Pregnant while working Psych?

RENAISSANCE RN · Oct 9, 2005

Im not a nurse yet, but my sister is a psych nurse and she has had babies while working psych.

I guess it is how comfortable you feel................ You get get beat up on a med surg floor too...........

Good luck with your decision.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Oct 9, 2005

I am a psych nurse, and worked primarily child and adolescent. When they closed a unit and those staff became the C&A staff, I became a permanent full time float, so I have worked all five of our acute units, plus our psych ER.

I don't know what the hoo-ha is about being "beat up," but it's pretty unusual for a patient to be that out of control if the nurses and physicians are on top of things and your patients don't get so miserably under-medicated that they act out.

Sure, apply. I'm enjoying it--you may too!

lovingtheunloved, ASN, RN · Oct 10, 2005

I work with a lady who works per diem at my facility and full time at the local inpatient psych unit. She says she's been assaulted WAY more times at the nursing home than at the puff. She said she's only been hit twice in six years.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Oct 10, 2005

Never saw much of this as a problem. Worked psych 10 years. If the team is cohesive, knowledgeable and proactive, I would not anticipate any problems.

TitaniaSidhe · Oct 13, 2005

I have worked locked psych admissions for the past 16 years in a VA facillity. I have worked through 2 pregnancies on my unit. Each one was uneventful regarding being assaulted. I did notice however that some of the patients can & will fixate on the fact you are pregnant. I, at times, had to hear some unpleasant comments/threats issued specifically toward me b/c of being pregnant. The patient however did not actually act upon those threats. I suppose the one that bothered me the most was the comment of, "b***h I am gonna f$%k you up! I'll punch you in the f$%king stomach & kill your baby!" Yeah, that one kind of upset me a bit at the time (I was 7 months along). I do agree however that assaults are steadily decreasing as treatment gets better, there are more & more options avaliable to help people. The liklihood of being assaulted in my opinion is also directly related as well to what type of psych unit you would be working on. I think an open unit or outpatient, drug rehab or such would be lower risk that perhaps an admissions unit. Still the overall number of assaults as stated by others has markedly decreased.

Cute_CNA, CNA · Oct 13, 2005

I work at a psych hospital, and have not heard of this as being a problem. If I were you, I would refuse to take part in restraining patients, however. There's just too much risk, in my opinion. I would make that very clear to your potential employers. However, I would also make it clear that you would be willing to do any necessary hands-on care after you come back from maternity leave, since there's no more risk for injury to your fetus.

There are other things which you can do instead of hands-on, such as observing the milieu and making sure the environment is safe for the rest of the patients, retrieving restraints, calling other wards for help, etc.

And, of course, you can't be discriminated against just for being preggers.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2005

Being on Psych..there are precautions in place, people are more on alert, and the patients are in the process of being treated.

On MS, there are fewer safety precautions for psych problems, the patient may not be being treated for their psych issues, and there are numerous infections to deal with.