What counts as psych experience?

Nurses General Nursing

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I thought I would post this in general nursing, as it applies to my career as a whole :)

Hi everyone. I am a new grad (got my license December 2014) and only have two more months of my BSN program to go! I am excited for a lot of doors opening and have been looking into every job possible. I live in NYC and have been attending job fairs as well as browsing opportunities through Craigslist and recently had an interview with a staffing agency.

Although I realize the first job I land may not be related to my ultimate goal (i.e. something in a different area of nursing), I was curious because I have a few potential opportunities that may lead me to it, and I was wondering for people experienced in the field/area what they thought. Basically I would love to be a psych nurse and eventually a psych NP. If not for nursing, my major would have been psych, but I choose nursing because I also liked the idea of having different options to go into. A few opportunities that were recently brought to me were:

- A nurse at a foster care facility

- A nurse working in correctional health

- Working per diem at substance abuse facilities

I was wondering if any of the above would count as "psych" experience. The NP program I have been looking into (for future reference) requires 2 years of related clinical experience before applying. I am looking forward to what you all think! Also I would like to know if you work in psych your thoughts about the field and what drove you to it. Thank you so much everyone :)

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Although, technically, foster care and corrections are not "psych" settings, you would certainly see a lot of psych issues in both those settings and could later make the argument that you got a lot of psych experience in either one. Substance abuse is widely considered a subspecialty of psychiatry and you would also see a lot of psych issues in that setting (what with all the comorbidity).

Without knowing any further details, I would say the foster care facility would probably be least considered "psych" experience, the substance abuse setting would be considered the most psych experience.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

I worked in a teen substance abuse setting & it was more like a psych facility than substance abuse facility. The teens came in with a list of psych issues, some a mile long. Definitely had to deal with all of their issues as well; cutting, trying to commit suicide, or anything else you can imagine.

I also worked corrections & there are people with psych issues but not as much as at the teen substance abuse facility.

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Thank you both for your comments so far, it does seem the most related would be substance abuse. I would definitely be grateful for any type of experience though, even if it is mildly related :) The correctional facility is in dire need of nurses and both the substance abuse (per diem) and the foster care are up to taking in new grads. I guess it is all a matter of seeing what comes through first. I am really working towards getting that first job as soon as I can, whatever experience earned is at least a starting point to working somewhere else.

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I would encourage you to get some "real" psych nursing experience (working on an inpatient psych unit, or at least in an outpatient psych setting) before you make a commitment to becoming a psych NP. Lots of people who came to the field via an interest in psychology are often disappointed with the nursing (and psychiatrist/NP) roles in psychiatric settings. It's mostly about medications and keeping people safe and not so much sitting and talking with people about their feelings.

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That would be another goal, and I have applied to hospital inpatient settings, however it is just difficult to land that hospital job (I figure it is largely due to the fact I do not have my BSN yet and might be also related to lack of experience). I suppose I just need to do one step at a time, which is why I am really just eager to all the potentials I may have right now, just to get the experience in so hospitals will be more keen to hire me. A few months to a year experience doing any of this work, plus I'd have my bachelor's, it would probably be easier to land that sort of job. I appreciate your insight though and there is a lot of truth to what you say, a lot of people go into a field expecting something and then it is completely different and there is a let down. I believe I would still enjoy doing that as an NP even if it isn't discussing feelings. I am really drawn to psych because an immediate family member has suffered from severe schizophrenia for a long time, and I felt powerless and unable to help them in *any* aspect. Therefore, in any aspect, even if it is just giving out medications as an NP, I would feel a sense of pride in taking an active role in helping these patients get back on their feet. However I will keep what you say in mind! :)

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Agree with elkpark and Chaos. I am currently a school nurse and psych issues are a huge chunk of my day, but I'm definitely not a psych nurse. I do feel like a psych patient sometimes, doe.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Agree with elkpark and Chaos. I am currently a school nurse and psych issues are a huge chunk of my day, but I'm definitely not a psych nurse. I do feel like a psych patient sometimes, doe.

Yeah, you & me both!

When I worked. >.

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