Dear Pysch Nurses

Specialties Psychiatric

Published

Why does everyone treat me like I have a communicable disease when I tell them psychiatric nursing is the only specialty I'm drawn to?

Do you have this problem also?

Specializes in none.
Powerful words. Hope you guys don't mind me butting in, just a hopeful nursing student here, learning as much about the field as I can. Mental health and addictions is something I'm quite passionate about!

Nursing Student, May I be the first to welcome you to the Tea Party, Alice

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in my batch.. I'm the only psych nurse... psych is not for everybody.. I've seen a lot of nurses who after working for a week quits and not because they found another job, but because they couldn't handle it.. so if it is your calling.. you go for it..

it's very rewarding.. i love it ;)

ps. and it's not true that we do not have any nursing skills.. or that we're not real nurses ( oh yeah i heard that too!! )

people can say all they want to say.. but i what i do know is this.. WE save lives just as much as the ice nurses or med surg or ER nurses do.. we also save families.. :w00t:

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Specializes in none.
in my batch.. I'm the only psych nurse... psych is not for everybody.. I've seen a lot of nurses who after working for a week quits and not because they found another job, but because they couldn't handle it.. so if it is your calling.. you go for it..

it's very rewarding.. i love it ;)

ps. and it's not true that we do not have any nursing skills.. or that we're not real nurses ( oh yeah i heard that too!! )

people can say all they want to say.. but i what i do know is this.. WE save lives just as much as the ice nurses or med surg or ER nurses do.. we also save families.. :w00t:

and may I say not with any monitors or IV machines, we do it with our brains and a few meds.

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Specializes in Dementia & Psychiatry.

Hello,

Yes, I work in psych, and yes we still have patients with other problems (diabetic is the usual), but my blood drawing skills are crap, and I know I'm not as up on some of the physical stuff as a med surg nurse would be. I do see "the look" and mostly I don't care - except the other side of "the look" is that once a patient is ID'ed as a psych patient, it seems like the non-psych trained people stop considering non-psych diagnoses. That is not only irritating, but dangerous.

Diane

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