Psych Practicum?

[smoup]

I will be in my last semester of nursing school this fall and we are having to fill out interest forms for our practicum placement. We provide our health care background work/volunteer background if any, our interests, why we have those interests, etc. and we are placed by faculty at a facility to try to meet those interests.

I have a Bachelor's in psych and have wanted to work in the psych field for 15+ years now. To me it is "obvious" to request my practicum in psych working with a patient population I am interested in, specifically geriatrics and dementia. I just finished up my psych clinical where I spent most of my time on a dementia unit and LOVED it. I made friends with everyone and they are all expecting/encouraging me to apply in December/January, including the unit manager.

That all being said, most of the people I talk to, current nurses mostly, tell me to NOT do my practicum in psych, to NOT get my first job in psych, etc. They are all worried about the "losing your skill" aspect of psych nursing. When I tell them that I WANT to work and stay in psych, they are still telling me to work in an acute care setting first.

So, psych nurses, did you work in an acute care setting before psych? Did you not work in an acute care setting and wish you did? If you were in my situation would you do your senior practicum in psych?

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

I love psych and it was my first nursing job. Since then I've worked med/surg, peds, hospice, and now I teach. You don't lose your skills. You gain others and the ones that go dormant are retrievable when you need them.

If you have a love for a particular area of nursing, go for it!

[smoup]

Thanks Whispera! I'll request a psych practicum placement and hope for the best. I have a feeling it won't be an issue. Not many people like psych, let alone geropsych!

[macfar28]

I too had a BA in psychology and actually went to nursing school in order to be licensed in the field of mental health. Are there times I feel a little insecure with my medical skills? Sure. However I work with nurses who had 10+ years in ICU or the ED or other med/surge areas prior to coming to our unit and they too feel unsure sometimes. We pull together and rely on each other's strengths. Go with your gut.