing a young man who was about 20 years old. He was a sophomore in college when he learned he needed a stem cell transplant for a rare disease. His whole life was turned upside down. He went from a normal developmental place of discovering identity and independence to having to leave college and become very dependent on his parents again. During a session when we were doing somatic body work to manage pain, he confided in me that he had begun taking his opioids that were prescribed for physical pain to ease the mental and emotional suffering of the intensive and isolating treatments he’d been through. It was at that moment I realized our system was failing young cancer survivors by not providing whole person care that addressed mind-body-spirit with equal urgency. After that, I applied to go back for a post-graduate certificate in psychiatric mental health so that I could better serve patients like him.”
3) What interests you about the psychiatric Nurse Practitioner field? What does a typical day look like for you?
Elena: “One of the things I enjoy about being a PMHNP is that it allows me to truly practice whole-person nursing. It’s a role that invites deep curiosity and an opportunity to understand not just what someone is experiencing, but the why. I get to explore the stories, context, and values that shape a person’s life, and to center what matters most to them. The PMHNP role blends together the science and art of nursing, it is deeply human and rooted in caring and connection.
In addition to my clinical practice at MIDB, I am a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota. My days are a blend of direct care, teaching and mentoring PMHNP students, building curriculum, and engaging in research that focuses on youth coping and resilience.”
Megan: “What drew me most to the specialty of psych mental health for my NP certification was that I’m very interested in caring for the whole person. Prior to becoming a PMHNP, all of my nursing background had been in oncology and I really saw the connection of the mind, body and the spirit. As PMHNPs, we have a unique opportunity to have those conversations with our patients, to care for the whole person and strengthen the mind-body connection and non pharmacological strategies that we can use to help people with the symptoms that they are managing.
On a typical day for me in the clinic, I see primarily people with oncology diagnoses. With about ⅓ of my patients I will have a longer appointment and I will do supportive psychotherapy in addition to medication management. I also have in depth training in mind-body skills and integrative modalities so often we may be incorporating things like breathing techniques to help them regulate their nervous system or feel grounded, or manage trauma symptoms, maybe talking about non pharmacological strategies to help with sleep or discussing goals towards incorporating more intentional movement into their daily lives. My typical day might vary in that way, through bringing in integrative approaches as well as more supportive psychotherapy than some nurse practitioners choose to do.”
4) What advice would you give someone who might want to consider a career as a Nurse Practitioner?
Elena: “Get experience as a registered nurse and take time to explore what truly interests you. Not everyone is going to be a good fit for the psychiatric nurse practitioner role, and that’s okay. There are many different paths in nursing, so give yourself space to find your niche before jumping into graduate school. Most importantly, hone your nursing skills and develop your clinical judgment and expertise as an RN. A good, solid foundation as a registered nurse is essential in shaping the nurse practitioner role.”
Megan: “Never underestimate the power of job shadowing. I think you get to a certain age and job shadowing could feel a bit simplistic or silly, but actually being able to see yourself in the role and understand the systems you want to work in - or not work in - go a long way. Being an NP is not necessarily an easy job. It’s important to really see yourself in those shoes and to go into it with a plan. You may not know exactly what type of practice you will have, but have some ideas around what's drawing you to it and what you value. For example, I value working in a place where I have a collaborative team of interdisciplinary professionals that I can talk to - nurse care coordinators, pharmacists, social workers and MDs - to help think through an entire patient case or refer patients to other members of the team. For me, that was a really important part of my journey becoming a nurse practitioner. Some people prefer a more independent practice in the community, where they are working in a more siloed, individual approach. I think these are questions you need to ask yourself about where you fit in and what aligns with your values because at the end of the day, the roles vary quite a bit depending on the speciality and the environment that you work in.”
5) The 2025 Nurse Practitioner Week theme is NPs: Trusted Voices, Proven Care. How do you see this theme in your work? And what challenges do you face that may make these difficult to achieve?
