I love my NP!
Like BipolaRNurse says, regulations (like varying degrees of prescriptive authority) vary from state to state. Mine is a PMHNP (psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner) in a state where they have full prescriptive authority. Like nobodyandnothing says ... more accessible and more time. That is my experience too. She not only does the meds ends of things, but therapy as well. So I don't have to worry about if the person doing my meds really knows what's going on with me, or just has to base things on a quick summation for an in-and-out appt. Also, it means she knows me well enough to be able to "partner" with on meds decisions.

I haven't personally dealt with things psychiatric in NY, but do have one NY PMHNP story. A neighbor/friend whose brother has paranoid schizophrenia had raved about some practitioner. Remembering this, when I was looking, I asked who it was. Turns out it was a PMHNP in NY (where they were originally from, and which did me no good, being in the West. Oh well.). In all the years (like... a couple of decades...) of all they had dealt with in the psychiatric realm, he said this PMHNP was the best thing that ever happened for his brother. And that is truly cool, because he is a great guy.

It's like anything else of course, there are always going to be better and worse in any profession, but this is one story I can relate to dispel any notion that assumes (based simply on account of degree) that they are psychiatric lightweights. I've had positive experiences and would not hesitate in the least to recommend them.

Go PMHNPs!