I'm a newly licensed RN and I am interested in starting my career in psych/mental health nursing. As a new grad, I feel like I have nothing to put on my resume and nothing to refer to in my cover letter. I came across a 15 contact hour continuing education course by the APNA that is designed for nurses transitioning to psych. I was thinking of signing up so I could add it to my resume and mention it in my cover letter to show that I really am serious about wanting to work in this area. I was wondering if any nurse managers or supervisors (or anyone really) had any thoughts on this. The only reason I'm hesitant is that it's really expensive and I don't want to waste my money if it's something that would just cause a manager to roll their eyes. Thoughts?

Although it sounds like an excellent course in my area psych RN jobs aren't all that hard to come by so I'm not sure it would be worth the investment. How expensive is expensive? Perhaps try getting some interviews before you invest the money? Did you spend any extra clinicals in psych? That always looks good. Did you make any contacts at the place you did your psych rotation? That is where I'd start. Good luck.

The course is $250. I actually work a continuing education company so I know this is a lot of money for a CE course. I know a couple of nurses that used to work at the psych hospital where I did my psych rotation but that particular hospital doesn't have any open RN positions at the moment. There are others in the area though. Everyone spent the same amount of time doing their psych rotation.

The course is $250. I actually work a continuing education company so I know this is a lot of money for a CE course. I know a couple of nurses that used to work at the psych hospital where I did my psych rotation but that particular hospital doesn't have any open RN positions at the moment. There are others in the area though. Everyone spent the same amount of time doing their psych rotation.

I asked because we were able to pick our clinical site during our final clinical rotation. Keep in touch with the psych RNs you know because something could always change.