Elena: “I see this theme every day in my work. Patients and families invite us into some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives, trusting us not only to treat symptoms but to help them make sense of what they’re experiencing. That trust is sometimes earned slowly, sometimes over years, but when it’s there, it can be transformative. I’ve seen how genuine trust can change treatment outcomes and people’s lives.
There are real challenges we face. The structure of our healthcare system often works against the kind of care we’re trained to provide. Time pressure, siloed systems, and administrative demands all chip away at the space for meaningful, patient-centered connection. When we lose that time for patient-centered care, we risk burnout and the eroding of environments that support relational and effective care.”
Megan: “I definitely think patients appreciate that NP approach - we are rooted in our discipline as a nurse, which is innately whole person focused and often relationship based and patient centered. We practice in a way that’s different from the medical model and I think when patients experience that, they appreciate it. I've had patients that really value doing therapy with the same person that’s prescribing their mental health medications because they feel they are getting a better, more complete approach to their mental health. When patients experience that approach, they really trust it and see the value in it. One of the challenges we face is that many patients are confused about the various types of mental health (or general) providers there are. They may be wondering if we are nurses, doctors, therapists, etc. I think a challenge is the public understanding of the training and education that we have, what approaches we offer that may be similar and different from other providers and why might someone choose to work with an NP or find an NP, especially in psychiatry, to be a good fit.”
6) Any rewards/challenges specific to the psychiatric Nurse Practitioner field that you may not experience in other areas of the NP field?
Elena: “Being a PMHNP is incredibly rewarding. For me, the greatest reward is the connection I build with patients and families, getting to witness their growth, resilience, and transformation over time. In my work, I strive to make people feel seen, heard, and valued. Then there are challenges specific to the PMHNP field that don’t exist in other NP specialties. We don’t have a blood test or a scan to confirm a diagnosis, so we rely heavily on careful assessment, observation, and listening to people’s stories to form an accurate diagnosis. Context is paramount. If we don’t take a person-centered approach and consider other factors and social determinants, we sometimes over-medicalize and pathologize people’s experiences.
Megan: “I don’t know if this is a different challenge, I think everyone in health care is probably experiencing secondary trauma, but I do think we are directly addressing trauma. Almost all of my patients have medical trauma at a minimum and often layered on top of other life trauma. I think we are all at risk of secondary trauma. So being aware of that and doing our own reflective work to understand how that secondary trauma is impacting us and having strategies to mitigate the risk of burning out through that secondary trauma or developing our own mental health disturbances.
The medical system is hard and health care is hard for patients right now. We (PMHNPs) get to see our patients and we get to be really focused on their wellbeing. We get a little bit longer appointment times with them and I think a real reward is that patients feel really seen and heard by us and they often will express gratitude for that.”
7) What do you see changing in the field of psychiatric care for your patients over the next few years?
Elena: “I think the use of technology and telehealth will continue to expand. Mobile apps and wearables like smart watches and Oura rings are giving patients and providers real-time data to track symptoms and guide care. Virtual reality is another tool that we will likely see more, in both nursing education and in clinical settings. There is a lot of opportunity to explore the use of these immersive technologies as therapeutic interventions—such as exposure therapy or social skills training. We are also seeing a move to more personalized and precision psychiatric care, using biomarkers to tailor treatments and predict responses. Interventional therapies will continue to expand as well, and we will likely see increased use of psychedelic-assisted therapies as more agents get approved for use.
As we continue to see advancements in technology and AI use, the importance of the human connection is going to be even more paramount.”
Megan: “It’s really hard to predict the future. The things that I worry about are access, we already have more patients than we can see. I hope that we increase the access to mental health providers and comprehensive teams of mental health providers in the next few years. I think that AI will play a role in that - it’s yet to be determined how helpful and ethical that role will be, at least in the beginning.”
We extend our deepest gratitude to all NPs for their compassion, expertise, and unwavering commitment to improving the lives of patients.
