[lilia123]

I have 10 years experience working as a nurse, and am considering psychiatic nursing which i always found most interesting in nursing school and "out in the field". What are the differences in working in a private vs public or state facility?

[lilia123]

let me see if i can answer my own question, a private psychiatric facility may not pay as well as a state but there may more staff available and better retention due to other things such as quality of patients due to private insurance. Perhaps better benefits....how am I doing here?

[aloevera]

You need to go and check these facilities out....they are all different in different areas of the country...You would think that a private facility would be better pay and conditions, but believe me that is not always true...

[elkpark]

In my experience the public facilities (state hospitals and psych units in community hospitals) tend to have better staffing, happier staff, and better retention than the private-for-profit psych facilities, which squeeze each nickel 'til it screams and cut every corner they possibly can ...

I'm not sure what you mean by "quality of patients," so I can't comment specifically on that. However, I will say that psychiatric clients tend to be, in general, frustrating and challenging to work with, in any setting.

[lilia123]

Thanks for the input, I have to go on an interviews to get a feel for it, or maybe do per diem if they would take me........

[Katnip]

Originally Posted by elkpark

In my experience the public facilities (state hospitals and psych units in community hospitals) tend to have better staffing, happier staff, and better retention

Wow. Not from what I hear and see in my state. State hospitals tend to pay much lower than others.

[elkpark]

In my state, the pay is at least competitive in the state facilities, plus the benefits as a state employee are better than what most other employers offer. I'm sure that varies quite a bit from state to state.

[aloevera]

I know that the pay is "NOT NEAR ENOUGH" !!!! in the private facility where I am employed......but state hospital too far away....don't know exactly what it pays....

[My2Giants]

The for profit psych facility that I used to work for continually short staffed us. We did more with less and it wasn't safe. The pay was okay, but not worth it!! Guess it depends on the facility and who runs it.

[Mish56]

I currently work in a large university hospital, our pay and staffing are competitive. Our patient population runs the socio-economic gambit. A few years back, I worked for one of the oldest free standing psych hospitals in the country (anyone want to guess where?). We had a very professional union, which kept our staffing levels safe. The thing that was the BIGGEST difference was that 99.99% of our patients were voluntary. They actually want help! If someone changed their mind, weren't ready, they could leave. they usually didn't, but somehow it changed everything, knowing tht they could. Where I work now, I would say 75% come in as involuntary, most end up signing in.