I have been working at an acute men's inpatient facility for about 8 months. I started and ended nursing school wanting to go into psych nursing. I like the idea of helping people in a different way, talking them through things, helping them cope. I grew up wanting to do something like counseling, mental health counseling, but there isn't much money in it unless you own your own business, so I went into nursing.
I must say, there' s a MAJOR different in a nurse working in a psychiatric unit of a hospital and a psychiatric nurse. And to a psychiatric nurse, it's very aggravating.
Most people just think nurses come in and pass meds. They all say we aren't "real" nurses b/c we do not do normal nursing skills. Well we are suppose to use a different set of skills. Communication skills, therapeutic skills, patience, understanding, and empathy. Unfortunately, you can tell the difference between the nureses. You can tell the nurses here b/c they need a job or b/c of the extra money, and you can tell the psychiatric nurses, the nurses who love every aspect of their job, who love being in that environment. It shows, it shows in their time spent out with the patient, the quality time, the communication, the tone, the body language, in the attitude portrayed to the patients.
Nurses are suppose to treat the diagnosis. Oncology nurses, they have to be strong, be willing to deal with a high percentage of their patients pass away, neuro nurses have to be used to not understanding a lot of their patients b/c of their deficits from a stroke or something, psych nurses have to be willing to spend one on one time with patients, be willing to listen and help that depressed patient, that patient who may be a little needy and just want to talk b/c he has no one else in the world and lives in the streets. That's what makes us special, that's what we do. They don't need their IV checked, they don't need their chest tube checked, or a neuro test, they need to talk.
Let me tell you, those nurses who come in, give 0800 meds, then sit in the nurses station, do their nursing notes, do their charting, and give PRN's after the patients have asked 100 times and the nurse has talked about the patient being needy or drug seeking, who have no empathy for a patient who lives on the streets, or a patient who tried committing suicide after his wife passed away or is tired of living on the streets with no food. What skills are they using? These patients are here b/c they are sad, depressed, they did something to hurt themselves... There's a reason for that.. Why don't you try and help them through that, be compassionate. Instead they sit in the nurses station and act like the patients are bothering them when they ask for something. Or the nurse thinks their only job is meds and nursing notes. Anything else the tech can do.
Please, if you don't enjoy the essence of psych, dont be a psych nurse, don't be a psych tech, a psych anything. Go to a nursing home, go do home care somewhere. Go to the floor. Just don't do psych. There patients need compassionate and empathetic nurses, nurses who don't blow them off. Who don't make them feel worthless or unimportant.
Our patients are special, and it takes a special person to work with them. Please think of that before being a psych nurse.
*** This does not necessarily work with all patients, psychotic, delusional, paranoid patients, violent patients, they will not respond to any nurse until they are on their meds.. I am talking about he sad, depressed, suicidal patients which is a good majority of psych patients.
