[trustsupplyguy]

My background: I'm just starting my student preceptorship in Psych Nursing.

My problem: I wish I could work Psych, but ideally I'd like to work in other areas too. I'd sure hate to get typecast and lose the opportunity to work in other areas so soon in my career.

My question: Can I have my cake and eat it too? In other words, is there any way I could work in psych and in another area as well? I'm looking for options and possible scenarios to explore to make this happen. The manager of the psych unit is a reasonable person open to new ideas, so if I had a feasible plan in place he might go for it.

More background: The unit I'm precepting in has been very nice to me, and they told me that they were impressed with my work when I did my clinical rotation with them. However, they are not a medical psych unit -- the patients are not admitted until they've been medically cleared first.

If they offer me a job when I graduate I would accept it, because I like Psych, I like the unit, I like the hospital, and because I think it would be very disrespectful to reject them after they've been so welcoming to me. I don't want to burn this bridge! My wife works on the unit too, and is well thought of.

But I also liked my experiences in med / surge, telemetry (I have my ACLS), and the ICU. I would probably like ER too (but never had any exposure there so I'm just guessing). My grades are great (close to a 4.0 out of 4.0), and I really enjoy learning about pathophys.

Here's a thought: The psych unit is connected to the ER in the sense that a psych nurse must go there and evaluate patients medically for admittance into the psych unit. In fact, my wife (a psych nurse on the unit with no previous med / surge experience) and my preceptor both work this role. Perhaps I could make a case for being cross-trained? Now that I think about it, I might even be able to work this into my preceptorship some way. My wife has worked at this hospital 8 years, and I volunteered there for two years. I think I could make a strong case for my commitment to the hospital, and that the extra training and hassle would be worth it because it would be a long-term investment in someone who won't leave.

What do you think? Feedback is greatly appreciated -- thank you!

[Tweety]

It never hurts to ask for what you want to out of nursing. Perhaps during the interview you can discuss these kinds of goals.

On the other hand, perhaps when you get some experience, they might train you for a prn position, i.e. work extra hours in these positions separate from your full time job.

Or after a year, get a prn/pool position somewhere else and work extra there.

Good luck and congratulations on your impending graduation.

[trustsupplyguy]

Tweety,

Thanks for your feedback, and congratulations on your BSN!